Otto
Go find a history book.
From about 500ad to about 1600ad theChurch of Rome served as the unchallenged religious authority in the west. That was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The Pope is the direct decendent of Saint Peter the Rock upon which Christ built his church.
Argue if you want you uneducated boob.
David B:
Does this inanity belong in here?
How 'bout Pope Soap on a Rope? Now available at a convent near you…
This is a fascinating point. Of course it is also completely irrelevant to my point that the Greek Orthodox church did not arise from the Roman Catholic church(they both came from the early christian church). I was disputing your claim that the Roman Catholic church was the one from which all christian religion sprang.
Utterly fascinating, yet you continue to ignore non-western (ie Greek Orthodox) christian churches. And on a side note, how did the great schism affect Petrine supremacy? I mean you seem to feel that the pope is a direct descendant of Peter, so that implies that you believe that Petrine supremacy was maintained throughout that period, even though it really doesn’t appear that it did. Please elaborate for us ignorant boobs out here.
Still later, Gerald did a terrible thing to Elsie with a saucepan.
Or, you could figure out that the history of the church has bugger-all to do with the OP, which asks what would happen if the pope went nuts, or the assertion that the pope is already nuts.
mrblue, after I bathe my naughty parts with my Pope Soap-on-Rope, I can settle into bed with my Monk-in-Bunk nightime Buddy!
Yet to be reconciled with the reality of the dark for a moment, I go on wandering from dream to dream.
I can’t believe that I am responding to this again. I am not an expert but I Know an ignorant boob when I hear(see) one.
Otto.
The point that I am making with you is that the beliefs that you attribute to the pope are the basic foundations of christianity. “Do this in rememberemce of Me” is the idea behind the wine and water sacrifice. The one that you don’t understand about eating flesh and drinking blood.
The virgin birth is truly unbelievable if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the son of god. As is the idea of a “one God in three devine persons”.
The pope is not alone in his beliefs. however I sincerely believe you are in limited company.
My respone is to Otto and would not have been made except for his uneducated rantings.
Nu Vo Da Da
Where did you ever come up with a name like that. Your POed at a guy that can’t remember the name of a guy named Tom 3 minutes after meeting him.MHA.
My point was to OTTO.
The Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church have the same roots.Before 500 ad they were one. Roman Influence I suspect caused the split. I do not care to argue the subject.
Have a nice day 
Otto, your brand of intolerance is as contributory to this kind of discussion as is a “Because the the Bible says it and I believe it” Literal Christian veiwpoint in a discussion about whether a meteor led to climate changes & the demise of the dinosaurs. You’ve made your non-point. Thank-you for sharing. Sheesh.
For the OP, actually Otto’s flippant “The Pope is already crazy” is no doubt worrying many of the faithful, but for more legitimate reasons. In recent weeks, the Pope has traveled to Egypt and the Sinai, and has called upon all who worship the same God to honor him by working to get along with those who worship Him differently. Just this past week, he issued a formal apology to all those harmed in the past by the actions or the inactions of the Roman Catholic church, including victims of the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Hlolcaust.
To many, this is tantamount to heresy & obvious evidence of the Pope’s senility. To others (myself included) this is evidence of a great leader who is not afraid to upset the status quo with ideas that will be upsetting to many, but which he firmly believes are right, and God’s will.
In the last century, the College of Cardinals has seemed to seesaw between desiring the security of a long Papacy with the ever present danger of too much change too fast, vs. the turmoil of repeated short Papacies but with little risk of real change. Pope John Paul was a relatively young man when he was named as Pope, but this followed two very short-lived Popes. I suspect Pope John Paul II’s successor will be an old man with a short remaining life expectancy.
So the question broadens to “is anyone who believes this stuff crazy?” That something is a fundamental tenet of a religion has no real bearing on whether believing it makes the believer crazy. If someone spouted the same beliefs without the cloak of religion, the near-universal response would IMHO be “nutjob.”
Intolerance? Where have I said that the pope or anyone else doesn’t have a perfect right to believe whatever he wants, no matter how completely insane it is? The pope can believe winged monkeys whisper secret coded messages in his papal ear for all I care. So long as he doesn’t act on those beliefs to harm others, he can believe what he wants…just like I get to believe he’s crazy as a jaybird for believing it. It was asked what would happen if the pope lost his mind and I stated my belief that he’s already lost it. The intolerant one here is you, shabbily trying to tag me with an “intolerant” label just because I believe the holy father is a lunatic. Shame on you.
Probably
Along those same lines, how come, in a thread in which no less than three different people have suggested murdering the pope, including two people who express glee at the idea of hanging him, I’m the intolerant one? At least I haven’t wished him dead…
jaydabee wrote:
Shouldn’t this be in one of the homosexuality threads?
I just want to point out that my comment was not a suggestion.
I really do think that poison is the way they handle a problem like this.
Otto posts:
Sorry, Otto. Denigrating another person’s beliefs is one form of intolerance.
In this forum, there have been many debates/discussions about the logic, or lack thereof, of faith or belief in a Supreme Being. These debates, for the most part, have been conducted civilly, without resorting to the kind of perjorative labels you choose to apply to those who do not believe as you do.
When a discussion about how one religious organization would handle the situation of a healthy, but mentally infirm, leader is going on, inserting your views that the whole lot of them are lunatics does nothing to advance the discussion at hand.
DNFTT. Coventry. Whatever. Some posts are not worth responding to.
neutron star:
**What if you stopped attacking Christianity? Pick on another religion, for Pete’s sake!! Stop with the Catholic bashing! **
Patrick Ashley
‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ -Edmund Burke
OK, my in-house critic tells me the above post was ambiguous.
I am NOT labelling Otto as a troll, or suggesting that his posts should not be responded to (after doing so myself).
I was referring to the Pope on the end of a rope post that was either a sick, failed attempt at humor, or beneath contempt, and saying that I think that post deserves no response.
Sue said:
Let’s see. My dictionary says that intolerance means a lack of tolerance. Not terribly helpful, so let’s look at the world “tolerance.” It says “tolerating or being tolerant.” More incredibly unhelpful definitions. So we move on to “tolerate,” which says, “to not interfere with; allow; permit.” Ok, so we basically have Otto’s use of the word as he described it to you. He didn’t say Catholics or Christians should be interfered with, just that he thought some particular beliefs were rather wacky.
Thus, as far as I can tell, he is right about your misuse of the term “intolerance” as it applies to him in this thread. It may not have added anything to the discussion, and it may have offended Christians, but I don’t think it was “intolerant.”
From the on-line M-W dictionary:
I would think that sympathy or indulgence would include at least sufficient respect for other beliefs to cause one to refrain from labelling such beliefs as “nuts,” “nutty as a fruitbat,” “nutjob,” “crazy as a jaybird” or “lunatic.”
ymmv