Pope Announces Retirement

[ghettopalmetto]

My experiences and perceptions still stand. Prove otherwise!

There seems NO need for any additional data, unless the institution makes a change. You'll let me know when that happens?!

Thanks!

Yes, every parish priest preaches the need to succumb to Rome and pledge allegiance to the Holy Father and his Cardinals above all else. That Jesus guy, He and His teachings just play a small, secondary role.

If you're not a practicing Catholic, Gannon, what do you even care? Can't you just be happy in your own little conspiracy theory world without foisting it on us mortal peons?

[Gannon]

Yes, every parish priest preaches the need to succumb to Rome and pledge allegiance to the Holy Father and his Cardinals above all else. That Jesus guy, He and His teachings just play a small, secondary role.

If you're not a practicing Catholic, Gannon, what do you even care? Can't you just be happy in your own little conspiracy theory world without foisting it on us mortal peons?

I'm more than non-practicing, I am a fully-declared free human from that spiritual bondage. Those are great questions, Ghettopalmetto. I'm sure you'd rather me shut up. Wish I could. Might have something to do with the last time I was in a church.

I care because of the dichotomy...the division...between the average good Catholic believer [[amongst the ones I've had the pleasure to know) and the abject foolishness that happens within the organization. This juxtaposition between the wonderful people in the pews and the horrible men in the pulpit and above is simply too much for me to bear, ever since the time I allowed myself to be stuck within that whole scheme.

I care because ultimately the Maker ends up being maligned before the populous by the bad behavior of those who claim to know better. It was exactly the stuff Jesus complained about in His time...the harshest terms He ever used were aimed at the teachers and enforcers of the Law within Judaism who, from all recorded testimony which survives, acted largely like those within the Roman Catholic Church management today. History has repeated itself once again.


I've never left my faith in God or Jesus/Yeshua, and I cannot deny the experiences I've enjoyed through the Spirit's influence...but I am clearly and unmistakably no longer under the relative slavery of the twisted existence of Roman Catholicism. This allows me a particularly nice vantage point to observe and critique, sorry if it rubs you the wrong way.

You can always ignore me. Many people do. I won't mind either way.

Sincerely,
John

[Jimaz]

Some of the ones built around the 1100s exhibit acoustic treatments not thought discovered until the twentieth century! It is said that Gregorian Chanting in these fabulous acoustic spaces can induce bouts of spontaneous ecstasy unto actual physical healing. I found it odd that they were shelved until this most recent pope. There is something to the resonant and harmonic functions of the human body...old mysteries oddly applied....

The 1,500-year-old didgeridoo does it for me. Check out Ondrej Smeykal Playing a Chad Butler Didgeridoo.

Even a simple large cardboard tube can come pretty close to these sounds with practice. Then you can stretch a wide rubber band over it and set it out in a stiff breeze to play by itself.

[rb336]

cool idea!

[Gannon]

The following is sacriledge to some...but it is satire. Pretty well-written, too.

I only post this in the hopes that it lightens the mood a bit. I love the various aspects this author or author-team squeezes into this article. Bravo.

http://dailycurrant.com/2013/02/28/pope-benedict-gay/


The fictional Andrew Sullivan quote at the end makes it all worthwhile.

Cheers, really!

[Wingnatic]

get your picks in lol

[Whitehouse]

Go ahead!

Laugh!

[Gannon]

I just checked the odds board to see if there are any changes since the conclave began, and it looks as if the African has lost his first-place in the rankings...and Iscariot is third. Someone has said that the fellow in first revealed that he is the Peter of Rome...but I haven't found that tweet record yet.

Haven't looked at that guy closely, it was MUCH more fun to cheer on the fellow that would piss off the most bigoted of my Catholic cousins the most. Funny how none of them showed at the annual St. Patrick's Day parade this past Sunday...one was there but kept a very low profile. Go figure.

So, I'm leaning towards Turkson still, since it would be SO great to have an African pope...but the leader-of-odds hails from Brazil. And you know how those folks like to party.

So, we've got a Brazilian in first, Ghanian in second, and a Roman in third. Either of the first two if the Cardinals are more interested in growth, the third if they weigh tradition more highly. Oddly, all Peters. Go figure.

We cannot stray too far from the Malachi vision.

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics-...xt-pope/winner

[jcole]

Well, Gannon, he's Pope Francis the I. Real Name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, so no Peter, no Iscariot. Sorry

[Gistok]

We'll just have to save Armaggedon for another day....