The Pope and the "Defects" of Certain Christians

Submitted by Jim Brown on July 13, 2007 - 1:04pm.

What Jim would do is what Jim has already done: not consider himself a Catholic anymore. But that's not new. That happened a while back.

Regarding the use of the word "defects"...

The idea that the word probably means "not perfect" (in JA's reading) is plenty offensive for me. That is, all that really matters to me is that the Pope is saying this: Catholics have been "entrusted" with the "fullness of grace and truth" that other religions do not have. Yes, I realize this is not a new thing. I also realize that this isn't a "Catholic" thing. Maybe it's an "organized religion" thing, but I hesitate to create a big box in which we dump everything called "organized religion" (though, lately, that box seems exceedingly appropriate...)

This latest statement by the Pope smacks of "tolerance," a concept that I've been thinking about a lot lately. After reading through Philosophy in a Time of Terror again, I'm seeing more and more how paternalistic this idea of tolerance can be. As Derrida notes, the move of tolerance is one that says little more than "I am letting you be. You are not insufferable."

Good point

Submitted by Jim Aune on July 13, 2007 - 1:45pm.

For the record, Jews don't believe their religion to be the only way to God. All that non-Jews are required to do for a place in the "world to come" is to obey the 7 laws of Noah. Jews take on a greater burden of prayer and service, but that chosenness does not make them "better." So I don't think it's always an organized religion thing.

Here's a related event from yesterday that has me more upset than almost any recent activity by the Christian Right: the stormingof the Senate to protest an invocation by a Hindu religious leader (includes the video).

Make no mistake here: this is not a "fringe" group. It is a new incarnation of the radical anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, a group that has been praised by, among others, Pope John Paul II for its activities. Furor at Hindu prayers has circulated in the Jesus-blogosphere for some time, including comments by Dobson and by David Barton, the most influential Christian Right leader you have never heard of. Everyone who has pandered to Christo-fascists in the last 6 years needs to be asked this question: Do you support the idea of non-Christian prayers in the state legislatures or Congress?

WWJD?

Submitted by ddd on July 12, 2007 - 12:17pm.

Well, what *would* Jim do? :)

Litotes

Submitted by Jim Aune on July 12, 2007 - 11:51am.

Note the repeated understatement: "not without," and so on, of which "defective" may well be another example. We American readers tend to think of "defective" in terms of "defective product," but that's not what Pope Benedict is saying; in the Latinate prose here, it means more like "not perfect." I'm not sure he's saying anything more than: We in the RC Church have the fullness of the faith as delivered to the Apostles, and the others don't quite have it. Given the murderous proclivities (or silent cooperation in murder, as with the Vatican and many other European churches during WWI) of the Church historically, this, like Vatican II, is progress. At least he's not a Southern Baptist; evangelicals say much worse things all the time. (I must add: I am not now nor have I ever been a Roman Catholic.)

It's quite obvious

Submitted by Jordan on July 12, 2007 - 7:12am.

WWJD? Why, exactly what the pope is doing...after all, Benedict XVI is the vicar of Christ, right?