Pope Pours Gas on the Fire
 

First off, I'm going to state that I'm not a Roman Catholic.
I'm not quite sure what Benedict's intentions are but he certainly has riled up the "hornet's nest".
I've always gone by the saying, "If you pour gasoline on the fire, there's no certainty that the fire is going to go out."
Here's the article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091500800.html

If anyone can explain this, I'd appreciate it.
DTS

Well if have been following this current Pope he has been called "God's Rotweiller", he has always been about adhering to the strict dogma of Catholicism and Christianity, whether it cause controversy or division. All he did by the way was "quote" the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, stressing they were not his own words.

Yeah, I suspect that if I started quoting from Mein Kampf, I'd get a chilly reception in Israel...simply a stupid topic to publicly explore...apologize quickly and repeatedly and avoid similar minefields in the future!

Thanks for your input, Seattle.
It kind of confuses me as to why he'd be quoting a 14th century, Crusade era emperor during these times.
Do you think he's trying to inflame circumstances?
If you have an insight to his intent, let me know what he seeks to accomplish.
Thanks.

maybe he should go back to telling catholics what movies they can see and what books to read--as well as counting out his tithes. but he also might think before he starts quoting people from SEVEN CENTURIES AGO! he may not be an idiot (some may be uncomfortable at seeing 'pope' being linked with 'stupid') but he certainly did an idiotic thing. why? who knows...maybe he thinks he can say whatever he wishes, since he's the pope. just what we needed.

hell, whatdya expect. they just apologized for the inquisition a few years ago--apparently the catholic hierarchy has no concept of TIME. and if i ruffled feathers of any catholics out there reading this....i was raised one, altho i no longer consider myself as being one.

Ironic that each of your posts ends with a quote from a Pope...lol!

lol

ain't it tho??

I'm guessing it will get worse before it gets better.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D8K5H39O2.html

he seeks to drive out this moral relativism that the world has currently enveloped itself in, and to give a clear set of doctrine to which does not give in to the times and mores of the present world. Something that will not change or unwaver, then again you can see that fallacy with the whole premise of the Vatican and organized religion. Its basically men interpreting God's word, and as well we all know is a very powerful and dangerous thing.

well, it doesn't help when the offended get hysterical about it either. certainly going full tilt in their remarks. what he said was inflammatory, but i think it's incorrect to compare the pope to hitler and mussolini. he quoted a text, he hasn't killed millions of people!!

but yeah, it'll get worse. hopefully the pope will hurry up and apologize. but going by past experience, that's not going to happen.

Ratzinger will not apologize for anything, nor should he. Thats what he thinks, thats how he has always operated, to apologize right now would tarnish the hardline Catholic's image and somewhat shake the faith of people who have agreed with his views, after all he is the head human leader of the Catholic church. I think he was just basically condemming jihad and "holy war", the other stuff he said was the one that caught headlines.

Seattle,
It really doesn't take much effort to keep one's mouth shut.
He could have said these things a year ago.
Why now?
Do I see a "grandstander"?
His inflammatory words go against all the teachings of the messiah he "represents".
Duh??

Agree DTS!
To everything there is a season....and a time to keep one's mouth shut!
There are millions of angry followers of Islam around the world, it takes very little to set them off...there was absolutely nothing to be gained by "preaching to the choir" here...and a lot of political ramifications to be suffered. I admit that I have problems with some old man telling folks what is holy and what is not, but I respect the Catholic religion, their stand on a lot of issues is 100% correct in my opinion but this is a mess!! Needless!!!

he had no business citing an obscure 14th century text (this is the 21st century after all) and bashing the prophet of their religion. if he wanted to criticize the actions of extremists, then by all means, have at it.
i agree with you about so many conflicts occurring due to religion.
love thy neighbor, unless he doesn't believe in the same religion--then you cut off his head. um, sure. makes perfect sense, right?

I too ... see absolutely nothing wrong with what the Pope said.

Islamic fanatics have been murdering innocent people since the 7th century ... nearly 1400 years of continuous slaughter ... isn't it about time they stopped ...

... or were made to stop?

What a foolish thing to say ...

... when all the Islamists do ... every single day ... is quote from an 8th-century text. The 14th century in Europe was a highly enlightened time ... especially when compared to 8th-century Arabia.

I see no reason for anyone to apologize to people who have been on a continuous, murderous rampage for 1400 years.

From here out, your name is changed to "LUMPY."

That's for your looney generalization of an entire race of people based on the actions of a relative few.

S2S,
Good one! "Lumpy" it is.
I'll just say that I have as much of a problem with Urban II as I do with other religious zealots. The wounds are deep. Pouring salt into them will not help their healing.
"Lies to the left of me, jokers to the right..."
May the same God that serves as the foundation of their "faiths" bring sanity.
DTS

Seattle,
He apologized.
I don't think it will put out the fire, but it could have been avoided.

nah, he half-assed apologized.

i'm sorry you were offended. not i'm sorry i said something offensive.

reminds me of a story my husband told me some time ago.
he called his brother stupid. his mother told him to apologize. so he did. i'm sorry you're stupid he said... the pope reminded me of that. he didn't say i'm sorry that i used the words of someone who accused your prophet of being cruel and inhuman to make my point. he said i'm sorry they misunderstood what he was saying. pfffft.

