On the US only giving foreign aid if mothers stop having children in poor countries: "Instead of
resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be
different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times,
developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic
assistance contingent on certain policies of "reproductive
health"...to blame population growth instead of extreme selective
consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues."
LS, 50
"Judaeo-Christian
thought demythologized nature. While continuing to admire its grandeur and
immensity, it no longer saw nature as divine. In doing so, it emphasizes all
the more our human responsibility for nature" LS, 78
Dear those who think evolution explains the totality of how humans came to be: "Human beings,
even if we postulate a process of evolution, also possess a uniqueness which
cannot be fully explained by the evolution of other open systems....[humans
have] a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology" LS, 81
"We have only one
heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not
be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people." LS, 92
"If architecture
reflects the spirit of an age, our megastructures and drab apartment blocks
express the spirit of globalized technology, where a constant flood of new
products coexists with a tedious monotony." LS, 113
"When we fail to
acknowledge the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, or a person with
disabilities, it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything
is connected" LS 117
"Our relationship
with the environment can never be isolated from our relationship with others
and with God. Otherwise, it would be nothing more than romantic individualism
dressed up in ecological garb, locking us into a stifling immanence." LS, 119
"Since everything
is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with
the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of
concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they
may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo" LS, 120
On welfare never being permanent: "Helping the poor
financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing
needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life
through work." LS, 128
Huge irony I'd never thought of: "It is troubling
that, when some ecological movements defend the integrity of the environment,
rightly demanding that certain limits be imposed on scientific research, they
sometimes fail to apply those same principles to human life. There is a
tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries when experimentation is
carried out on living human embryos" LS, 136
"A wholesome
social life can light up a seemingly undesirable environment...the feeling of
asphyxiation brought on by densely populated residential areas is countered if
close and warm relationships develop...in this way any place can turn from
being a hell on earth into the setting for a dignified life." LS, 148
"we need to grow
in the conviction that a decrease in the pace of production and consumption can
at times give rise to another form of progress and development." LS, 191
Dear Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Steven Hawking, et. al.: "It cannot be
maintained that empirical science provides a complete explanation of life" LS, 199
“If someone has not
learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if
he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple.” LS, 215
“Many people today
sense a profound imbalance which drives them to frenetic activity and makes
them feel busy, in a constant hurry which in turns leads them to ride
rough-shod over everything around them.”
LS, 225
“We have had enough of
immorality and the mockery of ethics, goodness, faith and honesty. It is time to acknowledge that light-hearted
superficiality has done us no good.” LS,
229
“A world of
exacerbated consumption is at the same time a world which mistreats life in all
its forms.” LS, 230
“The Sacraments are a
privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of
mediating supernatural life.” LS, 235
“It is in the
Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself
tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave
himself as food for his creatures.” LS,
236
“The Eucharist is also
a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment,
directing us to be stewards of all creation.”
LS, 236
“The day of rest,
centered on the Eucharist, sheds its light on the whole week, and motivates us
to greater concern for nature and the poor.”
LS, 237
Awesome Conclusion: “In the heart of this
world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us
alone, for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love
constantly impels us to find new ways forward.
Praise be to him!” LS, 245
(That's called hitting a walk off home run AND dropping the mic at the same time!)
So let's just listen to a bronze age book , written by middle eastern nomads, authors unknown. A book that was translated over and over and over again , and probably has little or even no resemblance to the original. A book that contradicts itself on many levels and is based on no credible evidence whatsoever, yet absolutely requires one to follow with blind faith, or hell as a consequence. A supposedly "moral" book that promotes misogyny, slavery, rape, polygamy, incest, stoning, mass murder, etc. A book that tells us the earth is flat, that the sun revolves around the earth, that bats are birds, and that epilepsy is demon possession. A book that has talking snakes and thus requires one to stick his head in the sand when science makes verifiable discoveries that may contradict it. Yes of course, let's follow the Bible, certainly much more credible than science, which is completely based on evidence and , unlike most religions, is always more than willing to admit when proven wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou never fail to amuse me ! I just love coming here to see what's next in your little bag of
tricks ! Such fun ! :)
Hurry and post again tomorrow !! Can't wait ! :)
Are you talking about the Koran?
DeleteThe bible is immoral. Among the many disgusting things it promotes and condones, it says a women must marry a man who rapes her. Clearly a bunch of men made this "rule" so they could rape women and have wives as nothing more than property.
