Apparently the Pope is abdicating... - by Thirith
Ostriig on 14/3/2013 at 11:35
Because electing whitey is by definition more backwards? I'm also disappointed they didn't pick a black Pope, the crazy old bat who lives above me would've had a stroke.
Dia on 14/3/2013 at 12:17
Although touted as a conservative, it would seem this new Pope arrives with some nasty baggage:
"But then, in 2010, we found out that Bergoglio’s attitude toward other underdogs could be remarkably cruel. When Argentina legalized gay marriage that summer, the objection of the Catholic hierarchy, which considers homosexuality a sin, wasn’t surprising. But it wasn’t enough for Bergoglio to criticize the law; he felt compelled to demonize homosexuals in the process—calling gay unions “a scheme to destroy God’s plan” and “a dire anthropological throwback.” In that sense he was just echoing the homophobia of his boss, the Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, who in 2008 had asserted that saving humanity from homosexuals was as urgent as saving the rain forests from lumberjacks. But there was something especially hateful, something that moved beyond doctrinal defense into bald bigotry, about the way Bergoglio lashed out." (From (
http://news.yahoo.com/why-first-latin-american-pope-inspires-less-hope-005328205.html))
Pope Francis has inherited one helluva mess; waiting to see how he's going to deal with the sex scandals. This should be interesting.
june gloom on 14/3/2013 at 12:32
Quote Posted by Ostriig
Because electing whitey is by definition more backwards?
Consider that the Catholic Church is very strong, maybe its strongest, in South America, with deep footholds in central Africa. Who mostly lives in those regions? Brown people. Who did they pick? A not-brown person. If not backwards, then at the very least very out of step with its own demographics (and the real world, too.)
And of course the new guy is a fire-breathing gay basher, hooray.
Vivian on 14/3/2013 at 12:34
The catholic church is just the daily mail of religions anyway. Who cares which face they choose to troll us through? It's all going to the same 'lololololo gays and condoms' bullshit it's been for years.
june gloom on 14/3/2013 at 12:38
What's that make Southern Baptists? Because while the Catholic church may bang on the morality drum a lot, a good chunk of its adherents don't care. Southern Baptists, though... they're crazy.
Renzatic on 14/3/2013 at 13:36
Depends on where you're at. Most southern Baptists are just like anyone else. No more or less judgmental than anyone. Most of them seem to see church as one gigantic business network from what I've seen.
...then there are the snake handling churches.
SubJeff on 14/3/2013 at 13:43
Southern Baptists are a local thing though, they don't have the same exposure worldwide.
This guy sounds like a terrible person, but then he is a raving religious nut (as they all are) so...
icemann on 14/3/2013 at 13:55
The new pope's views on gay marriage, abortion and contraception leave much to be desired. Wont help much with declining numbers in churches. ABC over here in Australia, Melbourne did a story on that (declining numbers) featuring a local church in my area which has been bucking the trend with consistently big numbers of church goers:
(
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-13/australian-catholics-watching-closely-as-cardinals/4571462?section=vic)
Having been to a few mass's there I'd say its due to the difference in approach designed at enticing young people with some light comedy + comments about sports thrown in with the usual church proceedings.
Ostriig on 14/3/2013 at 17:18
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Consider that the Catholic Church is very strong, maybe its strongest, in South America, with deep footholds in central Africa. Who mostly lives in those regions? Brown people. Who did they pick? A not-brown person. If not backwards, then at the very least very out of step with its own demographics (and the real world, too.)
Okay, I see what you were getting at now with the demographics. It's a fair point, though judging from that angle it's still
some recognition they're giving to that aspect by electing an Argentine, the first non-euro pope in some thirteen centuries.
Also in that respect it's probably worth weighing the potential gains of a brown pope in South America against potential losses in some of their less open-minded white regions, like say half of Poland shitting a collective brick and mass changing to Protestantism or Orthodoxy. Or Atheism,
imagine the horror. Whereas I imagine that putting forward yet another white pope is not likely to affect their business in South America, at least not as much, even if simply due to force of habit. It's a delicate balance, all those fat untaxable profits ain't gonna make themselves.
Azaran on 14/3/2013 at 22:03
Quote Posted by Renzatic
Depends on where you're at. Most southern Baptists are just like anyone else. No more or less judgmental than anyone. Most of them seem to see church as one gigantic business network from what I've seen.
...then there are the snake handling churches.
If I'm not mistaken, the bulk of pesky, culture destroying missionaries in the 3rd world right now are mainly Baptists and Pentecostals.
