Pope: Forgetfulness of God, explosion of brands
db: More than 1 million Roman Catholic young people camped out overnight in a field to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday for the concluding Mass of his four-day trip to Germany, his first foreign travel as pope. "Freedom is not simply about enjoying life in total autonomy, but rather about living by the measure of truth and goodness so that we ourselves can become true and good," said Benedict XVI "There is a strange forgetfulness of God,while at the same time the sense of frustration and dissatisfaction has led to a "new explosion of religion."
"I have no wish to discredit all the manifestations of this phenomenon. There may be sincere joy in the discovery," he said. "Yet, if it is pushed too far, religion becomes almost a consumer product. People choose what they like, and some are even able to make a profit from it."
"But religion constructed on a 'do-it-yourself' basis cannot ultimately help us [db: this is fud - fear uncertainty doubt - classic tool of salesmen]. Help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ."
I don't know if this pope is living on planet Earth, because quite clearly his remark that their is a "strange forgetfulness of God" is false. If only we would forget - all that we inherited and all that was learnt about this relic from the dark ages - and make the cognitive leap towards the acceptance of our pond-scum status in the universe; then within a thousand years or two we could 'get over it' and focus our energy on the here and now.
"Yet, if it is pushed too far, religion becomes almost a consumer product. People choose what they like, and some are even able to make a profit from it."
'Pushing' religion hard or not so hard makes little difference - without exception they are all 'consumer products'- the new ones, the old ones the yet to be invented ones. The Pope's shocking news that 'some are even able to make a profit from it' sounds like envy - given that his church's finances are rocky despite it's wealth - like [2003] $8 billion pa income from parish collections, the biggest property portfolio on the planet, and more art and jewelry than the Saudi royal family [ED...no need to exaggerate]. Pope Benedict XVI owns more shoes than Imelda Marcos.
The final call to 'help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ' is a big-brand slogan from a big player in the global battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of the willingly self-sacrificing, after-life focused masses. Go Benny!
If the Catholic church was able to act like any other corporate entity, rather than wasting his time attempting to coax people away from the D-I-Y religions he could just buy them up, strip their assets, and consign their unacceptable beliefs to the dustbin. On the downside, the Catholic church would also, under these circumstances, need to be transparent concerning it's finances. Maybe user choice isn't such a bad thing.
"I have no wish to discredit all the manifestations of this phenomenon. There may be sincere joy in the discovery," he said. "Yet, if it is pushed too far, religion becomes almost a consumer product. People choose what they like, and some are even able to make a profit from it."
"But religion constructed on a 'do-it-yourself' basis cannot ultimately help us [db: this is fud - fear uncertainty doubt - classic tool of salesmen]. Help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ."
I don't know if this pope is living on planet Earth, because quite clearly his remark that their is a "strange forgetfulness of God" is false. If only we would forget - all that we inherited and all that was learnt about this relic from the dark ages - and make the cognitive leap towards the acceptance of our pond-scum status in the universe; then within a thousand years or two we could 'get over it' and focus our energy on the here and now.
"Yet, if it is pushed too far, religion becomes almost a consumer product. People choose what they like, and some are even able to make a profit from it."
'Pushing' religion hard or not so hard makes little difference - without exception they are all 'consumer products'- the new ones, the old ones the yet to be invented ones. The Pope's shocking news that 'some are even able to make a profit from it' sounds like envy - given that his church's finances are rocky despite it's wealth - like [2003] $8 billion pa income from parish collections, the biggest property portfolio on the planet, and more art and jewelry than the Saudi royal family [ED...no need to exaggerate]. Pope Benedict XVI owns more shoes than Imelda Marcos.
The final call to 'help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ' is a big-brand slogan from a big player in the global battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of the willingly self-sacrificing, after-life focused masses. Go Benny!
If the Catholic church was able to act like any other corporate entity, rather than wasting his time attempting to coax people away from the D-I-Y religions he could just buy them up, strip their assets, and consign their unacceptable beliefs to the dustbin. On the downside, the Catholic church would also, under these circumstances, need to be transparent concerning it's finances. Maybe user choice isn't such a bad thing.
posted by exoplanet at 1:49 PM
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