This is what I hate about people with God complexes (and yes, I was cracking up as I wrote that, which led to a bit of a coughing jag - divine punishment, perhaps?) - they tell us commoners that we need to do what they say because they are infallible, but then when they are wrong, we are supposed to look the other way because they are only human. Hey buddies - you can't have it both ways.
Personally, I think that this is why doctors are sued for malpractice so often. Many fine upstanding members of the medical community exist and are perfectly delightful people whose company I enjoy, but their colleagues tend to be fucking assholes. They act as though they know everything, are enraged when you question something they told you, and then when they fuck up, they don't understand why people get upset. "I'm only human." Fine. Then get off your pedestal and don't pretend you are all-knowing and all powerful in the first place and I'll accept your all too human mistakes. Otherwise, suck my dick.
The medical profession aside, what provoked my rant today is an article I saw in The New York Times about Pope Benedict XVI and the scandal with accepting a bishop who denies the Holocaust back into the Vatican bosom. Infallible means you are never wrong. Ever. But according to the article, "The Vatican says that Benedict had been unaware of a cleric's offensive comments." Really? Well, shit, if the Pope can't figure out who is an anti-Semetic crazy despite numerous public statements from said crazy, I sure as fuck don't believe he's receiving the proper messages about birth control and other issues that the Pope supposedly has more authority on than mere mortals like me. If you are going to claim infallibility, you better never, ever get caught claiming that you don't know what you are doing. I wish I could sue him for faith malpractice.
Sorry, you can't have it both ways.
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Infallibility is rather strictly defined. Infallibility applies only to solemn, official teachings on faith and morals, not to disciplinary decisions or even to unofficial comments on faith and morals.
ReplyDeletePopes and bishops making bad decisions and/or behaving improperly themselves do not fall under the rather narrowly defined situations of infallibility.
Note: There is a distinct difference between infallibility and impeccability. If you read what Catholics understand "infalliblity" to mean you will undoubtedly have to find another approach to this kind of criticism.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. This is exactly a matter that affects faith and morals. If something related to genocide - which was in fact a concept that past popes not only supported by actively engaged in (no, I will not forgive the Inquisition from someone claiming to be infallible, no matter how long ago it was.) In addition, if people pick and choose when a person can be human and infallible, it makes the very idea of infallibility laughable, which quite frankly, it is. The whole thing is hypocritical. Not just for this pope, but for all of them.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of this infallibility doctrine and the Pope. Being down here in Catholic country, I've probably heard it before though and tuned it out as I don't believe any human is infallible nor do I believe doctrines developed by humans are infallible.
ReplyDeleteWait...I'm confused. I thought Infallible was a brand of lip color by L'Oreal. What does that have to do with anything?
ReplyDelete-CFW (wink, wink)
you have a dick?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about infallibilty, but hypocrisy-yeah the Roman Catholic church sure got that schtick down pat. The irony is that expecting us to uphold and agree with every decision the pope makes as fact goes completely against the doctrines of the faith they are telling us to aspire to. If you want to read the bible literally,( and really I don't think we should as it was a text written by falliable humans intended to be a metaphor for right, wrong, situtational morality and just plain interesting storytelling,) you would see that the sort of complete reverence and blind obediance the Catholic church asks of us is sacreligious in itself-false prophets and idol whorship being a no-no and such.
ReplyDeleteNice piece!