Why, amid the confusion and irreparable vigilant damage being done daily on this planet, through incoherent attacks on nature, humans, rights, environment, knowledge, freedom... is the birthday of the Pope considered to be news. Why has the afternoon, mid-day no doubt, news taken to appeasing the religious apologists and given a voice to the damning austere of the catholic church?
Because religious people and religious views and hatred are always given a voice; religion has always been given respect for its entity-of-being and not for its position. It is respected because it is religion (entity-of-being) and not for its ideas, thoughts and admonishments. Not that it should, or could, be given respect for these things - the catholic faith especially - so it perhaps is obvious that the media ignores the multitude of culturally, socially, environmentally and natural atrocities of the church and focuses on it for rather meek and mild reasons. People fear taking a stand against something they dont believe in, for fear of public persecution. Is this a leftover from the dark ages, from the times where you could not speak your mind for fear of being killed? Has religion still staked its claim on our psyche after all these years of abolishing (or in the process of abolishing) the archaic mythical creation of hatred and self-importance? Do those with the public voice still fear pissing someone off by speaking what they think or, in this case, by simply not mentioning something?
A birthday. His birthday celebration coincides with the death of (today) hundreds due to AIDS, against which he prohibits using condoms to prevent; hundreds of unwanted child births and neglected children because he prohibits family planning of any doctrine; thousands of children growing up with skewed values and incongruent understandings of the world (understandings to which there is today no significant debate over, but that the catholic church 'damns' from their education). I could go on. I should, but I wont. It wont progress the point any further, it could only serve as fodder for further investigation and further understanding. However, I will say this: how many people have died because of the catholic church. How many cultures and histories have been (and are in the process of being) re-written by the hands of the church in absolute disrespect for the cultures and histories themselves? And we give this action the respect of a birthday wish?
Forget for the moment that this man does not matter - he has futile power, no doubt - but he does not matter. His birthday celebration, and dissemination to all of the world, signifies that the media wishes to give mercy and respect to an institution of hatred, suppression and vilification of others on the basis of ideology.
Not only should the birthday of any pope be ignored, but it should be vilified itself. Sever the ideology of those agnostic and religious alike from any contestable reason for believing that the church, let alone the catholic church, is a bastion of good faith and goodness. It is not, and it should not be made to represent something it is not.
Perhaps "pope Day" should be a day or giving: give out condoms, give out medicine, give out knowledge, give out free textbooks, give out understanding, give...give...give....for all the church has ever done is take and destroy. And it continues to do so, and we should not be expected to accept it on national radio, television or as a part of our national cognitive foundation.
I don't, and it is from knowledge and understanding that I reach these thoughts. Not from blind belief. Not from blind hatred. Not because I am afraid of "the other side of the wall" (thanks PZ...see previous post).
Sam Harris makes a veritable point: 'we (as a society) do not respect stupidity, but we respect religious stupidity'
If I were to tell you that my loaf of bread was the embodiment of a lost pet, and that by eating the loaf we are securing our love of said pet, you would think I was crazy and intellectually lacking. If a priest says that a cracker is the embodiment of the holy spirit (and thus god and jesus) and that by eating the cracker you will be saved, you would think it was sane. Only because stupidity is wrapped in the name of religion. When religion envelopes idiocy, it is granted respect. Why?
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