ReplyDeleteThe Bible has inconsistencies and inaccuracies and complete falsehoods. If one accept's the Bible as the "word of god" then you better accept the following:
Plants existed before the Sun and Moon (Genesis 1:11-16)
The Earth is created before the Sun (Genesis 1)
The Sun and Moon are set in a physical firmament above the Earth (Genesis 1:16-17)
The Moon is a/produces light (Genesis 1:16, Isaiah 13:10)
Global flood (Genesis..mentioned several other times in later books)
Humanity at a time of civilization which would have enabled large scale construction projects shared a single language (Genesis 11)
Diverse language happened instantly rather than gradually (Genesis 11)
The Hebrew population in Egypt somehow goes from dozens to millions in a few hundred years. (Exodus)
Hares and coneys are ruminants (Leviticus 11:5-6)
God's cure for lepers (Leviticus 14:2-52)
Snakebites are cured by a brass serpent on a pole (Numbers 21:8)
Giants (way too many passages Numbers, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, Amos)
Dragons (Deuteronomy 32:33, Psalms 148:7)
The Sun apparently moves and can be made to stand still so that people can sneak attack others at night (Joshua 10:12-13)
The Earth has pillars...(1 Samuel 2:8, Job 9:6,26:11,38:4-6...etc)
Pi = 3(1 Kings 7:23, 2 Chronicles 4:2)
Either the Earth stopped rotating and moved backward a bit or the Sun moved backward on its own...well, we know what the Bible says about the relationship between the two. (2 Kings 20:11)
The Earth doesn't move.(1 Chronicles 16:30, Job 38:4-6, Psalms 93:1, 96:10...and a lot of other places where it mentions that the Earth is set on foundations)
People think in their heart (Esther 6:6, Isaiah 10:7)
Ostriches are apparently entirely inattentive parents (Job 39:13-16)
The Sun moves around the Earth (Psalms 19:4-6)
Snails melt (Psalms 58:8)
The Earth has four corners (Isaiah 11:12, Ezekial 7:2)
Lots of fantastical creatures used to exist including satyrs, cockatrices, fiery flying serpents, etc (Isaiah)
The Earth is definitively flat (Daniel 4:10-11, 20)
The stars are tiny objects that can fall out of the sky and be stomped upon (Daniel 8:10)
Leviticus speaks against wearing mixed fabrics, eating shellfish , touching a pig's skin/ eating pork, (weren't you into football? " SINNER ! ), Having debt, cutting your hair(your hair is super shaved you SINNER !), shaving your face (you're shaved, SINNER !), growing two crops in one field, having tattoos etc etc etc . If you're going to quote your bible, perhaps you should actually be following everything it says instead of being a hypocrite
SLAVERY
“As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a Possession for ever.” (Lev. 25:44–46)
Clearly condoning slavery. Just one example of the disgusting immoralities contained in the bible.
As the 21st century progresses, your contradictory book is a joke, please stop quoting it like it's factual when it's pure fiction. Stop using the Bible as a model for morality when it's nothing of the kind. Your little enclosed world based on an ancient book is insane and dangerous to the rest of us.
Anyone living by that immoral book is living a wasted life.
And what is your stance on the Koran?
DeleteAs for your Bible question, Catholics have never read the entirety of the Bible literally, but rather literarily, and there is a huge difference.
If you really have never found a satisfactory answer to your questions about the Bible, I feel really sorry for you. If what you say above is really keeping you from the Bible, that's terrible.
Why are you asking about the Koran? Maybe if you state your stance on the Koran you'll develop more sympathy for secular humanists, just saying.
Delete"literarily, and there is a huge difference"
ReplyDeleteI know the words "literal" and "literary" but I've never heard of the word "literarily". Please explain what you mean ? How does reading the Bible "literarily" make all the examples I gave less immoral ?
literarily reading the Bible means that we as Catholics are not plagued with having to think of everything in there as being literal. We recognize that while all of Scripture is inspired by God, it can be both inspired and literary and doesn't have to be literal - so when it ascribes characteristics to God or says God did this or that, we believe there is truth to be gleaned from the passage, and it is inspired, without having to think that it is always literal
DeleteThat makes no logical sense and is completely suspect. Either the Bible is the Word of God or it isn't. Picking and choosing what's literal and what isn't is subject to many different interpretations, thus the 41,000 Christian religions. The Word of an all powerful God should be absolutely clear and 100% literal, not subject to interpretation at all. The Catholic hierarchy sitting around a table discussing what God means through a Holy Spirit is very sinister and not at all acceptable to a thinking person.
DeleteThe only people who can fall for such nonsense are the simple minded and uneducated....those are the people who've sustained the Church for 2000 years. The internet has changed that now and people are now , at a rapid speed , educating themselves online. All the polls showing the decline of religions, including Catholicism, reflect this fact. Vocations are dwindling. Priests need to minister to more than one parish now. Sisters and nuns will eventually be close to extinct.
We no longer get our information exclusively from a priest or minister on Sunday morning . In 2015, it's a lot more difficult to pull the wool over our eyes. Superstition just can't hold up anymore.
The internet is where religions come to die.
Father,
ReplyDeleteThank you for highlighting the above quotes. I have not taken the time to read this document yet and this gave a me a little taste!