Pope condemns 'superficial glitter' of Christmas season

marywooyeah

elantan wrote: »

so you find it much easier to totally ignore the fact that it was a pagan holiday to begin with ? you seem more concerned with it not being the fact that it was the day Jesus was born ...

I'm not sure what you're getting at? christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but the timing of christmas is during the pagan festival of the winter solstice as opposed to the time he was actually born - I've already stated this so how am I "totally ignoring" the fact it was a pagan holiday to begin with?

withabix

Personally I don't give a damn what the Pope thinks or says.

After all, he worships a false idol.

Plus, as others have said, the catholic church specialises in hypocrisy.

suited-aces

pixie76 wrote: »

He is a hypocrite! the Catholic church is rich & opulent , our country spent millions of pounds on his recent visit which sickens me.A man who used to be part of the Hitler Youth Movement!

What relevance is this? The kid (which he was then) had no choice.

suited-aces

pixie76 wrote: »

You have no right whatsoever to tell me to get a grip , I am entitled to my opinion & didn't say anything that was untrue!!!

Oh noes, you've violated the cretin's rights. Prepare to be sued for damages.

Person_one

Torry_Quine wrote: »

the birth of Christ which was the greatest gift mankind has ever known.

All things considered over the last couple of millennia, I'd rather have just had a bike, or even socks.

property.advert

Something fundamentally wrong with an oppressive group of men who like to wear dresses and be surrounded by young boys whilst pontificating about their inability to marry (whilst delivering sermons on good marriage practice !).

Sad too that in the 21st century people still feel the need to believe in fairy tales about god and all that.

January20

elantan wrote: »

but the thing is it wasnt the day that jesus was born ... it was a holiday celebrated by the pagans that the christian church decided they would use to try and convert the pagans .... religon is often used to try ( and sadly often succeed) to manipulate people

I really get irritated with the fact this comment comes out every time somebody says the 25th is Jesus' birthday! Christians use this day to commemorate the birth of Jesus and we know - especially if we use these forums!!! - that it's not the real date. Does it matter? It's the symbolism of it that is important. Just like the Queen has her birthday and then an official birthday.

Does it matter that it was a pagan festival? Well, I can't say I care. Just like I don't care about what the Pope says, as I believe him to be one of the most hypocritical men on the planet, but then that is often the case with people in power. I do care however that we forget how powerful religions are and how dangerous they are.

I agree with your comment that religion tries and manipulate people. I would go further and say that it is a great way of controlling the masses: rubbish life on earth but God is waiting for you on the other side - suicide bomber on this Earth and 7 virgins (how many is it?) on the other side.

January20

pixie76 wrote: »

He is a hypocrite! the Catholic church is rich & opulent , our country spent millions of pounds on his recent visit which sickens me.A man who used to be part of the Hitler Youth Movement!

That's a stupid comment by somebody who has been LUCKY to spend their life in peace, with no fear of war at their doors, and not understanding - or even trying to understand - what it would be like, what you would have to do to survive, when death was probably not the worse thing that could happen to a person.

NO Pixie, you didn't say anything that wasn't true. You just used a fact from his past against him whilst forgetting the circumstances in which he took his actions. Manipulative. Like Religion

RedBern

I don't get involved with discussions about politics or religion usually, but am disappointed by the vitriol on here directed to the Head of the Catholic Church.

I can't see much wrong with a Christmas message asking people to look beyond commercial things. The fact is, due to the recession, I think a lot of people are, this year, trimming right back on the commercial side of Christmas, but not for religious reasons.

As has already been stated, if you're not a Catholic, don't listen to the guy, he's not directing his message to you.

As a visiting head of state, he's entitled to police protection when he visits, the cost of which is not decided by him.

The Catholic Church doesn't recognise gay marriages, so what? Again, it is up to the State to recognise and legalise.

I've not seen any threads denigrating any Imam from declaring the west is a den of iniquity and death to the infidels, which seems to happen on a regular basis, and am frankly more concerned with the radicalisation of young men in the name of religion than homophobia.

And I'm a lapsed Catholic by the way.