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February 23, 2005
The Pope on Philosophy
Yay someone sent me this delightful story about the Pope's newly published book.
This is something that has always bugged me about religion. How can someone say something is evil? What persuasion do they have? They claim God the Almighty has spoken to them.
And they claim that you have to rely on faith in lieu of proof. And if you don't have faith, you're going to a really bad place.
Wait, I've heard this before. Maybe it was George Carlin.
Growing up in the Catholic church I was told over and over again not to judge anyone. And now the Pope is judging people. Something about this scenario really bothers me. The leader of the Catholic church, who preaches not to judge, for you yourself will be judged, is judging acts as evil. The pope does not represent God, rather a group of men where he was elected. What makes him different than any other man?
Posted by piep0058 at February 23, 2005 03:33 PM | Society
Comments
This is a complex subject, and I sympathize with your reaction. However, note that the Pope has not actually labeled any *people* as evil; rather, only certain behaviors and ideologies are evil. Thus technically, he is not actually judging people. Another thing I know, having spent time at the Vatican, is that many of these supposed letters from the Pope are not written by the Pope himself, but rather by people high up in the Curia, many of whom have their own career goals and/or a political agenda within the Church.
The real issue, if course, is why fear and disgust of homosexuals is so widespread, and why people feel the need to legitimize this disgust by making it part of their religion. But that's a separate question.
Posted by: Alex at February 24, 2005 09:45 PM
I see what you mean. I forgot about the difference in the church's view from mine.
Posted by: loverboy at February 24, 2005 11:32 PM
I agree with Alex, one's clouded mind can easily see where the Pope judges people by calling them evil. When infact he does not call them evil, he calls their actions evil, and faith is the tool which allows the Pope and us to determine where there is evil; that which is away from God is evil, and that which moves us towards God is good.
Piep0058 a life dedicated to charity, and prayer helps find faith.
Posted by: Sergio at April 6, 2005 10:31 AM