Z
Zsuzsa
Guest
There is spin and distortion of evidence everywhere you look. It would be comforting to know there was one place we could go to and be free of spin doctoring, but it appears there is no such place on this Earth. Not even in Church. Historically the Church has been a bedfellow of power politics as soon as the papacy became a factor. And even though state and church is now blissfully separated, in these parts anyway, the drive for influence goes on. But when one plays in the mud it is hard to stay clean…
“If only Pope Benedict had not said… which even aggravates the problems” lamented Damian Thompson. Thompson is a staunch supporter of the Pope. Intelligent Catholics cringed at the Pope’s latest blunder, realizing full well that manipulation of facts doesn’t do much for the faith. As I read the various posts on this topic I came to the conclusion that if Catholics in the West are so removed/naïve that they can lull themselves into believing that 22 million indigenous peoples [from a wide variety of religious affiliations, many of whom live in degrading poverty and are subject to superstitious cultural mores and oppressive political regimes] will remain abstinent for the rest of their lives, it would be irresponsible to look to the Church for help.
In reality, the African AIDS epidemic cannot be contained with only one method; Africa’s population is not uniform enough and in order to save the greatest numbers a wide range of different strategies will have to be implemented. Since condoms can be 90 percent effective preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, like it or not, they remain an invaluable resource in slowing down the spread of AIDS. The argument that condoms promote promiscuity does not apply to Africa; on the contrary, the use of condoms would indicate a more responsible approach to sexuality. But even if we used the western model, and said that condoms promote casual sex, they still prevent more disease than their use can ever cause. Unfortunately the Pope weakened his credibility with the comment he made about condoms and that pretty much invalidated everything else he had to say on the topic. This is most unfortunate, because twisting, obscuring or exaggerating facts tends to be counterproductive. The Pope should have just stressed Church teaching and left it at that.
The Catholic Church has been called to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in matters of faith and morals and not to rule on the validity of science. To avoid the loss of credibility and faith, scientific judgement should be left to the scientific community. It is true, science can’t be the basis for morality, but science is very useful when it provides accurate information about the natural world and thus dispelling ignorant views – views that otherwise would lead to unjust and immoral decisions. The Church has the duty to interpret science in terms of morality, but moral values are not effective tools to prove or disprove scientific facts. The Church has been wrong many, many times in 2000 years, usually taking 200-400 years to accept the laws of the natural world and what long before had become common knowledge. Arrogant clerics, who continue to deny this reality, do much disservice to the faith. Not to mention that when the wheels of damage control start churning and we get inundated with a flood of pseudoscientific speculations, the Church ends up looking… rather foolish. So what if Green’s theories support what the Pope said? As an anthropologist, [anthropology deals with divergent perspectives and is the softest of all social sciences] it was Green’s job to look for alternative theories. Of course theories may never become facts.
People expect truth from the Pope; not distortion of scientific evidence. It is difficult for the Catholic when he comes to the realization that authority can’t always be trusted, because trust and obedience are inseparable. To trust someone you need to know he ALWAYS tells the truth and never betrays your confidence. It is true, the Pope has the duty to teach on faith and morals and as Catholics we are bound to listen. But sorry folks, distortion of scientific evidence fail to qualify. The Pope’s claim concerning condoms is a misuse of his office and to elevate it to a “teaching on faith and morals” is an insult to intelligence.
The reaction of some prominent Catholics has been bordering on papalotry. Popes make mistakes, they sin, and history gives us abundant examples of some really bad decisions made by the Vicars of Christ. History provides ample evidence of this and with the fact that not everything a pope does or says is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
It is interesting how misinformed people are; there have been some rash accusations of heresy simply because not everyone agreed with the Pope that condoms aggravate the AIDS epidemic. Morality and church teaching was brought in, when in fact nobody attacked church teaching. The biggest irony is that connecting every utterance of the Pope with infallible teaching is heretical! Yes, there is a heresy spreading among the Catholics of today, many of whom now think that the Ordinary Magisterium, or the Ordinary Papal Magisterium, is always infallible or always inerrant, even when the conditions required by the First Vatican Council have not been fully met. Some leading priests, theologians, and lay leaders hold to this heretical view and have been teaching it to the faithful as if it were a doctrine of the Church. It is not. It cannot be and not without contradicting the First Vatican Council.
The Ordinary Magisterium is not always infallible without any conditions, just because Christ said, “He who hears you, hears me.” This interpretation of the Scriptures contradicts the DOGMATIC DEFINITION of the First Vatican Council as to when the Pope teaches infallibly. An overly simplistic interpretation of Scriptures that lends infallibility to every teaching of Popes, Councils, and to the Magisterium contradicts an INFALLIBLE Conciliar definition. The distortion or the denial of the First Vatican Council’s definition on Papal Infallibility is then becomes a heresy against the Faith.
