Andrew Sullivan is waxing rhapsodic about the Pope's words on gay people. Such Kremlin-watching is of purely academic interest to me - a straight atheist with no gay Catholic friends that I know of. Especially not hopeful priests. And I have to say that Sullivan would do well to wait until he sees substantial change (rather than a mere absence of judgemental language) before getting too enthusiastic.
What it does remind me of is how grateful I am to several centuries' worth of people who worked and sacrificed (for various reasons of their own) to leave me a world in which I am free to ignore what the Pope has to say.
I have no idea what he intends, and I have no evidence that someone chosen for his ability to climb a social hierarchy has any special insight into what is right and wrong. But I don't have to care! Where previous generations would be forbidden to marry those with the wrong opinion of the Pope (with or against), or find themselves shut out of jobs or even killed, I have the luxury of not even knowing what religion most of the people around me are.
Others do not have this luxury. Sanal Edamaruku is persecuted simply for exposing a "miracle" as a hoax. Raif Badawi is sent to prison and lashed for criticising Islamic religious figures, and risked death.
I would encourage Sullivan to quit worrying about what the Pope has to say. Take advantage of his freedom; turn his back on an institution that has no place for the likes of him. The more people do this, the less power these institutions will have over those who won't do their bidding.
It is institutional churches that provide power to the religious nutters to make the lives of others miserable. That same power can also be used to improve the lot of humanity, and the zealots are thus committing a double crime. But if institutions that persecute and divide are abandoned and perish, then by accident or design we will get churches that reject the hateful and the controlling.
I think I have just said that we need to apply evolutionary biology to religious institutions. 100% of your recommended daily intake of irony...
What it does remind me of is how grateful I am to several centuries' worth of people who worked and sacrificed (for various reasons of their own) to leave me a world in which I am free to ignore what the Pope has to say.
I have no idea what he intends, and I have no evidence that someone chosen for his ability to climb a social hierarchy has any special insight into what is right and wrong. But I don't have to care! Where previous generations would be forbidden to marry those with the wrong opinion of the Pope (with or against), or find themselves shut out of jobs or even killed, I have the luxury of not even knowing what religion most of the people around me are.
Others do not have this luxury. Sanal Edamaruku is persecuted simply for exposing a "miracle" as a hoax. Raif Badawi is sent to prison and lashed for criticising Islamic religious figures, and risked death.
I would encourage Sullivan to quit worrying about what the Pope has to say. Take advantage of his freedom; turn his back on an institution that has no place for the likes of him. The more people do this, the less power these institutions will have over those who won't do their bidding.
It is institutional churches that provide power to the religious nutters to make the lives of others miserable. That same power can also be used to improve the lot of humanity, and the zealots are thus committing a double crime. But if institutions that persecute and divide are abandoned and perish, then by accident or design we will get churches that reject the hateful and the controlling.
I think I have just said that we need to apply evolutionary biology to religious institutions. 100% of your recommended daily intake of irony...
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