And....... he's dead.
Pope John Paul died yesterday. He has been barely hanging on for a good while now, and while the event is worthy of note, its pretty nutty how much has been going on in this neck of the woods.
For those of you who dont know, I am currently situated in Montreal, Quebec. Unlike the rest of Canada, Quebec was locked in (for all intents and purposes) a theocracy for years. The Catholic church ground the canadian french under their heel. The french peasents were told by their priests not to get an education, not to go into the cities, and not rise above the level that they were at, because education and knowledge is the greatest enemy of theocratic rule.
This is were the big division between the french and the english in quebec. If you were french, you were an uneducated slave of catholicism. If you were english, you were a (most likely) protestant merchant, and at the time such people were quite well off. This created a typical class division, which brought with it all the feelings of anger at oppression.
Eventually, the french through off their christian shackles. You still see the backlash to the church at every level of french culture. English curse words are generally obscene, things like body functions and rude words for sexual activities. The canadian french however will swear by sacrilege, words like "chalice" or "tabernacle" are the words equivilent to the english "fuck" or "shit". You also see the french turning their back on the most fundamental value of the catholic church, marriage. There are a great many "conjoins" in quebec, people who live together and are commited to each other, often with children, but not married.
The french of course will not say that. They are unaware of the reasons that things got to the state they were. They blame their problems on "Les Federalists". They are ignorant of the history with the catholic church that had so much of an impact on their culture.
So that is why when I see all the pope worship today, it just boggles my mind. These people were so harmed by this church, to the point where they have no real current identity of their own. Their actions, language, and culture is rife with signs of hatred for the church. But still, you have people walking through the streets singing church songs (and block my bus incidentily), people in tears, people having the audacity to say things like "He is now sitting at Gods right hand" (for those who dont know about christian scripture, christ said that the only hierarchy there will be in heaven is that he will sit at his fathers right. Its hard to believe these people even profess to follow the bible)
In one of the places that has been hurt the most by the catholic church, I seem to be the only one completely indifferent to the popes death. I mean sure, he did some pretty remarkable stuff in his youth. Hitler also did some pretty remarkable things for germany. I see them both as the heads of evil institutions that work against everything I work for in this world. As harsh as it sounds, I will not forgive who the man was just because of what he did for catholics.
Anyways, my annoyances with all this probably comes from having some catholic friends, and having to keep my mouth shut while they go on and on about their leader dieing like it has any relevence for me. I almost died of laughter when I was told that the catholic church needs more conservatism in the next pope. Really. Actually, what the church needs is a nuclear bomb. Vatican city needs to be wiped off the face of the map, and humanity needs to stop trying to arbitor what is and isnt god. Another thing I was told that while john paul should be commended for reaching out to the jews, the muslims werent such a good idea. Oh really? I say. Yes, because "I recognize who jaweh is, but i do not recognize allah.". man oh man oh man. First of all, Allah and Jaweh are a HECK of alot closer than Jaweh and Jehova. Secondly, all three of the "Jeudaic" faiths act in exactly the same kind of way, they seem to revel in death and distruction to those who dont share their beliefs.
Personally, I reject the worldly institution of christianity. I do not believe it follows the lord, and I therefor refuse to follow it. Anything more would make me a hipocrit, and I simply would not be able to live with myself. In all three faiths, they are just different names for the same thing, and that thing isnt god. It is a spirit of superiority and self-rightousness. Its the spirit of the jihad. Muslims are simply the only ones with the balls to come out and call it what it is.
For me, I will not decide who is right and who is wrong for something that my mind is simply incapable of fully grasping. What I do know is I have felt the hand of god in my life more than once, and I will do what I can to follow him. And following him does not involve buying into the idiocies of mankind, be they jew, muslim, christian, or gentile.
For those of you who dont know, I am currently situated in Montreal, Quebec. Unlike the rest of Canada, Quebec was locked in (for all intents and purposes) a theocracy for years. The Catholic church ground the canadian french under their heel. The french peasents were told by their priests not to get an education, not to go into the cities, and not rise above the level that they were at, because education and knowledge is the greatest enemy of theocratic rule.
This is were the big division between the french and the english in quebec. If you were french, you were an uneducated slave of catholicism. If you were english, you were a (most likely) protestant merchant, and at the time such people were quite well off. This created a typical class division, which brought with it all the feelings of anger at oppression.
Eventually, the french through off their christian shackles. You still see the backlash to the church at every level of french culture. English curse words are generally obscene, things like body functions and rude words for sexual activities. The canadian french however will swear by sacrilege, words like "chalice" or "tabernacle" are the words equivilent to the english "fuck" or "shit". You also see the french turning their back on the most fundamental value of the catholic church, marriage. There are a great many "conjoins" in quebec, people who live together and are commited to each other, often with children, but not married.
The french of course will not say that. They are unaware of the reasons that things got to the state they were. They blame their problems on "Les Federalists". They are ignorant of the history with the catholic church that had so much of an impact on their culture.
So that is why when I see all the pope worship today, it just boggles my mind. These people were so harmed by this church, to the point where they have no real current identity of their own. Their actions, language, and culture is rife with signs of hatred for the church. But still, you have people walking through the streets singing church songs (and block my bus incidentily), people in tears, people having the audacity to say things like "He is now sitting at Gods right hand" (for those who dont know about christian scripture, christ said that the only hierarchy there will be in heaven is that he will sit at his fathers right. Its hard to believe these people even profess to follow the bible)
In one of the places that has been hurt the most by the catholic church, I seem to be the only one completely indifferent to the popes death. I mean sure, he did some pretty remarkable stuff in his youth. Hitler also did some pretty remarkable things for germany. I see them both as the heads of evil institutions that work against everything I work for in this world. As harsh as it sounds, I will not forgive who the man was just because of what he did for catholics.
Anyways, my annoyances with all this probably comes from having some catholic friends, and having to keep my mouth shut while they go on and on about their leader dieing like it has any relevence for me. I almost died of laughter when I was told that the catholic church needs more conservatism in the next pope. Really. Actually, what the church needs is a nuclear bomb. Vatican city needs to be wiped off the face of the map, and humanity needs to stop trying to arbitor what is and isnt god. Another thing I was told that while john paul should be commended for reaching out to the jews, the muslims werent such a good idea. Oh really? I say. Yes, because "I recognize who jaweh is, but i do not recognize allah.". man oh man oh man. First of all, Allah and Jaweh are a HECK of alot closer than Jaweh and Jehova. Secondly, all three of the "Jeudaic" faiths act in exactly the same kind of way, they seem to revel in death and distruction to those who dont share their beliefs.
Personally, I reject the worldly institution of christianity. I do not believe it follows the lord, and I therefor refuse to follow it. Anything more would make me a hipocrit, and I simply would not be able to live with myself. In all three faiths, they are just different names for the same thing, and that thing isnt god. It is a spirit of superiority and self-rightousness. Its the spirit of the jihad. Muslims are simply the only ones with the balls to come out and call it what it is.
For me, I will not decide who is right and who is wrong for something that my mind is simply incapable of fully grasping. What I do know is I have felt the hand of god in my life more than once, and I will do what I can to follow him. And following him does not involve buying into the idiocies of mankind, be they jew, muslim, christian, or gentile.
posted by Google Ninja at 2:18 PM
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