Oct 4, 2015

[Technicolor Musings] Don't Expect the Pope to Be Progressive

A lot of folks were eager to call the current pope progressive and whatnot based on his willingness to speak up about many issues include climate change and other things. There were big headlines about him saying "Who am I to judge?" when it came to the question of the LGBT community and so a lot of people were quick to declare he represented shift in the Catholic perspective.

But the pope is the leader of a religion, and it's one that is well-known for being conservative and generally dismissive of the LGBT community. The usual Catholic stance is that it's okay to be gay, just don't engage in homosexual acts like, you know, sex. Hello single blessedness.

First, he's only one man. His opinions do not immediately represent the majority view of the entire organization. And Catholicism is not run like a dictatorial government - they also have councils and they need to discuss among themselves what their stands on issues are going to be before they make a statement.

And two, he's pope for a reason. It means he still follows the same general principles and beliefs that the rest of the organization has. And so when he says that government officials in the US should be able to defy the law in line with their religious beliefs, that's just him playing par for the course.

No comments:

Post a Comment