Well, thank you for telling me that, because before you gave me that advice, I was just admiring the pretty shapes that the letters make. Oh! Pretty, pretty letters!
Here’s the headline again. “Pope Tells Clergy in Angola to Work Against Belief in Witchcraft”
Now, lets look at the different ways that sentence could be ironic. It could be a form of verbal irony…the pope could really be telling his clergy that he wants them to work toward belief in witchcraft. It could all be one big attempt at sarcasm on the pope’s part, but I doubt it.
It’s clearly not dramatic irony…this isn’t a work of art, where we’re privy to special information the characters don’t have due to our omniscience as readers. You, I, the headline writer, the writer of the OP, and the Pope are all in the same boat here.
And it’s not some sort of greater irony of fate, where the Catholic Church actually practices witchcraft without realizing it, even though madmonk28 is seeming to suggest otherwise.
Finally, I have no evidence to suggest that the pope has more than the 1/10th of an ounce of iron in his body that most adult men have. He’s never been diagnosed with hemochromatosis or anything like that, so he’s no more irony than anyone else.
So, having read for comprehension thanks to your helpful tips, I still don’t see the irony.
It is EXACTLY this form of irony, as the Catholic church DOES practice a form of witchcraft without realizing it.
They sprinkle holy water, they burn incense, they offer sacrifices, they pray to a supernatural being for forgiveness and guidance. Oh, and they wear goofy hats.
No, not the same thing at all. We in the US admit that we were wrong about slavery and don’t practice it anymore. The Pope is speaking out against another dogma while still promoting his own.
This would be like saying that we can still practice slavery because we take very good care of our slaves. But you, your abuse your slaves. So no slaves for you.
AND! Where does the Pope get off telling others that their dogmatic beliefs are wrong. The practices associated witchcraft may be every bit as effective as those of his church.
It would be more ironic if he was exhorting people to pray to end witchcraft.
I suppose a black fly in your chardonnay would be ironic if you only had $5 and were considering ordering a plate of flies, but instead went for the wine.
I didn’t specifically mention torture but since your brought it up, didn’t a certain US president authorize torture because it was acceptable within his own personal religious dogma? Would have Bush tortured if he wasn’t getting the OK personally in answers to his prayers?
And what about the churches policies concerning birth control and in effect the promotion of population growth. Do you not think that this dogma is in part responsible for a great deal of human suffering?
I do think that the Catholic church does good work. But I wish they would leave the bullshit at the church while they are doing the good work.
I didn’t get that last part, stick what up my ass?
It would be more ironic if he was exhorting people to pray to end witchcraft.
Come now, that’s implied isn’t it? Pray to end witchcraft or go to hell.
But now that I think about it, the Pope does believe in the devil and hell. So it’s really not a stretch to believe that witches and their power do exist. Like maybe an extension of the devil. In that case not Ironic! But still a bunch of bullshit.
You don’t see any irony whatsoever in a headline stating that a self-proclaimed wizard is calling other self-proclaimed wizards false? Not just a tiny bit?
So it’s your position that the Pope does not claim to be able to turn bread into human flesh and wine into blood? One magic trick’s as good as the next, is it not?
I always think a good way to get an objective picture of your practices is to imagine reading about them in an anthropology text written by an alien culture:
THEOPHAGY IN RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
Dressed in elaborate ceremonial garbs, the priest utters mystical incantations over the fermented grape juice and unleavened bread. The adherents believe the food and drink is thereby transformed into the flesh and blood of their deity, which they then consume in an elaborate ceremony.