Re: ...the Pope again...

[nudd@zikzak.apana.org.au (Nai Ying Kwok)]

IHEBER@ESOC.BITNET (Ilka Heber) writes:

>Hi there,

>I refer to Stuart Castergine's note stating that the Pope surely has a right
>to give his opinion and to advice women to have their babies after a rape,
>even if he doesn't have any personal experience with the matter himself.

>Of course he has a good point here. I mean, I tend to utter my opinion about
>loads of things, even if I don't know s... about them - I still have opinions.
>Nevertheless, I see the danger in the point that the Pope is a very high
>authority to some people. They do not question what the Pope is saying, it
>is like an order to them. And this is where statements like that become very
>dangerous. I also remind of the third world countries. Finally people got to
>the point that taking condoms is a good thing. The Pope goes on one of his
>trips to those people and tells them they are sinners as they are not supposed
>to take contraceptives. And like that he ruins everything, which cost other
>people a hell of a long time to achieve.

Right on Ilka!  I was going to post something to this effect to Stuart,
but I see now that it is unnecessary :-).  Anyway, a *lot* of Catholics do
take the Pope's words as the word of God, as they think he is God's voice
on earth, and never choose to question whether it is best for themselves
personally.  If he goes around telling people it is a *sin* to abort the
child, then he is just plain wrong.

I can recognise situations where the woman may indeed gain from having the
baby, but not every woman could handle that, and it is not the best
solution for *every* woman.  Now all devout Catholics are going to feel
like s**t even if they do abort the child, 'cos they have to like with the
guilt associated with aborting the child.  IMHO, not very constructive. 
That's one of the things I *hate* about religion.

>The point I'm trying to make is only that if somebody is an unquestionable
>authority to some people, he (or she) should be a little more thoughtful with
>what they say.

>I hope this makes sense..

Eminently!  It seems perfectly clear to me. :)

Cheers all,

NY
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| nudd@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au | "Surrender? That's not defeat for a woman" |
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