A note of sympathy and respect for Catholics

I, like most of the world, have been caught up in Pope John Paul II's death and impending funeral. I'm not Christian, let alone Catholic, but I have developed an appreciation and respect for him. He truly has been a remarkable man of the 20th century. The depth and breadth of the human response to his death has been illuminating.

I cannot take on the burden for something I've not done; however, I would like to express sympathy for any who've been insulted or offended by some fairly ignorant posting on DU. In a crass and political world where so few live up to their expressed ideals or principles, the Pope has stood above the fray and lived his. The current Curia stands as a symbol to his belief in a universal and worldwide Church. The people he has surrounded himself with shows as a beacon for how much he believed in ecunemical principles (such as Levine his music conductor).

I read postings yesterday about how "disgusting" the public display of kneeling and praying by the official U.S. delegation, lead by Bush was -- and viewed it on last night's news coverage. All I saw was a respect for the traditions of Catholic prayer -- if they had failed to kneel at the kneeling/prayer rail, they would have been rude as they would have not only stood out as worldclass dweebs, but would have blocked all the people kneeling at prayer rails behind them.

I, personally, would not and could not stand in a crowd the size that flowed as slowly as glass towards the ultimate goal of final respects. 12 to 14 hours of edging forward is a remarkable demonstration of a pilgrim--very similar in its nature to the annual Haj by Muslems in Mecca.

There is much that I don't agree with about Catholic teachings, especially with regards to birth control. I see a world on the brink of disaster due to over population and the ever-increasing AIDs epidemic and believe that the Church MUST change its stance on condoms, but that is something that Catholics must deal with and any other faiths which teach anti-contraception or abstinence as a way of life.

As for women and their role in the Church, I really see that the Pope isn't anti-women, but very traditional in their beliefs. It's a major reason that I cannot become a Christian as this Biblical bias is at the root of the stance. I would like to see a Christian church that is based only on New Testament, rather than the mix of OT and NT; however, that is not how the Church has been constructed nor any of the Protestant sects.

But, back to the main theme. Pope John Paul II has shown himself to be a pious man who both talked the talk and walked the walk. He is to be respected for all that he was.

:pals:

Your words were kind and due.

I disagree with much of what Pope John Paul II said, but I think he was fairly consistent. For him sanctity of life did not begin at conception and end at birth.

I do agree that religion has roots in misogyny, but don't think everyone who is religious is a misogynist. There is more than one way to honor and love women. Some religious people really think they are honoring women by "protecting" them. To borrow from Margaret Atwood, "freedom from" as opposed to "freedom to."

they were talking about how this pope recognized that judaism, christianity and islam were branches off the same root. i wasn't paying that close attention to the prog so hopefully someone can refresh my memory-- but apparently he did things which successfully built bridges w/ jewish people and to some extent w/ islam. this is huge and i don't think has been as widely acknowledged as it should be-- i sure wasn't aware of it. i was raised catholic and a big part of my rejection of it was the whole notion that catholics were the only "true religion". we were taught that everyone else was going to hell. Sorry, I just couldn't buy that! that there was this recognition at the papal level of other religions being valid... that's amazing to me and gives me some small hope for the world... he was also a big critic of the Iraq war (both Iraq wars actually).