The Pope and Luke... together at last
Well, I've taken a few days off livejournal again. In the mean time, I see there's been a little drama over the death of the Pope. I don't guess I have a lot to say about it, but I'll go ahead and throw in my 2 cents a few days after the fact.
The Pope's death doesn't matter a lot to me. I'm not Catholic, so he's not really any type of authoritive figure of importance in my life. I never followed his papacy, so why would I get into it after he's dead when I didn't care during his life?
That said, I think there's also a bit of respect due to people who looked to the Pope as a spiritual leader. To get on here and bash anyone after death is disrespectful, especially if it's the head of your friends' faith.
"But I don't agree with the Pope!", you say? Who cares? Name one leader in the world that you agree completely with. There are none. No one in power agrees with those who aren't. The Pope is a religious figure, and his doctrine was based on his religion's belief. So he was against homosexuality... that's his religion's belief. I don't think he personally harmed any gay person in his lifetime, he just believes they cannot be married by the Catholic Church. I think that's a right of a church to decide who can be married in it. It's a travesty to me that the President of a supposedly secular nation wants to ban gay marriage in our country. People have a right to their beliefs and to pursue their own happiness. But if a church doesn't believe gay marriage is OK, is it any less oppressive to force them to condone gay marriage?
What I'm saying is, of course the Pope upheld some Dogmatic priciples... he's the fucking Pope! Of course he tried to convert others to his religion, he believed it was right! In his mind, converting someone to Catholicism was sharing love... not oppressing their beliefs. If you don't believe what he did, you have a right to refuse his belief system. I just think it's sad that your difference in faith has changed into a celebration of a person's death.
The Pope's death doesn't matter a lot to me. I'm not Catholic, so he's not really any type of authoritive figure of importance in my life. I never followed his papacy, so why would I get into it after he's dead when I didn't care during his life?
That said, I think there's also a bit of respect due to people who looked to the Pope as a spiritual leader. To get on here and bash anyone after death is disrespectful, especially if it's the head of your friends' faith.
"But I don't agree with the Pope!", you say? Who cares? Name one leader in the world that you agree completely with. There are none. No one in power agrees with those who aren't. The Pope is a religious figure, and his doctrine was based on his religion's belief. So he was against homosexuality... that's his religion's belief. I don't think he personally harmed any gay person in his lifetime, he just believes they cannot be married by the Catholic Church. I think that's a right of a church to decide who can be married in it. It's a travesty to me that the President of a supposedly secular nation wants to ban gay marriage in our country. People have a right to their beliefs and to pursue their own happiness. But if a church doesn't believe gay marriage is OK, is it any less oppressive to force them to condone gay marriage?
What I'm saying is, of course the Pope upheld some Dogmatic priciples... he's the fucking Pope! Of course he tried to convert others to his religion, he believed it was right! In his mind, converting someone to Catholicism was sharing love... not oppressing their beliefs. If you don't believe what he did, you have a right to refuse his belief system. I just think it's sad that your difference in faith has changed into a celebration of a person's death.