The human race has only one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.

-Mark Twain

Not too surprised about that comment Chasen. Of course, the Pope wouldn't like the internet, it lets the people think for themselves. If it wasn't so serious it would almost be laughable, but I doubt if even Mr Twain could laugh at this obviousness.

Yes, Neo, if it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable.

But what can one do except laugh?

It might be better to laugh the Pope off the world stage rather than take him seriously.

Yea, I'm thinking/hoping that this'll be the last pope. It's an institution that's run its course. They've had a long history of either fabricating truth and/or demanding respect with threat of death or condemnation, or simply remaining totally silent when they should speak out. i.e. During WW II the Vatican was completely silent while Hitler ravaged across Europe. Maybe they were too afraid to speak out since Mussolini was in control of Italy. Meanwhile millions and millions died at the hands of the regime. Maybe if more Christians were being slaughtered the Vatican might have taken a stand.

Ironic and overly broad though the comment is, he does have a point with respect to some contexts.  Immersive video games, for example, can end up taking over a person's life, becoming more "real" to them than day-to-day activities in their physical lives.  (Yeah, I'm looking at you, World of Warcraft)

And reality-imitating technology, such as the ever-improving art of simulating a human face on a screen, does threaten to make it hard to distinguish between reality and fiction.  Should full VR technology be developed, this could become a real problem.  Not one that should (or could) necessarily be solved by opposing the technology itself, but something that would need to be addressed somehow anyway.

I don't think it's wrong for the Pope to bring up this issue, whatever the man's other significant failings, and regardless of the irony of his words in the RCC's modern context.

Yes, Azdgardi, reality-twisting technology has its dangers. This has been pointed out by quite a few people, and there is nothing wrong with such a warning.

The irony is when it comes from the head of the Catholic Church, which has been engaged in reality twisting for millenia.

"If humanity believes what is fed to them on television, then humanity is doomed," the previous Pope once said.

I wonder what would happen to humanity if it listened to what is fed to them by the Catholic Church?

Oh, I totally agree.  I just don't want to see a valid message get drowned by the irony of its context.

The pope is half right. As with most things the internet is a mixture of good and bad. We get news and information and we get some really twisted porn and online gambling. We get the New York Times and Fox News. We get forums like this and we get young people posting hateful comments on the facebook wall of a 13 year old girl who killed herself following emotional abuse by her peers. The internet is all over the place both good and bad. We could go on and on finding both good examples and bad. Obviously we shouldn't exchew it in it's entirety, but we should be wary or it's dark underbelly.

Are you talking about technology, or the Catholic Church?

Hi chansen,

So the pope said it.  Can you disprove it?

Intelligent Design is all over the internet.  Is it true for being there?

Greatest I am posts, what he posts here, all over the internet.  Is it true for being here and there?

I can post a lie on the internet.  Is it true for being there?

I can find anything that supports any hare-brained idea I have whether or not I pretend it is scientific, philosophic or theologic.  If I can find support does the hare-brained become any less hare-brained.

The internet, as a repository of knowledge, is an ideal.  An ideal which has not proven to be innocent or even free from error.

Bias exists whether or not the internet exists.  Bias doesn't disappear the minute one finds themselves on the information superhighway nor does being able to point and click make anyone "discerning."

Grace and peace to you.

John

Hi Neo,

Or at the very least make public the claim that they do think for themselves without actually having to prove it.

If people were unable to think for themselves before a new technology they are still unable to think for themselves.  The only improvement is that it now has become more efficient for them to not think for themselves.

Grace and peace to you.

John

No wonder popes are always surrounded in bullet proof glass!  presidents never had that kind of protection. 

ha yes the Internet, the last great free frontier

not for long, I smell censorship brewing over the horizon

Your mind is there to be used and enjoyed

The paradox of choice

Oldie but goodie: Manufacture of Consent

A Canadian that Changed the World

They love Self Worship

And so it goes...

Well, according to Malachy, (or was it Nostradamus) there is only one pope left after this one,:

"112 Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills (Rome) will be destroyed, and the fearsome Judge will judge His people. The End."

The recent canonization of a nun from Australia to sainthood speaks volumes about the Pope's new attitude towards sexual assault.

She was excommunicated for whistleblowing on priestly sex scandals in her lifetime. Now she is elevated to the highest rank of Catholic hero.

I don't know if you can make a stronger statement than that.

Berserk

quote:

"Here in eastern Washington, I am awestruck by how many local Catholics give sacrificially and work tirelessly to minister to the poor."

Agreed. From what I often  see, read,  and hear in the media I believe the Roman Catholics in general are number one in organizing and supporting many  charities world wide. They are doing some wonderful works and the world would be a much poorer place without them.

Judd

Here is an article about  Mary Mac Killop. (I think Mike has a thread on this)

Near where I grew up, in central Bavaria in the Pope's former diocese, the Catholic Church operates an institution for the mentally handicapped. Workshops of all kinds as well as a farm are attached to this institution, and the handicapped learn all kinds of useful skills and do whatever they can to lead full lives. The institution is financed by state, church, and private donations, is operated by a state/church partnership with full accounting to the public, and is exemplary in every way.

Of cource there's a good side and a bad side. And it's good to bring both up. In the same spirit it is good to speak our minds, politely and rationaly, expose injustices, rather than accept everything and keep quiet. I think we work on doing that here.

Inanna: Fun guy this Clifford Stoll!

No stronger statement?  How about opening up records for police review, rather than being secretive and requiring the police to raid church offices in Belgium, then complaining about it?  How about returning Cardinal Bernard Law to face prosecution in Massachusetts?  How about not hiding assets so they won't be distributed to victims who have been awarded judgements against the church?  How about not invoking diplomatic immunity and allow Ratzinger to be interviewed by police in relation to his actions to shield the chuch from scandal, rather than the children from pedophiles?

No stronger statement than canonization?  Recognizing a dead woman?  That must literally be the least they can do.

Arminius

I'm thinking about Jean Vanier who founded L'Arche . I think there is a L'Arche community a few miles north of where I'm living. Jean Vanier is getting older and still going strong I think.

http://www.larche.org/jean-vanier-founder-of-l-arche.en-gb.23.13.content.htm

I've always admired the Roman Catholics for their work among the lepers. This is an incredible video:

June 05, 2008 — The Happy City - Leper Colony Documentary Educational Video.

Sponsored by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, Bill Deneen traveled three days by bullock cart to the remote leper colony run by Father Cesare Columbo in Ken Tung (Kyiang Tong), Burma.