And so it goes on.
“If only Pope Benedict had not said… which even aggravates the problems” lamented Damian Thompson. Thompson is a staunch supporter of the Pope. Intelligent Catholics cringed at the Pope’s latest blunder, realizing full well that manipulation of facts doesn’t do much for the faith. As I read the various posts on this topic I came to the conclusion that if Catholics in the West are so removed/naïve that they can lull themselves into believing that 22 million indigenous peoples [from a wide variety of religious affiliations, many of whom live in degrading poverty and are subject to superstitious cultural mores and oppressive political regimes] will remain abstinent for the rest of their lives, it would be irresponsible to look to the Church for help.
In reality, the African AIDS epidemic cannot be contained with only one method; Africa’s population is not uniform enough and in order to save the greatest numbers a wide range of different strategies will have to be implemented. Since condoms can be 90 percent effective preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, like it or not, they remain an invaluable resource in slowing down the spread of AIDS. The argument that condoms promote promiscuity does not apply to Africa; on the contrary, the use of condoms would indicate a more responsible approach to sexuality. But even if we used the western model, and said that condoms promote casual sex, they still prevent more disease than their use can ever cause. Unfortunately the Pope weakened his credibility with the comment he made about condoms and that pretty much invalidated everything else he had to say on the topic. This is most unfortunate, because twisting, obscuring or exaggerating facts tends to be counterproductive. The Pope should have just stressed Church teaching and left it at that.
The Catholic Church has been called to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in matters of faith and morals and not to rule on the validity of science. To avoid the loss of credibility and faith, scientific judgement should be left to the scientific community. It is true, science can’t be the basis for morality, but science is very useful when it provides accurate information about the natural world and thus dispelling ignorant views – views that otherwise would lead to unjust and immoral decisions. The Church has the duty to interpret science in terms of morality, but moral values are not effective tools to prove or disprove scientific facts. The Church has been wrong many, many times in 2000 years, usually taking 200-400 years to accept the laws of the natural world and what long before had become common knowledge. Arrogant clerics, who continue to deny this reality, do much disservice to the faith. Not to mention that when the wheels of damage control start churning and we get inundated with a flood of pseudoscientific speculations, the Church ends up looking… rather foolish. So what if Green’s theories support what the Pope said? As an anthropologist, [anthropology deals with divergent perspectives and is the softest of all social sciences] it was Green’s job to look for alternative theories. Of course theories may never become facts.
People expect truth from the Pope; not distortion of scientific evidence. It is difficult for the Catholic when he comes to the realization that authority can’t always be trusted, because trust and obedience are inseparable. To trust someone you need to know he ALWAYS tells the truth and never betrays your confidence. It is true, the Pope has the duty to teach on faith and morals and as Catholics we are bound to listen. But sorry folks, distortion of scientific evidence fail to qualify. The Pope’s claim concerning condoms is a misuse of his office and to elevate it to a “teaching on faith and morals” is an insult to intelligence.
The reaction of some prominent Catholics has been bordering on papalotry. Popes make mistakes, they sin, and history gives us abundant examples of some really bad decisions made by the Vicars of Christ. History provides ample evidence of this and with the fact that not everything a pope does or says is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
It is interesting how misinformed people are; there have been some rash accusations of heresy simply because not everyone agreed with the Pope that condoms aggravate the AIDS epidemic. Morality and church teaching was brought in, when in fact nobody attacked church teaching. The biggest irony is that connecting every utterance of the Pope with infallible teaching is heretical! Yes, there is a heresy spreading among the Catholics of today, many of whom now think that the Ordinary Magisterium, or the Ordinary Papal Magisterium, is always infallible or always inerrant, even when the conditions required by the First Vatican Council have not been fully met. Some leading priests, theologians, and lay leaders hold to this heretical view and have been teaching it to the faithful as if it were a doctrine of the Church. It is not. It cannot be and not without contradicting the First Vatican Council.
The Ordinary Magisterium is not always infallible without any conditions, just because Christ said, “He who hears you, hears me.” This interpretation of the Scriptures contradicts the DOGMATIC DEFINITION of the First Vatican Council as to when the Pope teaches infallibly. An overly simplistic interpretation of Scriptures that lends infallibility to every teaching of Popes, Councils, and to the Magisterium contradicts an INFALLIBLE Conciliar definition. The distortion or the denial of the First Vatican Council’s definition on Papal Infallibility is then becomes a heresy against the Faith.
And so it goes on.
