Shortly after Catherine sent me a link to "The Best Thing I've Read All Year"... a smart, heartfelt, touching, and altogether righteous letter written by a mother whose son tried to commit suicide because of the not-stop persecution he faced for being gay, I read the Pope's recent remarks from Portugal.
I've pretty much said my peace on Pope Benedict XVI in a previous entry. Long story short? He's systematically destroying the Catholic Church from within, and has been unapologetically crapping over the legacy of Pope John-Paul II from the moment he ascended to the papacy.
But His Holiness has decided that he's not satisfied with being a hateful old hag in a dress and a big hat... he seems fully intent on bringing douchebaggery to the papacy at any cost... this time by saying that abortion and same-sex marriage are the "most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good."
Now, I guess I can see abortion fitting that mold within the dogma of the Catholic Church. I may not agree with it, but I understand it. But same-sex marriage... insidious?!?
insidious • in-ˈsi-dē-əs • subtle, surreptitious, cunning, crafty, treacherous, artful, sly, wily, shifty, underhanded, indirect; informal sneaky.
Pope Benedict isn't just a douchebag... he's a fucking dumbass.
Rapists, murderers, child molesters, liars, cheats, and other vile persons infesting this planet get a pass so the Pope can pronounce judgement and fully condemn two people in love wanting to get married as the "most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good."
Riiiiiight.
You want to know what's insidious? A religious leader fostering fear and hatred against innocent people, thus creating an environment so horribly hostile that people would rather die than live in it.
Well fuck this shit.
The Pope doesn't get to dictate that we live in an antiquated world of intolerance and animosity. We're better than that.
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The stance of the Catholic church has supposedly been “consistent” relative to life, i.e., their position against abortion is based on the same idea that forms their opposition to the death penalty. They call it “the sanctity of life” or somesuch, and from the viewpoint of epistemology that can be a reasonable position. Problem being that doesn’t always carry over to the incidence of war when – oh I dunno – life automatically gets a little cheaper or something. My point?
It’s an eminence front /
an eminence front /
it’s a put on…
I just read that letter from another source. Thanks for linking to it – powerful, powerful stuff. And regarding the Pope, very well said.
He who protesteth the loudest…is usually the mostest. Just sayin’
I think the Pope has completely lost sight of what it means to live in the modern world. It worries me a lot. I can’t bear to think of someone driven to suicide by religious intolerance. It makes me want to weep.
The Pope seems to have incredibly strong opinions on same sex marriage but none whatsoever on pedophile priests. I just don’t get it.
His use of “insidious” was actually a slip-up — Benedict came perilously close to revealing that he is Darth Sidious.
/nerd alert
The new Pope reminds me of the Emperor in The Star Wars movies, especially the chapters 1, 2,& 3. All smiles and helpful in the eyes that are on him at one moment, yet evil and devious when away from those eyes. Plus he kinda looks a little spooky to me.
Its just another sign that the Catholic church is bleeding to death. They’re losing relevancy among even their own members at a faster rate than ever. I think, though, that the constituency of most religious organizations are typically more tolerant than their leaders. At least, that’s my experience with my Catholic friends and in-laws who are far more accepting of gays and gay marriage than their Church’s rules allow. Some don’t even have that big of a problem with abortion. Well, except for my ex mother-in-law.
We have at least a generation to go before the leaders in the Catholic church hit the Baby Boomer age bracket and the Gen-Xers. By then, I expect to see some real change. But as long as the old guard is voting for the next pope and the guys in line for the job are the age of WWII veterans, we will not soon see any change in the policies of the church.
This current Pope is an asshole.
That man gives me the creeps. He is not a good person, of that I am certain.
I may not have always agreed with John-Paul II, but I knew he was a good person who meant well and believed in what he was doing.
Thanks for sharing that letter. I loved it. My brother is gay, and my mother knew it from the time he was three. I fought battles for him in school for years. I hated seeing him hurt.
I like it when you talk dirty.
There are a lot of reasons why I am an ex-Catholic. Happened long before this Pope started wearing his funny hat. It still makes me ill hearing about all this crap though.
This pope seems so counterintuitive to what the Church is really supposed to be like.
Religion should be a comfort to ones soul.
Religion should bring peace and internal bliss.
Religion should be kind and forgiving.
Religion should be more about love than hate.
This is precisely the reason that I protest against organized religion despite my deep faith in my Christian beliefs. Men are inherently evil, whether they wear a robe and funny hat or not.
The Pope doesn’t get to dictate that we live in an antiquated world of intolerance and animosity. We’re better than that.
THIS.
When my lesbian friend from work was agonizing about coming out to her family and revealing that she had become engaged to her girlfriend, I asked her if anyone her age minded her being a lesbian. “No, all of my friends are cool about it. It’s only older people who are going to be freaked out.”
I have hope that the world will change for GLBT people as the old dinosaurs die off.