From Kevin at Preemptive Karma (have I ever mentioned how much I love that blog name?), an in-depth look at something I blogged about recently, the progressive moral tradition in the Catholic Church. Seems there was a panel on Meet the Press on Easter Sunday, and one of the panelists, author Sister Chittister, asked some tough questions of the "religious right," like how they get off not caring about the poor and war, and supporting the death penalty:
Sister Chittister asks a profoundly important question here. Who deleted the rest of the Ten Commandments? The religious right pick out one (thou shalt not kill), put a hypocritical spin on it (more about that later) and virtually ignore the rest of the Commandments.
In Christian theology it is uniformly accepted that Jesus' Two Great Commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) sum up the Ten Commandments, with the greatest commandment, Love God, summing up the first four of the ten commandments and the second one, love your neighbor, summing up the remaining six of the ten commandments. Jesus then went on to say that "all of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
So how do the religious right justify singling out one commandment, removing it from it's context, and then smacking folks over the head with it?
I vote for Sister Chittister for Pope. Of course, I don't have a vote, being on the side of Satan, working to destroy the family and society, and aligning myself with moral depravity and the forces of evil. From Brent at Big Gay Picture:
Pope Benedict XVI, who gave a pre-Easter address, in which he refered to the "filth" in society that needed to be cleansed, the "diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family," and--if that's not enough--an "inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication." Everyone knew he was referring to GLBT people, and this week's election of a left-wing government in Italy that has said it will grant GLBT rights--a stand that caused the Pope to personally intervene in the election, siding (with) the losing right-wing candidate.
I think this is worth pondering for a moment. The Pope is clearly calling GLBT people "filth," accusing us of destroying the family and of being on the side of Satan.
Well, so much for being a good loser. But wow. What an ASSHOLE.
Or as I said to His Popeness last time we talked, I may sleep with girls, but at least I'm not a fucking former Hitler's Youth. I'm just saying.
One thing's first, the Catholic Church is not the entire Christian Comunity, so i'd be much appreciated if they would take that tag off. The non-catholics christians I know all dislike the Pope and none of us believe in Popes for that matter. The Pope should know better, and he should know that we are all sinners including himself, and we are no better than anyone else. On the other hand, the unfortunate Truth for the Gay crowd is that God made man and women for them to be together. And in the bible he condemns those who are..well gay. But never the less he does not send us to tell people who are not in Christ that they are on Satan's side or whatever that Pope said. Jesus never told any of the Prostitutes he preached to that they were on Satan's side. On the contrary. But the line draws when you decide to continue to live in disobedience. The thing is that God loves you wants you to be saved but under his conditions. Which exclude the practice of homosexuality. But that is strictly between you and God. And we have no right to call anyone a (insert here the nasty words the pope said).
Posted by: Rita | 17 April 2006 at 03:02 PM
Well, first, I don't put tags in my posts, Typepad does that based on the content. If the word Xian is in there, it apparently tags it thusly.
Second, I really couldn't care less what the bible has to say because it's a load of hooey. Jesus is just a guy, and if your god has a problem with me, that's your god's problem, not mine. But since you made him up, it's actually no one's problem.
Third, this is my house and in my house, you don't get to tell me what to do. But thanks for playing.
Posted by: Christie Keith | 17 April 2006 at 03:12 PM
Rita, from Genesis to Revelation there is only one sin that is considered to be unpardonable... and it ain't being gay. I submit to you that you've got the proverbial cart in front of the horse.
Posted by: Kevin | 19 April 2006 at 07:38 AM
Well I'm sorry for having an opinion. I forget how people hate being confronted. And kevin by the word condenm I was trying to say that He doesn't like. And the exact word used in the bible is that its abominable.
Thanks for reading the comment though. And again, sorry for commenting.
Posted by: Rita | 19 April 2006 at 08:06 PM
Rita, why don't you try actually defending your position without resorting to whine whine whine sorry I had an opinion and "the bible says it, I believe it, that's enough for me"?
Because regardless of how compelling that argument is to YOU, to someone like me who thinks the bible is just a book and Jesus is just a guy and that you believe in a god you totally made up, it's babble. YOU are responsible, and YOU alone, for the things you choose to believe, and what you say. Attributing it to god or the bible or whatever is just a huge cop out. Stand up and have the courage of your convictions. If you think I'm going to burn in the fires of hell for sleeping with girls, then don't go hiding behind the pages of the bible to make it seem like just a hard fact, like gravity, that you personally aren't responsible for. How very convenient.
I also find it extremely amusing that you think me and/or Kevin "hates" being confronted... not sure which of us that was addressed to ... but it's YOU who is running away with your tail between your legs.
Posted by: Christie Keith | 19 April 2006 at 10:45 PM
I thought Sister Joan was great too. I have the complete transcript and a video link posted over on my blog if you want to see it again www.paxsummit.blogspot.com .
Something for you to think about before you completely condemn the Pope... do you think he could have been talking about capitalism? That has been a recurring theme at the Vatican for some time now. (Rabbi Lerner discussed the concept of the focus of capitalism on money and possessions being at the root cause of the decline of the family at length on Meet the Press as everyone appeared to nod.) If you read Benedict's encyclical Deus Caritas Est you might not develop an appreciation for him, but you might hate him a little less. My favorite quote from the encyclical is "as a community the Church must practice love". That doesn't sound like Hitler youth to me.
Posted by: Kathy | 21 April 2006 at 10:59 AM
::: If you read Benedict's encyclical Deus Caritas Est you might not develop an appreciation for him, but you might hate him a little less. ::
I wouldn't say I hate him. "Hate" is an awfully powerful and destructive emotion. My own post (linked to within the post to which these comments are replying) was actually appreciative of progressive moral tradition of Roman Catholicism, the faith I was raised in, and compared it favorable to fundamentalism.
There have been popes and other leaders within the RC church who I have admired while still thinking they were wrong on certain issues. Being anti-gay would not be enough to make me have a real crusade against someone, as long as THEY didn't make it a crusade.
But this pope strikes me as being among the worst of the church, not the best. I like it when the pope, any pope, rags on the US or other nations for intolerance or greed, but honestly, shouldn't that be the BARE MINIMUM one would expect from clergy, that they should care about the suffering of humanity?
Posted by: Christie Keith | 21 April 2006 at 11:10 AM