Message for the Christian Girl on the main thread

[MisterrSingh]

2 hours ago, BhForce said:

Well, there is an actual Christian tradition of foot-washing, usually not followed.
But do you fault the Pope because he bowed to Muslims or to anyone?

Both. 

[Guest guest]

14 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

Both. 

imo it's those people getting their feet washed who should be ashamed of themselves.  

[BhForce]

20 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

23 hours ago, BhForce said:

Well, there is an actual Christian tradition of foot-washing, usually not followed.
But do you fault the Pope because he bowed to Muslims or to anyone?

Both. 

But how can you blame the Pope for following his religion? (Seeing as washing somebody's feet doesn't harm us, unlike, say, jihad.)

[MisterrSingh]

44 minutes ago, BhForce said:

But how can you blame the Pope for following his religion? (Seeing as washing somebody's feet doesn't harm us, unlike, say, jihad.)

Don't play ignorant. He has a responsibility as the figurehead of his respective sect; as the apparent leader and role model for 1.2 billion Catholics to be cognisant of his actions, because they not only reflect his own thoughts but the expectation of how all Catholics are then expected to behave, to varying degrees, due to the example set by their leader. 

The symbolic nature of bowing down to a Muslim delegation and kissing their feet -- especially in a world where that image will circulate in seconds -- is hugely damaging regardless of the idea that the religion itself prescribes it as an acceptable ritual. Again, symbolically, at a time when millions of migrants are flocking to traditionally (if not in practice) Christian countries, what does this image suggest to those individuals who are of a competing, more aggressive belief system which holds Westerners and Christians with contempt and scant regard? When their Pope tacitly prescribes an attitude of prostration, literally and figuratively, it's not an innocuous act of religious devotion; it's a calculated and concerted visual message designed to signify surrender and the example he expects Catholics to adhere to. And don't for one moment believe the Pope was caught unawares or was simply caught up in innocuous religious observances. He knew very well what he was doing. I reiterate the idea that this religious gesture symbolises something greater in magnitude than what it seems to imply on the surface. Everything is symbolism with these people.

Discernment. It's what separates us from being mere automatons. There is a time and place for all things. 

[BhForce]

6 minutes ago, MisterrSingh said:

Again, symbolically, at a time when millions of migrants are flocking to traditionally (if not in practice) Christian countries, what does this image suggest to those individuals who are of a competing, more aggressive belief system which holds Westerners and Christians with contempt and scant regard?

Right, I agree with that. I.e., the problem is bowing to Muslims.

The problem is you said "both", implying (to my mind) you would object to the Pope carrying out his religion in washing the feet of Christians in that tradition.

I completely agree that the foot-washing of Muslims was specifically staged to further the Pope's agenda of importing millions of Muslims.

[MisterrSingh]

3 minutes ago, BhForce said:

Right, I agree with that. I.e., the problem is bowing to Muslims.

The problem is you said "both", implying (to my mind) you would object to the Pope carrying out his religion in washing the feet of Christians in that tradition.

I completely agree that the foot-washing of Muslims was specifically staged to further the Pope's agenda of importing millions of Muslims.

He can charran-toh as many Christians as his heart desires, but that's not going to make the front pages of the newspapers and websites, is it? An act of apparent humility doesn't ring true when there's many socially and politically loaded issues circulating around it; issues that only the most sheltered or out of touch individual would be ignorant of. For the Pope to not be aware or even advised against the "optical impact" of his visual statement is difficult to believe. Catholicism is a heresy in my opinion, but that's neither here nor there. Billions clearly feel otherwise.

[Guest guest]

he's following his religion.  he's worshipping/honouring Jesus, not bowing to any group.  

why does there have to be an agenda to everything in your mind?  he's a spiritual figurehead, not a political leader.