Pope: Millions are losing their religion and declaring God is dead
Interesting to see some numbers from Scotland on declining attendance at mass. And also funny that the pope is talking about is as a crisis facing society and all of civilization. Take a look.
Didn’t Nietsche say something to this effect awhile ago?
Abstracted from the decline in church attendance, isn’t this “society is bankrupt” argument — and the coming apocalypse — as old as time itself? Certainly my cranky grandfather anticipated the Pope’s sentiment by decades. He thought everything had gone south as early as 1969. I wonder if it wouldn’t be more productive to focus on concrete ways society might improve itself instead of just criticizing this fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves in.
But hey, I get cranky sometimes too.
I find it interesting that the Pope comments:
“There are those who, after deciding that ‘God is dead’, declare themselves to be ‘god’ and the artisan of their own destiny, the absolute master of the world.”
Is it so wrong to believe that we are, in some way, in control of our own fate? And, does this belief lead to one in either the species’s or the self’s absolute mastery of the world? The former seems, to me, to be empowering and a call to take responsibility for our actions; a reminder that our activities are not performed in a vacuum devoid of consequences and effects on other beings.
The latter seems hyperbolic, and I don’t see the leap from the control of our own destinies to a control of others’ destinies. I accept that our choices–our control–influences the choices/control of others but we don’t tend to control others, outside of some specific, extreme circumstances (e.g., historical or modern slavery).
And the prefect of the Vatican Supreme Court called the American Democratic Party ‘a party of death.’ http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-vatican-ech.html
Wow. Does that make Republicans the “Party of War”?
It seems to me that – in light of the serious problems with our economy, health care system, Social Security/Medicare, etc. — the news is that most Americans are tired of such polarizing partisan tactics. Then again, if things get dire enough, maybe peoples’ political positions will begin to fall more into lockstep with their personal beliefs.