Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

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Kim OHara
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Kim OHara »

daverupa wrote:"By failing to live by the letter of the texts, while tolerating the irrationality of those who do, religious moderates betray faith and reason equally."

Sam Harris
Once I worked out what that meant :tongue: , I agreed with it ... mostly, anyway.
Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax said much the same sort of thing (in Carpe Jugulum, IIRC), berating the Omnian [read 'Christian'] missionary for being too milk-and-water when he should have been fire-and-brimstone if his faith were wholehearted.
Aussie philosopher Tamas Pataki said it too, more formally and at greater length, in Against Religion.
Are they all correct? Yes, but we are better off not saying it too loudly or too often because the more relaxed the monotheists become regarding the letter of the texts, the more reasonable they can become in dealing with those who don't share their beliefs.

Getting back to the topic: I think it's a good thing that Benedict has retired. Two reasons: (1) he was always a reactionary and the world needs a more progressive Pope, and (2) his retirement breaks another shackle-of-the-past and the Catholic church needs to get better at that.
But let's be polite to each other - it's a small planet. :group:

:namaste:
Kim
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m0rl0ck
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by m0rl0ck »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:A friend of mine posted on Facebook the Vatican's new Help Wanted ad:


WANTED:
Someone to replace a former Hitler youth as Vice-President for a large multi-national organization.

MUST HAVE:
1. A strong work ethic
2. Indifference toward a history of violence and oppression
3. Antiquated and bigoted belief system
4. Ability to look the other way at widespread violations of office policy on sexual harassment.
5. Strong communication skills (commands from the head office may be non-existent, and/or vague to the point of fractious disputes over interpretation)

Familiarity with Latin and/or Microsoft Excel is considered a plus.
:jumping:
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.” ― Robert M. Pirsig
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Kim OHara
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Kim OHara »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:
Jay1 wrote:The website is biased.
The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
Just how can a non-existent disembodied intelligence be cruel?
:shrug:
Kim
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manas
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by manas »

I'm disappointed with how he dealt with (or rather, didn't deal with) the abuse of children that has brought warranted disgrace to the Catholic Church. But I must admit, I find his letter of resignation to be quite moving, and to my mind, it sounds quite humble and sincere. And, there is a softer, more kind expression in his eyes now; as if something has changed in him.

:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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Ben
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Ben »

I won't be shedding any tears for pope ratzinger.
And, I get my name back.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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Sam Vara
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Sam Vara »

Let's send the man a little good will, whatever we think of his organisations and beliefs. He is 85, and has admitted to being mentally and physically too frail to do what he presumably thinks is the most important task in the world.
Fully worn out is this body, a nest of disease, and fragile. This foul mass breaks up, for death is the end of life.
Something very similar will come to all of us.
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Jay1
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Jay1 »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:
Jay1 wrote:The website is biased.
The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
It showcases a fundamental misunderstanding of the Christian faith. It doesn't expose evil acts of God because it does not understand scripture.
beeblebrox
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by beeblebrox »

Sam Vara wrote:Let's send the man a little good will, whatever we think of his organisations and beliefs. He is 85, and has admitted to being mentally and physically too frail to do what he presumably thinks is the most important task in the world.
Fully worn out is this body, a nest of disease, and fragile. This foul mass breaks up, for death is the end of life.
Something very similar will come to all of us.
Hi Sam,

Thank you for making this post.

:anjali:
Kim O'Hara wrote:
LonesomeYogurt wrote: The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
Just how can a non-existent disembodied intelligence be cruel?
Exactly... I think this sort of thing is a bit unfortunate. It's a bizarre world that we live in.

:anjali:
Coyote
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Coyote »

Personally I find the history of the modern Catholic church fascinating an await to see which direction the next pope takes the church. The man was a great scholar and theologian (so I'm told) so it will be interesting to see where his influence takes Catholic doctrine and practice. I think we live in "interesting times" with regards to traditional ecclesiastical Christianity. Just from my nerdy historian point of view it has been really interesting watching from the sidelines to see how he has influenced the church and how he contended with his predecessors legacy, not to mention the various scandals ect. It's a pity this history has to happen in the real world though, it's easy to forget that.
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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Jason
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Jason »

Personally, I can't say that I'm sad to the pontiff — who, among other things, called Buddhism "self-indulgent eroticism" and thought it was OK to say that condoms increase the problem of AIDS in a country where 22.5 million people are living with HIV — go. Not really a huge fan, although I'm sad to see that it's because his health is declining.
  • Like massive boulders,
    mountains pressing against the sky,
    moving in from all sides,
    crushing the four directions,
    so aging and death
    come rolling over living beings:
    noble warriors, brahmans, merchants,
    workers, outcastes, & scavengers.
    They spare nothing.
    They trample everything.
    - SN 3.25
Last edited by Jason on Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ground
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by ground »

Lucky Pope, he is able to let go being aware that capacities are limited in the sphere of aging and death. Wisdom is independent of religion. :sage:
alan
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by alan »

In a more rational world, the Pope would be a subject of mockery.
Take over the Vatican, sell it's assets, and spread that money to all the poor families in the third world who have suffered from the idiotic policy that bans contraception. That's what we should do.
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by tiltbillings »

  • Buddhism

    Though his advent was congratulated by Buddhist leaders around the world, [3][4] critics remembered that in March 1997 Cardinal Ratzinger predicted that Buddhism would, over the coming century, replace Marxism as the main "enemy" of the Catholic Church. Some also criticized him for calling Buddhism an "autoerotic spirituality" that offered "transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations", though that might be a mistranslation from the French auto-erotisme, which more properly translates to self-absorption, or narcissism.[37][38] Also the quote did not address Buddhism as such, but rather about how Buddhism "appears" to those Europeans who are using it to obtain some type of self-satisfying spiritual experience.[39]
    -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology_o ... nedict_XVI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
jonno
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by jonno »

Hi all.I've no intention to enter into any contraversary , or to criticise anyone. I simply feel that as Buddhists we should practice forgiveness understanding and compassion for all beings. Namaste Jonno
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James the Giant
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Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by James the Giant »

Waa-hee!
In 1990 Ratzinger commented on the Galileo affair, and quoted philosopher Paul Feyerabend as saying that the Church's verdict against Galileo had been "rational and just".
The Pope about Harry Potter books:
"these are subtle seductions which act imperceptibly and thereby deeply, and dissolve Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly."
Distributing condoms to help prevent HIV:
"would result in at least the facilitation of evil".
About Gay and Lesbian people adopting children:
"Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children."
On LGBT rights:
"The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity."
And
"although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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