What I Think of the Pope
Recently the pope graced St. Louis with His Presence. The city, largely catholic, got whooped into a frenzy. Highways were closed, police officers were pulled from their regular duties, the public was inconvenienced, tax dollars were spent, and all for what? He has come and gone, and what has improved by his visit?
There are some important issues which are getting lost in the confusion. One is the attitude of the Church on charity. It is supposedly the position of the Catholic Church to be charitable to the poor, hungry and homeless. Yet this visit by the pontiff cost many millions of dollars. Much of this money ultimately came out of the pockets of St. Louisans, who might have better spent that money in paying off their credit cards and putting their kids through college. How many hungry people could have been fed with that money? How many homeless shelters could have been built? How much could have gone to medical research? The immorality of this situation is staggering. Keep in mind that the millions of dollars raised was to fund just one visit by the pope, to only one city. How much money could the church have ultimately raised?
With all the money that the Vatican possesses and controls, the world’s hunger problem could be solved. I have seen figures that 10 thousand children starve to death every day in Africa. Doesn’t the pope care about starving children? If he would just sell one of his rings or robes or paintings or sculptures, he could feed a village for a hundred years. Why doesn’t he? Why does the Vatican sit on billions of dollars while thousands of people die every day of hunger? Even more troubling, why don’t the people of the world, Catholics especially, have this question in their minds?
On the subject of population, the pope is the greatest threat to the human race. To travel to Africa, Central and South America and prohibit his millions of followers from the use of birth control, is causing the population to soar exponentially in these areas. (“Contraception contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love.” -Pope John Paul II ). This policy is immoral in the highest degree. The human population was 1.7 billion in 1925. This year it will officially reach 6 billion. Will it triple again in another 75 years or less, to 18 billion? It doesn’t take a genius to realize the danger in promoting uncontrolled population growth. This will lead to unbelievable suffering. The pope is wrong.The Pope’s Speech
The pope said some really wonderful things while he was here. Too bad none of it represents Christianity. The pope is merely riding the wave of public opinion polls, just like every other politician. He has said nothing new; nothing we have not heard before, and heard better. There are no revelations here. He says in his public speeches only what his followers want to hear.Family Values
The pope talked about family values. That ‘feel-good’ concept is totally foreign to the bible. Consider Jesus as an example. To his own mother he said: “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” (John 2:4). Jesus, the bringer of love, said: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26). “I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:35-36). Can anyone call that ‘family values’?
When one of his disciples requested time off for his father’s funeral, Jesus rebuked him: “Let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:22). Jesus never used the word “family.” He never married or fathered children.
In the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments mention: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” But does that sentence truly represent ‘family values’? Should a child who has been abandoned, or physically and sexually abused by a parent be forced to honor that parent? That is unbelievable. Honor is to be earned and deserved, not commanded. Also in the Old Testament is the proclamation that anyone who does not honor their parent should be killed. What kind of values are those?! How about the verse which proclaims that if a woman tries to get her husband to worship another god, that he should stone her to death. (Family values and religious tolerance all rolled into one!) Anyway, the pope is the last person on earth who should know about having a wife and children...So how did ‘family values’ find it’s way into pope John Paul’s speech? From the Church doctrine? From the bible? No way. The answer is that through the influence of public opinion, the Church has adopted a campaign which appeals to the 90's crowd. Did the Church ever talk about ‘family values’ during the Dark Ages? I don’t think so.
Racism
During his speech, which was designed to press his follower’s emotional buttons, the pope called for an end to racism. A truly noble, humanistic sentiment. But find that concept in the bible, if you can! Jehovah had no love for foreigners. He routinely ordered their murders. The American Civil Liberties Union has done far more to eliminate racism than all the popes who have ever lived. Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!Religious Tolerance
By holding a mass with both Jewish and Islamic religious figures, the Pope made a statement for religious tolerance. It appears that he condones the freedom of other religions. That couldn’t be further from the biblical ‘truth’. What would Moses have said? “Have no mercy on them, make no treaty with them; kill men, women, children and infants.”
The burning of unbelievers during the Inquisition was based on the words of Jesus: “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth... and men gather them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6) And how about this gem of gentleness from Jesus: “But my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” (Luke 19:27. In a parable, but spoken of favorably.)
Did the pope at the time of the Spanish conquests of Mexico speak out in favor of the rights of the natives? Hell no! He gladly received his profits from the plunder.
The question of Religious Tolerance of the Church is settled in this biblical commandment: "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods", do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death." Deut. 13:6-9. So much for religious tolerance.
