12 November 2013

Catholic Whining

I have two separate ideas for posts going through my head, and they're not compatible or related to each other, and I can't seem to make either work. So I'm going to just wing it. The first is about my mixed feelings about Remembrance Day and the second is about the Catholic Church. The Catholics seem easier to blog about, so...

I've heard rumblings that the conservative branch of the Catholics (like that asshole Bill Donohue, whose name I couldn't find, but Googled "fat conservative asshole" and it was in the second from the top) aren't happy with the new Pope. I like the guy. I'm not saying I'll go back to that church, because God knows there is still a long way to go (like ordaining women, making amends and reparations to the children who were abused, etc. ad nauseum). But he's made a good start, and I respect him for it.

The last few Popes have been icky. The previous one especially. I don't know why he stepped down, and I can't begin to guess how this guy was elected, but it was during the reign of JP2 that I left. Conservatives loved that guy. Ultra-conservatives loved Pope Palpatine Benedict. Francis? They're not a fan. And the whining is epic.

Aww. Poor Ms. Kurt. (Shouldn't that be Mrs. Kurt? Tsk tsk!) Poor butthurt Ms. Kurt. She doesn't like him. And why?
“It seems he’s focusing on bringing back the left that’s fallen away, but what about the conservatives?” said Ms. Kurt, a hospice community educator. “Even when it was discouraging working in pro-life, you always felt like Mother Teresa was on your side and the popes were encouraging you. Now I feel kind of thrown under the bus." 

Is she even kidding? No. She's not. But what about the conservatives? Sounds a lot like, "Why isn't he hating the same things I hate?" She feels thrown under the bus because he's not an asshole to women who choose what she considers to be a sin? Really? Wow. Entitled much?

"...they despair that after 35 years in which the previous popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, drew clear boundaries between right and wrong, Francis is muddying Catholic doctrine"
FFS. You mean the new guy says that there are shades of grey? OH NO. However will they manage?! Maybe, just maybe, they could rely on their own consciences instead of saying, "Yo, Pope! Who do I get to hate today?" Francis, like Jesus, is rather awesome at not condemning people. Oh sure, he'll boot them out of the priesthood if they directly disobey the orders of the church hierarchy, but I didn't hear him saying that guy would go to hell.

But you know who the Pope doesn't like? People who cheat on their taxes.  On that, he quotes Jesus saying that some sinners deserve to be tied to a rock and thrown into the sea. (Okay, he was talking about graft in the Vatican, but cheating on taxes is also stealing from the state.)
Christians who lead “a double life” by giving money to the Church while stealing from the state are sinners who deserve to be punished.
The Pope described people engaged in corruption as “whitewashed tombs”, explaining that “they appear beautiful from the outside, but inside they are full of dead bones and putrefaction.” A life based on corruption is “varnished putrefaction”, the Pope said.

Ooooh, them are fightin' words! Cons don't like being told they can't take bribes!

You know what's most interesting about all of this? The idea that people seem to be complaining loudly that this Pope isn't reinforcing their hate and intolerance and sin (I'm sorry - not really - but hate is a sin). They don't like being told to feed the poor, but they really hate being called out on their intolerance. Whiny Ms. Kurt doesn't like it that she's not being reinforced on her harassment of women. The internet mouthpieces don't like it that they don't get a simple way to say, "I'm right. You're wrong. You're going to hell! The Pope said so!" Sarah Palin is "taken aback" by his liberal statements, and she's not going to even believe he said those things. The media must be lying. Sure.

Here's the thing: Jesus said "feed the poor". The cons say, "Yeah, but he didn't say that Caesar should do it!" *sigh* Yeah. There's a difference. We live in a democracy, right? The government supposedly IS the people. The people who the cons say are mostly Christian. So why why why are they opposed to food stamps? And welfare? And various other programs for the poor? Why are they vilifying the poor? The mind boggles.