Pope backtracking on condom statement

I kind of get that, but I don't think there's anything really analogous in the public sphere to the notion of truth that churches peddles. Maybe I'm wrong, just my opinion. It just seems to me that public truths are always fickle whims, while churches attempt to find one "right" answer that is by its nature, timeless. I know I'm not phrasing this in the best way possible.... oh, well....

 

The Catholic Church, like every organized religion, is an organization that preys on feeble minded people too afraid to acknowledge their life is a fluke and there is no afterlife and, as such, makes dumb rules and guidelines based on an antiquated fictional book.

To consider anything they say seriously is ridiculous, offensive and downright disgusting.

 

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're saying. But the thing is, the church has re-evaluated its stance on plenty of other things, based on new information and new understandings of things.

 

Eh, I'm not sure I'd go this far. Or even close to it. As far as moral authorities go, one could do worse than the Bible. Not that it's always right, but most of the tenets in there are those we and most human societies adopt. Or at least it serves as a decent starting point, along with the English common law, etc., etc.

 

Very true. But most religions are naturally conservative in nature. Change generally happens slowly. It's just the nature of the beast. This is probably a step towards more acceptance of condoms by the Catholic church. But it's destined to be a slow process that happens over decades.

 

Never said it wasn't a great tool in the shaping of beliefs and ideas. The Bible is a great book. No different than fairy tales and Stephen King novels.

But to treat it like law is ridiculous and the biggest problem I have with religions as a whole is the whole "Well, either you believe what I believe or you're a sinner and going to hell."

My personal religious belief, which I would never force on anyone, is that there either isn't a God or I'm not capable of grasping the existence of one. I won't knock people for their personal beliefs, provided they keep them to themselves, but in cases like this, it's clear that there are too many people guiding their lives by people who are out of touch with the times and/or our of their mind.

 

If your view is that people shouldn't accept anything as a worthy authority without critically examining it for themselves - from the Bible to the Constitution to the sign that says "Don't Run in the Hallway" - sign me up.

 

That's essentially it. I don't care if you believe in God, Jesus, Buddah, Steven Tyler or Satan, if you're a decent person and you live a good life that doesn't hurt/harm anyone else, then, cool, you're awesome.

But when you look at religions, especially ones that blatantly discriminate against gays, women, e.t.c., and they say you have to do "X, Y, Z" or you're going to "the bad place with fire", it makes me violently angry, especially when, in my opinion, we're all equal and, as such, shouldn't be forced to follow anyone else's rules but our own, as a culture and as a society.

 

So, the Pope pulled out of his previous sexual position?

 

In this case, the church would at least be updating itself to match the views of a large large majority of its own patrons. It also would be standing behind its missionaries who do great and selfless work in the developing world, and who know the importance of population control.

The church has always seemed to be playing a little game on this issue, knowing it can stay morally correct because nobody pays any attention to this little part anyway.

 

Hate to say it, schiez, but you are being quite intolerant of the views of a whole hell of a lot of people. Not saying they should be able to push their views on anybody else. They shouldn't. But we shouldn't be disrespecting their beliefs, either.

 

Bottom line -- if you're not Catholic, what do you care what the Pope says? I'm not, I don't.