The Death Penalty
The pope surprisingly spoke against the death penalty. Out of what left field did this come? The bible is very clear about the importance of capital punishment. The phrase: "and for this he shall surely be put to death" must appear hundreds of times in the bible.
“A perfect society has the right to existence...and the power of capital punishment.... The Catholic Church is a perfect society, and has the right to take means to safeguard its existence.” The Tablet, Nov. 5, 1938 (Roman Catholic Periodical). You don’t hear him apologizing for the murders of hundreds of thousands of accused witches, non-believers, homosexuals and other groups of people condemned to death by biblical law, nor do you hear him expressing regret over the murder of Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake in the 16th Century by the Church for saying the world is not at the center of the universe.
In his rant about the sanctity of life, did you hear pope John Paul recanting the words of Pope Pius XII, describing Adolph Hitler’s exploits as: “[A] high minded gallantry in defense of the foundations of Christian culture”?
As the use of torture and execution was abandoned by each county in Europe, one by one in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Catholic Church was the last entity to engage in these practices, not giving them up until the middle of the 19th century.So, when did things change?
Why did the values evolve? What happened to “The Rock” of Christianity? Has it suddenly improved? When did Catholicism become more humanistic? What used to be the doctrines of God we now credit to the devil. To parahrase Robert G. Ingersoll: The devil is as bad now as God was then, and God was as good then as the devil is now. And if the devil were to write a bible, how would it differ from Jehovah's bible on the subjects of slavery, the rights of women, religious tolerance, cruel and unusual punishment, and wars of extermination? If you don't know what I am talking about, you need to read the bible. Could a devil have written a worse book?Imagine a schoolyard bully, bigger than the other kids, with a stick in his hand, ordering others around with threats, beating them up if they don’t comply. That was the Catholic Church centuries ago- when they wielded the power to bring people before inquisitions and hang and burn them at will, regardless of nationality, regardless of innocence or guilt. Their doctrines were enforced by sword and firebrand, and freedom of thought and speech were nothing but a dream.
Now imagine all the other kids, banding together, ganging up against the bully, snatching the stick out of his hand, and surrounding him. Now the bully is outnumbered, his threats are worthless, is power taken away. Now he is willing to compromise. This is the Catholic Church nowadays. Stripped of its power, it can no longer kill those who disagree with its dogma.What is the Church’s real position on freedom of thought? Consider the words of Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua: “The wall of separation between church and state is a faulty metaphor that threatens religious liberty.” In other words, the Church wants the ‘liberty’ to crush all other religions, and the one thing that stands in their way is the concept built into the U.S. Constitution of the separation of church and state. How about the words of Father Nicolas Rashford, President St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia: “There’s been a freedom in the Catholic universities in the United States that at times is troubling. To constantly present both sides of an argument, at times you’re going to be presenting things that are not totally reflective of Church thinking.” Hmm, who ever heard of hearing both sides of an issue? The next thing you know is people will want to have their own opinions! Where will it end?
This sums it up: “It is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship, as if these were so many rights given by nature to man.” -Pope Leo XIII, "Great Encyclical Letters" (p.16)
How can any patriotic citizen follow these popes? The Vatican is un-American. The pope is a foreign agent, as are his cardinals, bishops, and priests.
Do you think the church gave a damn about religious tolerance 600 years ago? Or would they simply kill infidels, by fire and sword? Did the Church invent the idea of Human Rights? Or have they always been the worst violator of Human Rights? Were the Crusades an example of the Church’s religious tolerance, or an attempt to wipe out the competition? Consider this statement by Bishop Rowley, Catholic theologian: “It is not enough that one be pious and just; one must see to it that others are in the same state; and to this end, compulsion is a proper means.” In other words, you should use torture and murder to make others godly and just. How can anyone call themselves a catholic?
Has the Church grown more humanistic over the years? Certainly! Have they done so out of a desire to secure human rights? Hardly... The reason that the current pope’s speeches ring with public sentiment, is that the Church has lost the power of unconditional murder during the last 200 years. To keep its members, the Church can’t threaten them anymore with torture-- that’s against U.S. law. The Church has to re-mold itself and appeal to public opinion to keep its members from straying to more humanistic beliefs.
I, for one, can thing of nothing good that this pope (or any other) has done. Accept of course for the (somewhat lame) apology for the persecution of Galileo for saying the earth goes around the sun, and the public acceptance of evolution. But I don’t need him coming here and preaching against the American way. The pope should stay on his own soil where he belongs, and stay the hell out of America.
Click here to see the catalog of Catholic TORTURE DEVICES
Click here to read why Mother Theresa was not so great
See also The Changing Face of Human Morality