Hew! What a relief, another Anglo European Cardinal was elected Pope. I was really worried there for a bit.
For some reason, the last couple of days I had this crazy thought that a South American or worst yet an Asian would be appointed the new Pope. I was thinking, they are smart aren't they? Nevertheless, I was counting on their arrogance. Thank God! (ironic)
I was too afraid to even think about it much, less the thoughts might escape and enter an inopportune consciousness. Now I can talk about why anything other than a Caucasian Pope would be bad news, or may be not; I would just say this – Condoleezza Rice. Only, it will be a lot worst than that because it would not only have social ramifications but it could mean cultural eradication!
Alright, may be I’m a little paranoid :)
Seriously though, an Asian Pope would surely inspire and energies Christian Groups in Asia and would likely mean a lot more people converting to Christianity. Which in itself might not be a problem but the fact is, religion in general and Christianity in particular had been used historically to subjugate populations which might be too difficult to contain militarily. As Christianity is a mutually exclusive religion – you are with us or you are against us, it does not comfortably coexist with divergent culture either.
To replace ancient and diverse culture with Judeo-Christian religion would often mean, replacing intricately circular and holistic worldviews with one that is linear, and by definition narrower and more limited view of the world and universe for that matter.
That’s my peeve.
1 comment:
Yeah, that is unfortunate but there is no guarantee that an Asian or Latino Pope would not follow the same doctrine. They are likely to be figureheads anyway because, I suspect, no freethinking radicals would ever be allowed prominence, let alone elected Pope. The new Pope has an agenda and is determined to push that through. We had a taste of it during the last US election, when he called for denying Communion to pro-choice politicians.
He was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the old Inquisition, and is really the one in charge of the Catholic theology. He campaigned against liberal priests in Latin America the moment he was appointed the head of the Inquisition. It is not likely that the Catholic Church would change much of its rhetoric while he is alive, no matter who the Pope is. This is the sad state of our world when narrow-minded religion has such incredible power over world politics. Containing their influence would be key; otherwise, it would be like hoping for benevolent dictators.
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