Pope's idiotic comment.

StormWarrior

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

Mantis Toboggan

He's a legend!

Realt Dearg Sec

Damn, and he was doing so well up till then...

conditioned games

Are we that hollow and insecure that we need to insult religion?

The Backwards Man

That's not what he said. He said if someone cursed his mother he'd lamp them.

Anyhoo, I'm not much of a pope lover, but is he all that wrong?

SweetChaos

Silly Papa

StormWarrior

Well aside from the obvious contradiction in what the idiot says, the catholic church's morals are quite warped aren't they? Mock religion and you deserve to be violently assaulted, but molest children and you should get off scot-free.

cml387

StormWarrior wrote: »

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

What the pope actually said.

StormWarrior

The Backwards Man wrote: »

That's not what he said. He said if someone cursed his mother he'd lamp them.

Anyhoo, I'm not much of a pope lover, but is he all that wrong?

No, he said if you mock religion you deserve the same as if you'd insulted his mother - a punch.

The_Valeyard

StormWarrior wrote: »

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

Tw@t of a post, completely out of context to what he said.

I did like his comment about if you insulted his mother,you get a punch , fair is fair.

RobYourBuilder

He said he'd deck someone if they insulted his mother. Which is fine and all, but isn't he meant to turn the other cheek?

SprostonGreen

StormWarrior wrote: »

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

Il Papa don't preach.

faceman

StormWarrior wrote: »

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

That's not what he said at all. He said that if someone "cursed his mother", they could expect to get a smack.

I believe the point he was trying to make was that while he supports freedoms of speech, it's not ok to use it as an excuse to insult or antagonise people for the sake of it.

MonkeyTennis

The thing I like about this pope is that he looks like a pope. The last fella looked like evil Matlock

The Backwards Man

StormWarrior wrote: »

No, he said if you mock religion you deserve the same as if you'd insulted his mother - a punch.

And that's his opinion, is he not entitled to it as much as you are entitled to yours?

Or do you think free speech should fundamentally exist to give you the right to mock and abuse others?

Beefy78

conditioned games wrote: »

Are we that hollow and insecure that we need to insult religion?

To be fair if you're going to openly pledge your devotion to a bunch of 2,000 year old stories based on nothing but blind faith then you should be open to having that devotion mocked.

It isn't the people doing the mockng who are shown to be insecure.

AlanS181824

He's a legend of a man!

valoren

You son of a bitch!
Cue Papal Smackdown.

seamus

conditioned games wrote: »

Are we that hollow and insecure that we need to insult religion?

Practically everything insults somebody's religion.

Are religious people that insecure that words said by someone else can shake their beliefs?

porsche959

Leviticus 24:10-23English Standard Version (ESV)

Punishment for Blasphemy

10 Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Shenshen

So he'll respond to mere words with an act of violence?

I'm not even Christian and I find that morally wrong and reprehensible! What harm do words do to you?

The_Valeyard

StormWarrior wrote: »

I don't have a link but in the newspaper today the pope is quoted as saying, free speech is a fundamental right and people have a duty to speak their minds, but if you mock religion you deserve to be punched. What a tw@t!

StormWarrior wrote: »

Well aside from the obvious contradiction in what the idiot says, the catholic church's morals are quite warped aren't they? Mock religion and you deserve to be violently assaulted, but molest children and you should get off scot-free.

StormWarrior wrote: »

No, he said if you mock religion you deserve the same as if you'd insulted his mother - a punch.

Im not sure what it is OP, but I think, that just maybe, *maybe*,
your not a fan of the Catholic church.

StormWarrior

The Backwards Man wrote: »

And that's his opinion, is he not entitled to it as much as you are entitled to yours?

Or do you think free speech should exist to give you the right to mock and others?

Firstly do you not see the irony, he's saying "I support free speech unless you say something I don't like, in which case you deserve to be assaulted."

Secondly what about his Christian turning the other cheek bollox which he clearly doesn't believe in? Not to mention it would be nice to see the catholic church that passionate about stamping out their abuse of children.

My name is URL

I think the message he was trying to convey was that every person has a breaking point, and at some point it becomes unreasonable for you to not expect an emotional reaction if you are intentionally offending someone.

It is the responsibility of the person who is offended to control their anger.

StormWarrior

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Im not sure what it is OP, but I think, that just maybe, *maybe*,
your not a fan of the Catholic church.

Why, because I pointed out that the pope said something stupid?

DarkyHughes

It's the pope, what did you expect his position on religion would be? Plus punching people is alot more manly than shooting people.

StormWarrior

Not quite the religion bashing thread you'd hoped, eh OP?

Back to the Atheism forum you go. Plenty of like-minded 'persecuted' people there

I'm not an atheist. Can you really not tell the difference between criticising what one person has said, and "religion-bashing"? I take it that you are a catholic then if you are so offended by someone pointing out that the pope has said something stupid.

Guy:Incognito

StormWarrior wrote: »

No, he said if you mock religion you deserve the same as if you'd insulted his mother - a punch.

Is forgiveness not what the church is all about?
Is all lamping of people not therefore wrong?

Why is mocking certain people or groups in comedy ok but religion is off the table? Bit precious, no?

porsche959

Don't kick kick Bishop Brennan up the arse is my takeaway from this one.

jackofalltrades

From here:

“There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others,” he said.
“They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit.”

He's basically saying that if you criticise religion that you deserve any violence that you receive in retaliation.
Fairly disgusting comments to make in light of recent events.

AudreyHepburn

In fairness he is right.

You can insult and mock all you want, freedom of speech and expression cannot be suppressed, but you must expect that people will react to it, and probably not a good way.

Everyone has a breaking point, is what I think he was trying to say.