“inane apologia of evil” (pope Comments Here)

[Dreadsox]

Is the family being attacked? Are we oplaying God?

 

[A_Wanderer]

For relevant info

The Pope will deliver a blistering attack on the "satanic" mores of modern society today warning against an "inane apologia of evil" that is in danger of destroying humanity.

In a series of Good Friday meditations that he will lead in Rome, he will say that society is in the grip of a kind of "anti-Genesis" described as "a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family."

He will pray for society to be cleansed of the "filth" that surrounds it and be restored to purity, freed from "decadent narcissism".

Warning against the move to "modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God," the Pope will lead prayers against "insane, risky and dangerous" ventures in attempting "to take God's place without being God."

The Pope has not actually composed the prayers for the traditional Way of the Cross, but is certain to have given his blessing to the Good Friday meditations. Their author is Archbishop Angelo Comastri, Vicar General at Vatican City and President of the Fabric of St Peter's.

The tone of the meditations is striking in its contrast to the contemporary fashion for feel-good religion. While some will regard their emphasis on sin and the dark side of human nature as retrograde, others will welcome them as a sign of the strong and conservative leadership that Pope Benedict XVI was elected to provide. All Roman Catholic churches and many others, including Anglican churches in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, celebrate a liturgy around the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

The 14 stations begin with Jesus's condemnation to death, take Christians through meditations of the Way of the Cross and the Crucifixion and end with the laying of Jesus's body in the tomb.

The Pope wrote the meditations himself for last year's Way of the Cross in Rome.

But today's prayers, published in Italian this week and in English on the Zenit website yesterday, go further than most in their thorough denunciation of contemporary culture.

At the Third Station , where Jesus falls for the first time, Archbishop Comastri has written: "Lord, we have lost our sense of sin. Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication."

One of the strongest meditations warns against the attack on the family.

"Today we seem to be witnessing a kind of anti-Genesis, a counter-plan, a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family."

And there is a moving meditation for the Eighth Station, where Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, describing the "River of tears shed by mothers, mothers of the crucified, mothers of murderers, mothers of drug addicts, mothers of terrorists, mothers of rapists, mothers of psychopaths, but mothers all the same."

(© The Times, London).

I for one am glad that they aren't peddling that watered down feel-good religion, bringing it back to some old time religion is exactly what we need more of, it will create a few more atheists in the world or better yet antitheists.

If were not playing God now then we damn well should be - any benefits that people can get from mankind pushing forward can't be curbed by the innate suspension of reason that is faith, a truly overrated "virtue" if there ever was one. The bio-conservative movement that either treats these technologies as meddlesome against nature or against Gods plan (for instance calling death a gift for mankind) should not be controlling what people can or can't treat their bodies with. If you believe that a certain treatment is against your religious beliefs then elect to not have it, but you shouldn't stop others from enjoying the benefits.

As far as the culture of sin and decadence that modern society embraces, that script is too old and cliched, if it's not the Protestant nuts then it's the Muslims (illustration of the universality of belief). Theres no better weapon for individualism than legalising some of the more enjoyable Sins and demonstrably weakening the power of religious institutions. Im just pleased that the internet is out there spreading a world of ideas and no doubt many terrabytes (probably a lot more) of sin across the whole damn world.

Cult of Satan threatening values, pish, to believe in Satan you have to believe in that same Jewish-Christian-Muslim God, their all on more or less the same side.

 

[melon]

Is the family being attacked? Are we playing God?

If anyone is playing God in the most literal sense, it's the Vatican. After all, do you think all those fancy garbs, titles and basilicas are just for aesthetic purposes? No. It's to intimidate and "play" the role of God.

Secondly, it's the same old romanticism all the time. What the Pope laments is not the downfall of society; it's the increasing irrelevance of his Church. He misses the "good old days" when the Vatican controlled everything and had an empire of its own.

"The family" is not an immutable concept. In fact, the "nuclear family" that everyone lifts up as an ideal is mainly a 20th century luxury. Back in the "good old days," everyone worked--including the children--and whether it was a disease epidemic, industrial/farm accident, or childbirth, you certainly had higher parental mortality rates. Let's also not forget that many Catholic schools in these days were also boarding schools, so we had de facto non-traditional parenting in these situations. But I guess having your children raised by more than one man or more than one woman is okay if they're wearing Catholic uniforms?

Melon

 

[Kieran McConville]

interesting points melon, i recall (well not personally, I wasn't born then) that until the 1870s or so the Pope was an earthly ruler of much of italy, until they went to war and he ended up a self-imposed prisoner in Vatican city.

 

[nbcrusader]

I didn't sense a message to join the Catholic Church in the Pope's message.

I can understand his message, however. The analogy I've heard before is the frog in the pot of water. Heat the water (increasing sinfulness) and the frog doesn't know any better (to jump out) and eventually will boil to death.

We, as humanity, do not like these messages, but have no other mechanism to warn us when the heat continues to rise and we get more comfortable in our sin nature.