Friday, April 22, 2005
meet the new pope.....same as the old pope
well i was debating about whether i should post about the new pope, mr. ratzinger the sixteenth. blah. i'll just put up a little something.
obviously i'm not really too happy about this pope, since, from what i've heard/read, he's even more conservative than the old pope. but i'm not actually catholic, as i think you all know, and have plenty of problems with the catholic institution as it is. (not actual problems where we argue or anything but problems where i think it's too conservative and oppressive and it thinks i'm going to hell).
my number one concern about the catholic institution's stance on anything is the whole condom issue. people in very poor countries who are uneducated about these things are contracting hiv/aids at an insane rate. such an incredibly high rate. yet the catholic church refuses to lighten up on the condoms thing. i think most american and european catholics are more educated and therefore use condoms/birth control even though the church says not to. but if you're a poor, uneducated woman living in third-world catholic africa or latin america or asia, what are you going to do? what if your husband contracts aids? and then you get it and pass it on to a child? all because the catholic church absolutely forbids the use of condoms. even among married couples. god it makes me sick the number of people who are dying because of this stubborn and unrealistic stance. that is john paul ii's legacy. and ratzinger xvi is not going to be any better on this issue, i'm sure.
of course there are other problems with the catholic institution. obviously i'm not anti-choice as they are. obviously i think that stance hurts women and families. that kind of goes without saying. i'm never going to agree with the vatican's ideas about anything relating to sex, i'm sure. but when it affects people negatively precisely because it's what they believe or are forced to believe and they end up getting hurt as a result of that, what kind of service is that institution doing to its members? it really makes my stomach churn.
and i was talking to my friend melissa last night whose mother is a german catholic and is kind of socially conservative, and i said, wow your mom must be happy about the new german pope, eh? melissa told me that her mom said most german catholics don't like the guy. i guess german catholics tend to be a little more liberal than catholics in other countries so they don't like him. also they have a priest shortage over there and a lot of germans want women to be able to become priests but ol ratzi is definitely not into that. i was surprised to hear that melissa's mom was supporting the idea of women priests. but why should women be involved in a religion in which they have no say? it's the same reason i don't understand mormon women. one mormon girl told me once that women can't hold any positions of power in the mormon church, and they are able to "serve god through their husbands". i thought that was about the most back-asswards thing i had ever heard.
well i was debating about whether i should post about the new pope, mr. ratzinger the sixteenth. blah. i'll just put up a little something.
obviously i'm not really too happy about this pope, since, from what i've heard/read, he's even more conservative than the old pope. but i'm not actually catholic, as i think you all know, and have plenty of problems with the catholic institution as it is. (not actual problems where we argue or anything but problems where i think it's too conservative and oppressive and it thinks i'm going to hell).
my number one concern about the catholic institution's stance on anything is the whole condom issue. people in very poor countries who are uneducated about these things are contracting hiv/aids at an insane rate. such an incredibly high rate. yet the catholic church refuses to lighten up on the condoms thing. i think most american and european catholics are more educated and therefore use condoms/birth control even though the church says not to. but if you're a poor, uneducated woman living in third-world catholic africa or latin america or asia, what are you going to do? what if your husband contracts aids? and then you get it and pass it on to a child? all because the catholic church absolutely forbids the use of condoms. even among married couples. god it makes me sick the number of people who are dying because of this stubborn and unrealistic stance. that is john paul ii's legacy. and ratzinger xvi is not going to be any better on this issue, i'm sure.
of course there are other problems with the catholic institution. obviously i'm not anti-choice as they are. obviously i think that stance hurts women and families. that kind of goes without saying. i'm never going to agree with the vatican's ideas about anything relating to sex, i'm sure. but when it affects people negatively precisely because it's what they believe or are forced to believe and they end up getting hurt as a result of that, what kind of service is that institution doing to its members? it really makes my stomach churn.
and i was talking to my friend melissa last night whose mother is a german catholic and is kind of socially conservative, and i said, wow your mom must be happy about the new german pope, eh? melissa told me that her mom said most german catholics don't like the guy. i guess german catholics tend to be a little more liberal than catholics in other countries so they don't like him. also they have a priest shortage over there and a lot of germans want women to be able to become priests but ol ratzi is definitely not into that. i was surprised to hear that melissa's mom was supporting the idea of women priests. but why should women be involved in a religion in which they have no say? it's the same reason i don't understand mormon women. one mormon girl told me once that women can't hold any positions of power in the mormon church, and they are able to "serve god through their husbands". i thought that was about the most back-asswards thing i had ever heard.
