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The Pope Declares Seven New Deadly Sins

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Quin

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The worst thing I think is is that these guys are speaking for. Well, if these sins were so horrible you'd think God would descend down the stairs from Heaven and arrange a meeting, wouldn't you?

Even as a young Christian I found no justifiable reason to make me want to listen to a preacher's sermon, as they're using the same source material (that particular version of the Bible) as the rest of the church.

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I see that among the mortal sins is: “excessive accumulation of wealth by a few.” Moreover, a mortal sin is one where “immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell.” Wealth accumulation is also listed alongside pedophilia. I wonder how Bill Gates would feel about being declared the moral equivalent of a pedophile and someone who will immediately go to hell upon his death. (Well, I know what Bill Gates would think. He would try to figure out how much money he needs to give to the Catholic Church to get off their "go to hell" list.)

It is telling that the Catholic Church itself is either guilty of committing these sins or of grossly abetting them. Anyone who has visited the Vatican can confirm the former sin. Anyone who has paid attention to the trials of the pedophile priests where bishops and archbishops knowingly moved them from parish to parish to harm ever more children can confirm the second sin.

Moreover, the full list of sins is such a slapdash of sloppy categorizations that it condemns the thinking skills of the twisted minds that developed them: "polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice."

In coming up with this list, the Catholic Church is not just wrong and immoral. It has also declared itself to be intellectually shallow.

Edited by Galileo Blogs
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Well, the Vatican is a long time in the business of economics. Firstly they amassed an 'obscene' amount of wealth themselves, secondly they are writing about (left-leaning, of course) economic theories in their encyclicas since over 100 years now. It's also laughable that they say that taking drugs is evil as there are references to drug use in the bible (especially mushrooms) and all over Christmas (hanging 'red balls'on the tree) and Eastern (finding red 'eggs' hidden in the undergrowth). Hell, they even dress like mushrooms themselves.

The Vatican has to be more looked at like it is a cult that longs for money, power and control, using religion as their tool to influence people.

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Moreover, the full list of sins is such a slapdash of sloppy categorizations that it condemns the thinking skills of the twisted minds that developed them: "polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice."

While it's a far cry from actually being a Nazi (and I would discount his Hitlerjugend membership), I can't help wondering if this is in part the new pope expressing his exposure to a major chunk of the underlying culture in Germany that lead to Nazism. The Vatican would have long been thinking about this sort of material, and the pope would then set the tone by picking sides in internal debates and outright leadership.

In coming up with this list, the Catholic Church ... has also declared itself to be intellectually shallow.

I disagree with that one. True, possibly they are in part riding the intellectual wave in an attempt to put more bums on pews, but I doubt that this kind of shallowness constitutes the bulk of their underlying thinking on the matter. The Catholic Church and various sub-institutions have long been home for deep (if mistaken) thinkers, and have sought to lead the world intellectually rather than merely ride others' intellectual waves. The real thing underlying it all, I think, is that they are beginning expressly to realise that real capitalism is necessarily strictly secular, that this ties in with an entire scientific world-view in which they have no place (which is exactly what Kant correctly identified 200 years ago), that it's them versus the secular right, that they are applying and publishing more of their philosophy to an ever-widening array of economic and political questions, and that they are raising topics of the day to try to capture the debate so that they may steer it in favour of their philosophy. In terms of content, dislike of wealth and concern for worldly pursuits, and concern for social justice, have all been part of Christianity from day one, and I don't think the attacks on GE and abortion would have been a surprise to anyone who remembered the Vatican's attack on contraception two generations ago.

I am certain that the Vatican has been thinking about topics like these for a very long time, and that perhaps they are appearing to be more shallow because they can finally make their pronouncements on these issues in the attempt to mold opinion without dismissed as interfering sods or hick idiots.

The theme of the movie "Brotherhood of the Wolf" comes to mind, applied in reverse for our declining culture in contrast to the 18th century's rising culture.

I would be very slow to accuse the Vatican of shallowness - they think long range.

JJM

Edit: spoiler tags

Edited by John McVey
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Yawn.

Why should I care any more what some dude in Rome with a ridiculous hat thinks any more than I care what the crazy cat lady down the road thinks?

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Well, the last remaining respect I have for the Vatican has just shot out the window.

Same here. John Paul II really had my respect, but to this new guy I have only one thing to say: "Mr. Pope, kiss my ass".

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Firstly they amassed an 'obscene' amount of wealth themselves

True! If the Pope gives up his opulent palace and takes a vow of personal poverty I'd at least acknowledge that he practices what he preaches but last I heard the Vatican had it's own bowling alley so...

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True! If the Pope gives up his opulent palace and takes a vow of personal poverty I'd at least acknowledge that he practices what he preaches but last I heard the Vatican had it's own bowling alley so...

It's not just Vatican city. The catholic church owns real estate around the world and shares worth billions if not trillions, and everything is tax-free.

And of course their services are often not for free, people have to pay taxes in some countries.

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