Thursday, January 15, 2015

The Pope is wrong

In response to the Charlie Hebdo attack, Pope Francis said the following during his visit to the Philippines:
"One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith; There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity ... in freedom of expression there are limits."
NBC

No. Wrong. Not in a free society. One cannot claim an exclusion to speech that is only conciliatory to religion...and still claim free speech. The right of free speech is the essential underpinning to religious liberty.

I'm disappointed to hear this from the Pontiff.

On the flipped, claims of religious liberty have been bandied about recklessly in this nation. And are just as misguided. One does not have a right to use government a a venue to validate or promote any religion, and still call it a free society.

Religion is belief. Religion is faith. The liberty to practice and worship as we please [or not] is a base component of freedom. Using government as a vehicle to promote religion, or restrict criticism of religion.....perverts both faith and government.

8 comments:

  1. The Pope was just pointing out that we shouldn't be surprised by the consequences of certain actions. Of course he's right. It's reality. We may not like it, but that's the way it is.

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, he went beyond that. He did speak of consequences, but by the statement above, he places the burden on those exercising liberty....rather than the insecure and offended; providing a veneer of justification for assault based on having your feelings hurt.

      Delete
  2. I think it is a good idea to refrain from unprovoked attacks on the beliefs of others. It's called toleration.

    However, governments should not codify this into law.

    If I have the right to preach some religion or philosophy in the public square, then others have the right to rebut me. Religious people most of all should see this as a guarantor of their rights.

    ReplyDelete
  3. He is very very very wrong.

    Jersey didn't get it. He deserves a bacon sandwich.

    Silver: I think I see what you are getting at. Manners have no place in law.

    By the way, now I hear that the parliament of Pakistan (a savage nation founded on the idea of religious oppression... and which has rape as a part of its criminal justice sanctions) is going nuts against cartoonists.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Agreed CI. The Pope is also on board with man made GW. The Pope is not very intelligent or is working an agenda..

    ReplyDelete
  5. We should always be surprised that mere words, or cartoons, could bring about any consequences whatsoever! The notion that it could is so antithetical to every idea of freedom as to beggar belief. That those consequences arose from those with no inhibitions whatsoever concerning burning Christian churches, using Buddhist relics for artillery practice, and beheading anyone opposing them is appalling. You and Francis both need to pull your heads out of your asses. It's affecting your vision.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How is it that religion came to be (in the minds of some folks) the one area of human inquiry in which we're not supposed to use our reason and irreverence in regard to?...Of course the Pope was wrong.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.