“Take your Jedi weapon! Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete!”
Oh, simple lives, ay?
My life gets any more simple I’ll be grinding my own flour and will simply die if I have a medical problem rather than be able to afford a doctor. My possessions will be reduce to what fits in a filched grocery cart.
Poverty SUCKS. Gimme a JOB and a LOT OF MONEY!!!
Considering that he’s ALSO seen as living at the North Pole, it’s typically seen as “warm”. Not to mention that a mythic figure that hands out loot doesn’t exactly stand for a rejection of material things.
Surely not giving all one can is an interference with that mission? If I recall correctly, you (and the Pope) have the backing of Jesus on this particular one (at least as far as relative trifles go), but how is the analysis that it does not interfere performed?
I’m afraid I shall have to be one of those people, though I haven’t visited the place. I, as an atheist, can certainly see the worth in something architecturally and artistically impressive for its own sake; even as such I can see how an impressive or magnificient building, finery, or ceremony can aid with the spreading of the Word. Too, a building may last for many years, while the money that might have come from it instead might not, though that’s somewhat more arguable. However, I honestly cannot agree that the Pope’s finery does him better on the Church’s mission than were he to perhaps use cheaper materials and donate the rest. And I don’t believe i’d agree with your framing of the argument either - not an honest debate, but a lack of sight on the part of some that means their views are less informed.
Just remember,Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray live on hay,
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
THAT’S A LIE
Workers of the world, unite.
You have nothing to lose but your jobs … and you’re prolly gonna lose them anyway!
Solidarity Forever!
CMC +fnord!
“He said he wished that all the great men in the world and all the nobility could be hanged, and strangled in the guts of priests.” - Jean Meslier, “The Testament”
Just to be clear, nobody here has actually cited what materials his vestments are made out of (the one photo noted was just some kind of generic white cloth). It’s also worth pointing out that the Vatican’s budget is released annually, and I don’t recall it being particularly grandiose. The wealth of the Catholic church is mostly in assets, not income.
I tend to go with the Hussite approach. They sacked a big chunk of central Europe, partly because they believed that priests wearing vestments of any kind was wrong.
This is not much different from the average American CEO. He lives a lifestyle where he’s flown around in private jets, wears the most luxurious clothing, and is surrounded by the most expensive furnishings and yes-men. But he works hard all day. And he only gets all that stuff for the duration of his natural life, it doesn’t follow him into the afterlife. It gets passed along to his descendants, but that’s really the only place where his story and the Pope’s diverge.
The average CEO will lay people off without taking a financial hit himself, just as the Pope will counsel his faithful to embrace poverty and have more children, because God will provide. See, God provided for him.
I was going by the pic accompanying the DrudgeReport link. He kinda looks like a gay Santa wearing a white yarmukle.
Isn’t this pretty much the message of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”?
That wouldn’t surprise me. It is the assets rather than the income that i’m talking about here, anyway.
I suppose even popes can have an opinion, but I disagree. hard times do not bring back any sort of “good old days”, or anything like it. I would dare say there never was any such thing as “the good old days” at all. Hard times bring unemployment, hunger, desperation, crime, and in the worst of times may even trigger wars (the neighbor has stuff we don’t and we will take it). Desperate people will do desparate things. Sorry, but if I were faced with a choice between hunger and crime, I would probably choose crime myself.
If anyone really wants to capture some sort of Christmas spirit, the way to do it is to help those who are caught in this recession, not tell them to be thankful for it.
Hey, ditto.
I envy a simpler life and am actually working towards it. I have too much shit that I don’t need / don’t use / would be more productive without.
From the linked article above:
This pitting is a colossal failure.
Yeah, fuck you Pope! How dare you try to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas!
Would any of those children born in poverty be the ones born because birth control is such a terrible sin?
But the false meaning of Christmas is so much more fun! 
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
Yeah who does this clown think he is! It’s not like somebody died and made him King of the Church or something.
“Tell the drag queen his handbag is on fire!”