September 5, 2000

10:35 PM

Our religion is better then yours, Naa, Naa! “The truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out...a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another’,” it said.
posted by john (14 comments total)

The Pope's claims are valid from HIS POINT OF VIEW. No one is forcing anyone to follow any particular faith.

During his Papacy, His Holiness John Paul II has done a lot of things that was impossible to do even 20 years ago. He has appologised to the Jews, which is a major "miracle" for the leader of the Holy Sea.

We might not agree with the church, or his theology, or even the person, John Paul II, but, we should try to respect what he has done.

BTW, I am not a Catholic. I just happen to be a fan of John Paul II.
posted by tamim at 11:04 PM on September 5, 2000

Hang on,hang on. As a slightly-collapsed Catholic, I'm actually glad that the Church comes up with these statements of absolute doctrine every so often, because it's a cinch to decide whether or not I take it seriously. As Stephen Dedalus puts it in Joyce's Portrait: "What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?"

There's something a little bizarre about a religion that undersells itself: "well, we'd like to think that we're the one true path to salvation, but hey, we're not omnipotent, and the Hare Krishnas do have a nice line in yellow robes, for sure."

Bollocks to that. I want some righteous absolutism from my religion of choice, so that I can play it against the relativistic complexity of my daily life.
posted by holgate at 12:59 AM on September 6, 2000

Duh! Why is this news? The Roman Catholics think their religion is more correct than other religions. Amazing! What's next? Al Gore claiming Democrats have a better agenda for the country than Republicans? Jeff Bezos claiming Amazon.com is the best online bookstore?

And why is this at all controversial? Why would anyone adhere to a religion that they didn't think was better than any of the competing options?
posted by straight at 5:42 AM on September 6, 2000

tamim, it's the Holy See i believe.
posted by alethe at 7:17 AM on September 6, 2000

"... the pope called for religious tolerance but said the church had the right to spread its message."

And so the Crusades were all just fine and dandy, because the Catholic Church was simply excercising its right to 'spread the message'?
posted by ar0n at 8:52 AM on September 6, 2000

I always thought it was "the Holy C".
posted by wiremommy at 9:18 AM on September 6, 2000

While I'm not Roman Catholic, I tend to agree with holgate - to some extent - it's nice to see statements of doctrine from a church once in a while - as sort of a check to see where they stand.

It's just too simplistic to say "I'm opposed to all organized religion" or "religion is a crutch". The issue is just not that simple, and statements like this one help everyone form an opinion - which leads to better (more informed) discussion.
posted by mildew at 9:57 AM on September 6, 2000

I thought it was the Holy Sea, located between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea at grid G-3 in your St. Thomas Brothers map book... (North of the Southern Baptists and West of the Eastern Orthodox)

As for the semi-serious issue of "religious equity", I expect anyone holding membership in a specific "organized religion" to feel morally superior than those who do not. It's one of the few real benefits of membership. And whenever one of them warns me that my non-membership in their club will keep me out of Heaven, I just tell them I'll look them up in the afterlife, and if I do find them, it really will be Hell.
posted by wendell at 10:09 AM on September 6, 2000

Hell to them, that is.
posted by wendell at 10:10 AM on September 6, 2000

Ah more proof that Catholicism is indeed closely related to alcoholism... and yes, I'm a recovering catholic.
posted by tj at 12:46 PM on September 6, 2000

I just tell them I'll look them up in the afterlife, and if I do find them, it really will be Hell for them.

As if we needed it, more proof that Wendell is indeed the Dark Lord of the Underworld, Satan himself.

Matt, is there any policy in place re banning the Prince of Darkness from posting to Metafilter? He's getting kind of annoying.
posted by daveadams at 1:50 PM on September 6, 2000

I stand corrected. It indeed is Holy See.
posted by tamim at 2:51 PM on September 6, 2000

I think that this is just a hint about where religion is going. As society becomes fraught with messages competing for people's attention, organized religion will have to embrace advertising to survive.

"Catholicism does a body good."

"This is your brain. This is your brain on Budda. Any questions?"

"Paganism, too many gods spoil the salvation."

Or

Rosary: $10

Bible: $12

Sunday donations: $5

Everlasting salvation from eternal damnation: priceless
posted by john at 3:25 PM on September 6, 2000