# Voting for the Pope

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-the-pope/652688>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 12, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-the-pope/652688 "2013-03-12T09:23:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-the-pope/652688/21 "2013-03-13T03:16:36Z")

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> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> I appreciate the answers, but I have to say, they are very unsatisfying. It hardly requires divine inspiration to know that you should try to pick the best man for the job, even if he’s not a paisan.

Well, you see, simply picking a paisan and not the best man is part of the human condition of temptation. It’s easy to say, “Don’t be self-interested but do the best for the common good,” and very hard to actually do when one’s self-interests are at stake (look at current US partisanship gridlocking Congress). The inspiration of the Spirit (called ‘grace’ which means a gift or help) helps one overcome human foibles and temptations.

At least, it’s supposed to. Took a long time for the mostly Italian cardinals to stop choosing a fellow paisan.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-the-pope/652688/22 "2013-03-13T08:29:52Z")

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> [@moriah](#):
>
> Note how this is very different from the understanding of some fundamentalist sects where there is a vague understanding of scriptures being _literally_ dictated word by word to its authors.

… in whichever language the fundamentalist’s copy is printed.  
The inspiration could be along the lines of “choose someone who’s more of a pastor than a theologian”, “choose someone from the ‘soft line’, because that’s what the Church needs now, regardless of whether you’re soft or hard” - either one would still have many candidates which fit the bill.

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**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-the-pope/652688/23 "2013-03-13T09:23:01Z")

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> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#):
>
> The guiding of the Holy Spirit doesn’t force the human hand, it, at most, suggests.

It’s like Ouija.

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