New Pope

[Hannah b]

To dislike the pope because he is german however (his 'voice' apparantly) is however quite racist, the very thing you hate about the nazi ideology.. how about you show a good example by not discriminating against people just of where they come from?

how about re-reading my post once again Doug? If you do you will notice that I said I forgave Germany unlike most of my country's citizens. All I'm saying is that it's quite politically ironic that the Pope comes from a country that has done so much harm to others, and that maybe it will be a chance for him to "pay back" for the sins.
I'm also saying that knowing my country, I can't imagine the German Pope be accepted with open arms (because of the history)..but if I'm wrong, this can be  a beautiful lesson of forgiveness.
As for his voice...no it's not his voice..it's the language ..and I get shivers because I've heard way too many stories from my grandma about how she was forced to speak German during the war. This is the only 'left-over" I have. Maybe I have the right to.

[FEMMSTARR]

Sadly I hear that he is ultra conservative. A sad thing to hear when he could influence 1billion people. Scary, is the world going to go backwards a bit maybe?  Why are the major religions so damned certain that their views are correct. This is a reaction to stuff I saw on the news last night .

You know I honestly have never known even 1 person that has been influenced by anything the pope had to say
but then I am not catholic

[Shinobi]

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[redcatherine]

Thanks for your reply Shinobi ,

Wanting love and peace has never been a chauvinistic method and  
I don't consider praying for his succession to be  nonsense .

hoping for his early death is just self absorbed (btw, that's what he really said about Buddhism) and infantile.

It is far from infantile to want a Pope  of love and peace in such a  powerful position . And actually that is exactly how he is quoted on the "What Cardinals Believe" site

On Buddhism Oct 16, 2004 Buddhism as an auto-erotic spirituality.(The Tablet, 18 September 2004) In March 1997 Ratzinger offered a similarly harsh judgement on Buddhism, calling it "an auto-erotic spirituality" in an interview with a leading French newspaper. Buddhism, said Ratzinger, "seeks transcendence without imposing concrete religious  obligations".
http://www.cardinalrating.com/cardinal_84__article_383.htm

Peace ,
Catherine

[Shinobi]

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[coolbreeze]

Whoa!! All this anti-german stuff is scary to me. Not that a lot of it isn't justified, I understand. But Germany has much changed since then. Nazi paraphernalia is illegal and they are (as a people) truly embarrassed and sorry about it. I take german from a german born and bred teacher and plan on going as an exchange student next year, so I may be biased, but they have changed. This guy was also REALLY close to Pope John Paul, so that should tell us something right there. Yes, he is very conservative, but hopefully he push for peace in the world as John Paul did. This guy may also help bridge the gap between the eastern and western worlds. Those things in and among themselves make more of a difference to me than him pushing against birth control or gay rights, as they are a choice in many countries.
And the whole nazi youth thing, I heard Ratzinger and his brother left germany under threat of death as soon as they could.

[FEMMSTARR]

Whoa!! All this anti-german stuff is scary to me. Not that a lot of it isn't justified, I understand. But Germany has much changed since then. Nazi paraphernalia is illegal and they are (as a people) truly embarrassed and sorry about it. I take german from a german born and bred teacher and plan on going as an exchange student next year, so I may be biased, but they have changed. This guy was also REALLY close to Pope John Paul, so that should tell us something right there. Yes, he is very conservative, but hopefully he push for peace in the world as John Paul did. This guy may also help bridge the gap between the eastern and western worlds. Those things in and among themselves make more of a difference to me than him pushing against birth control or gay rights, as they are a choice in many countries.
And the whole nazi youth thing, I heard Ratzinger and his brother left germany under threat of death as soon as they could.

I personally would never hold any person responsible for something they had absolutely nothing to do with
Germans do not = nazi