I should have put up this link...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1998666.cms

Dead on.

Hard to imagine the Pope and his advisors not knowing how his remarks would be taken.

you're talking about the catholic church. they don't care. they have their own agenda, the hell with anything that gets in its way. look at the aids epidemic in africa. the church was asked to soften it's stance on birth control, as condom use no doubt would impact the future of aids on that continent. OH NO...we can't do THAT. use of birth control is a sin--but turning a disinterested eye while an epidemic rages isn't i suppose. save lives?? HAH. nope, gotta promote their stance on the issue. no condoms, better to die than possibly prevent a pregnancy....

Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Muslims, etc., they are all full of crap and have their own agenda. To think one religion is worse than the others is ridiculous. Each one is full of it. Not one of them is about anything more than money. God=Good, Religion=Bad.

you forgot to finish with ' and that'll cost you 10%'

yeah, they all are--but since this thread was on the catholic church, i pretty much stuck with them.

ok..so if he "half - assed apologized, does that mean that "papal infallability"
no longer applies?
If you're half wrong, does that mean you're only half right?

i think papal infallability went down the tubes with galileo, didn't it? or maybe with the borgia pope.... or maybe when free will was suddenly hunky dory, after years of being declared a heresy if you dared suggest man had free will....or how about when limbo was suddenly no longer in effect.

pfft again.

The last paragraph of this article says more.
I haven't read the speech.
Seems to me he's charted a course that will have ongoing repercussions.
A dead nun in Somalia, diplomats recalled from the Vatican...geesh!
Can anyone please explain what the heck he's doing?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...362944,00.html

I'm still trying to figure out Benedict's agenda. Lots of apologies, but the flames are roaring.
I agree with the last paragraph of this article,"calm and dialogue".
It might take a while to calm this fire down.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...s_Mideast.html

In today's world news...
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...ni_sept19_2006

More news...
http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D8K7B5UO1.html

As of today, I would have thought things would calm down a bit.
Not so.
Despite three messages of regret, the murder of a nun in Somalia, and six churches in Gaza and the West bank torched, there are calls for Holy War throughout the Islamic world. The Crusades have not been forgotten.
Is this Revelation in the making?
I sure hope not.
Faith can not be brought with the sword, any more than it can be by inflammatory speech.

I pray for peace.

Sad and scary!

Timm,
It is very sad and scary.
I just saw something from London where an Islamic cleric called for the assasination of the Pope...burning flags and effigies..outrage.
Tragic stuff!
This will breed more religious fanatics (terrorists).

What's ironic about this whole thing is that these militant Muslims are making the Pope look like he was right. The Pope was saying that it's a violent religion and now these militants are calling for the killing of the Pope and the killing of Christians, etc.

You would think that they would do the opposite. If they want to show that the Pope's remarks were incorrect, they should all be calling for restraint. They should be saying that his comments were incorrect and ignorant. By calling for violence, they are making his comments look correct.

That is the only religion that you are not allowed to say anything bad about. If you say anything bad about their religion they want to kill you.

Sounds like this is the only thing these factions agree on....

This article is pretty long but definitely worth the time.
It one of the clearest explanations I've seen.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/70300.html

No, I believe you are wrong. Nearly all Muslims practice and are here practicing restraint. However, the fraction of a percent of Muslms that does not is what makes news or, better said, is considered newsworthy by those who have newspapers and airtime advertising to sell.

Nearly all Muslim clerics and community leaders have indeed accused the Pope of displaying ignorance or bigotry. Arguably true.

Yet today, the Muslim Council of Great Britain welcomed and accepted the Pope's apology for his remarks.

You won't see this reported on Fox News nor will it see much airtime on CNN or the U.S. broadcast networks. That's just the way it is. BBC certainly had more balance to the story than the U.S. networks as I watched the news today.

When you say of Islam, "That is the only religion that you are not allowed to say anything bad about. If you say anything bad about their religion they want to kill you," that is lamentable and very wrong.

One observation I've made is that you rarely just see one comma. They usually come in pairs. And you rarely see intolerance without ignorance.

I say this not of you but of all of us.

The pope made the Catholic church look foolish. And then at the same time made the more radical elements of Islam look like rabid dogs. Again they take to the streets, just like with the idiotic cartoons, and make themselves look like out of control thugs.

So it was a good week for the atheists. They got not only ONE but TWO of the world's largest religions looking like war-mongering fools.

Is there anyway for the leader of a religious group to just say, "yeah, whatever." ? And then mildly go about their day without imposing their unyielding, intolerant insanity on others.

Yes I heard the great outcry from the Imams saying, yeah, whatever. Dont take to the streets, it would just be foolish and make us look like the West wants us to look... Intolerant, violent, zealots.

Sadly, I did not see any statements from Islamic leaders that this was a somewhat ignorant regretful statement, BUT, dont be as stupid as this Western religious leader who made a statement he really should apologize for. Did you see any mention of this STS? Hold back, we are better than that?
I did not.