Actually, I've just seen a documentary on Bennedict. Interesting. They did rather gloss over his disgusting homophobia (they mentioned it for about three seconds).
I have a friend who believes the Alexandrian manuscripts (which is apparently what most Bibles, including the NASB, are translated from) are corrupted. He further stated that KJV alone is the least-corrupted translation (or at least the source documents used to create the KJV). Is this true? I...
@TRiG Have you ever had a bad nickname when you were a kid, or known someone who had? Try not to call Pope Benedict names. He's a person, whatever faults he has.
@Alypius I think standards of discourse toward public figures follow different rules. Namecalling, as such, isn't clever or useful (except, perhaps, to clear the air), but nor is it hurtful or damaging. As such, it's a matter of personal expression. The Pope is not a part of this community. If he were, I would express myself differently.
> I also draw a distinction between criticism of public figures and criticism of other commenters in this blog. If you want to call Rick Warren a bigot or Richard Dawkins a fascist, Ted Haggard a hypocrite or Sam Harris a fucking asshole, that’s more or less okay. ... But if Warren or Dawkins or Haggard or Harris were to show up in this blog and start commenting, I would ask people to stop that sort of language immediately.
He's one of my favorite people. It's not the sort of attitude that one might have to a famous actor to Catholics, but the sort of attitude you might have to a person who keeps paying off your loans and sending you gifts at Christmas for no reason.
While the policy you link is nice, it probably provides you with too good of an excuse to trash people. It doesn't matter if he's here, he's human. Treat him with respect.
Imagine the sort of affection you might have for someone who you don't quite know, but who you believe does very nice things for you, and takes care of you.
@Alypius And there are levels of respect. Yes, every human deserves a certain amount of respect, but Bennedict, by being an utterly despicably bigoted piece of homophobic trash, not to mention his various other moral failings, has squandered most of his.
Bizarre. I didn't think I'd be alerted to flags on my own comments.
(Also, the alert included the name of the person who flagged it, which is surely a privacy violation. I may take that up on Meta SO.)
I'm not going to argue about the definition of "homophobia" with you. You're on a site where there are many different types of people, not just "free thinkers", so the rules are different.
@Alypius In which case the disgustingly rude things Bennedict said about gay people would have got him banned, would they? Oh no, I forgot. We've had that discussion and found that on religious SE sites, gay people are an exception, and you're allowed to be as rude as you like. And then I got a bit bothered by that, and the community moderator Shog9 went out of his way to mock me and make me more annoyed when I was already clearly feeling upset.
And since then I've regarded myself as someone who hangs out here sometimes; not as a member of this community.
But meh. These things happen.
Hmm. Is there any way to search all chat rooms associated with a specific SE site? I know I once had a long conversation here with someone else about the "requirement" to be polite to people who don't deserve it. It was in a side-room on this site.
Pope Benedict (it's one N, for the sake of ctrl-f and searchability in general) is not on this site. I don't think it's a good thing for anyone to be rude, to homosexuals or to popes. All it takes is not calling him rude names. You can say his positions were disgusting, or homophobic. You don't need to call him trash, or compare him to Darth Sidious.
@TRiG It's not a matter of "going out of your way". It's a matter of not being rude. For all you know, I may be working against your rights - I'm Catholic, after all. That doesn't excuse anything, though.
@TRiG They're both important. In any case when someone mentions a pope, this isn't the start or end of any discussion about homosexuality. I'm not being extra nice to anyone because I did something bad recently, like Jack did in that movie.
Every single one of us has done utterly despicable things. But we're not involved in that discussion, nor in any discussion about the pope and homosexuality. Even if we were, we shouldn't trash other people. I don't actually believe that it's a form of effective social activism. It's just a way to incite anger in one's own self.
I can't imagine it feeling ultimately good. Benedict, who you feel wronged by, can't hear you, and the people that do are liable to dismiss you. But this isn't about social activism, because neither you nor I can do that on this site.
Well, you want what you say and think to be heard. I hear you, seriously. You have a really hard time and don't get nearly the compassion from others that is appropriate to you, as a human being.
@Alypius Meh. I'm alright, really. I'm in a weird demographic group, but a reasonably privileged one, and now that I'm no longer a Witness, am very rarely personally affected by overt homophobia.
(I'm also as "out" as I know how to be. Seriously. Rainbow wristband; T-shirts; annoying my housemates watching sport by picking out the cute players.)
In the aftermath of Enda Kenny's speech in the Dáil on the Cloyne Report, I thought this country might be changing, that we might get the politicians a little less under the thumb of the bishops, but progress seems to have stalled. It'll be a long slog.
By the way, are you familiar with the Church's views regarding sexual ethics? It explains some of the positions it takes in a way that might make the Church seem less... I guess inexplicably hostile and homophobic.
I don't quite think that excuses him for comparing the very existence of gay people to the destruction of the rainforests, though.
(Though I suppose I can give the Catholic Church some props for admitting that destroying the environment is a bad thing, unlike much of the American Religious Right, which apparently takes its theology from oil companies.)
You don't get to separate the person from their desires until death. And Catholics have similar problems of suffering when they try to separate themselves from (what they consider to be) sin.
Can Heaven and/or Hell Really Exist?
I think the question is okay. Might need a little work, especially clarifying a preferred opinion to answer with, but it is still good and belongs on the site.
I am very disappointed in the answers.
It seems everyone* has given their sort of opinion answer....
According to some Watchtower literature, it is taught that Michael the Archangel is Jesus and that Jesus, after He ascended into heaven, resumed the name of Michael.
"It proves Michael the archangel is no other than the only begotten
son of God, now Jesus Christ. The very name Michael means...
I have a friend who believes the Alexandrian manuscripts (which is apparently what most Bibles, including the NASB, are translated from) are corrupted. He further stated that KJV alone is the least-corrupted translation (or at least the source documents used to create the KJV). Is this true? I...
Can Heaven and/or Hell Really Exist?
I think the question is okay. Might need a little work, especially clarifying a preferred opinion to answer with, but it is still good and belongs on the site.
I am very disappointed in the answers.
It seems everyone* has given their sort of opinion answer....
According to some Watchtower literature, it is taught that Michael the Archangel is Jesus and that Jesus, after He ascended into heaven, resumed the name of Michael.
"It proves Michael the archangel is no other than the only begotten
son of God, now Jesus Christ. The very name Michael means...
The Upper Room
The Upper Room