Thursday, April 07, 2005

Late night ramblings...

Here it is 4 am and I cannot sleep. Toss. Turn. Twitch. Wiggle the ol' mouse and voila! the room lights up with a phosphorescent glow. Oh? What's this? Someone has posted to my blog! Oh! And he/she is upset at my pope posting. YES!!! There is a God. Finally, a reader! But no! I've angered my lone reader. Hmmm.... what to do? I could follow the lead of my journalistic brethren and print a retraction. Or I could explain that discussion and difference of opinions is what makes the blogoworld go 'round. But, she/he is unlikely to read it anyway. So, for my own personal edification, here is my response to the response of my views on JP and the Catholics:

Anger, bile, and vengeance. They seep into the human psyche like thieves in the night, stealing away our happiness. Even those of us alert to such insidiousness fail to keep them at bay from time to time. I'm afraid that this is what has happened to our fearless blogger. In a space I originally designated for tolerance and discussion, I have blasphemed. Forgive me. Maybe JP wasn't such a bad guy after all. However, this does not entail that I support the views of the Catholic church. Any institution that can offer a haven for pedophiles while simultaneously denouncing homosexualtiy and seeking to undermine women's rights cannot be an entirely altruistic entity. These allegations are only the most recent of misbehavior by our Catholic friends. I wholeheartedly support belief in whatever religion, faith, or belief you choose. However, when your beliefs have so much pull on society that they begin to effect me, expect me to examine them critically. Christ taught tolerance, forgiveness, and goodwill toward your fellow man. Anyone with any background in history whatsoever will realize that these are not always the same values advanced by the Catholic church. We too often forget that the Church of today, while certainly more tolerant than in the past, is still the same institution that endorsed witch burning not so long ago. Many of the beliefs and dogma of the Church are relics of this past. It is for these reasons that it pains me so to have my news pre-empted by the pope's death. Why not show all of the children in Africa dying of aids primarily because the Church forbids the use of birth control? Isn't that news? Why not show how otherwise normal men and women are forced to hide their sexuality because of an atmosphere of intolerence that the Church is responsible for endorsing? Isn't that news as well? Or maybe even some news about the relief work that the Church is doing in some rural area? There are a great number of good things that the Church is responsible for as well. It seems very arrogant and useless to me for the news to focus on this one man to the exclusion of all the other news they could be reporting. Especially when there's a war going on in Iraq and more on the horizon with Syria and North Korea. Perhaps there's a little more impact on us from these things than there is in the death of a religious icon. Perhaps I should be a good pantheist and just look at this as part of the way things will be. That the play will play itself out with proper rhythm and time despite my protestations.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home