According to article published on americamagazine.org Pope said that it is a “moral imperative” to protect migrant workers and those “exiled and seeking asylum” meaning refugees. I would like to concentrate on Pope’s views of so called “refugees”.
Let me clear from the start that I’m not against helping people fleeing wars and conflicts. They have to be helped. From the very beginning Pope’s views are very pro-refugees. On number of occasions he was encouraging Christians to welcome refugees. In one statement he said: “In God’s heart there are no enemies” and “God only has sons and daughters. We are the ones who raise walls, build barriers and label people.” I’ve got difficulty to understand how he could miss the whole hatred in Koran for non-believers. In one of many examples we read: "Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable." Koran 3:85. How we are supposed to assimilate wave of invaders (since most of them are men in young age) with hatred in their hearts for everything which is not Islamic ? This invaders showed on many occasions how much they “respect” our culture and way of life. How we are not supposed to build walls to protect us ? Seems like we have to just discard our prejudice and watch with love in our eyes how everything is collapsing. Coming back to the original article we read: “The pope advocated a “shared response” to this crisis by the political community, civil society and the church. He said that effort could be described with four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate.” To welcome people who are in needs – yes. To protect young men who are pretending to be refugees looking easy way into Europe instead of fighting for their country – no. To promote and integrate something so alienated from our culture – no and no. Then we read: In his address on Feb. 21, he said rejection is “rooted ultimately in self-centeredness and amplified by populist rhetoric,” and he underlined the need for “a change of attitude, to overcome indifference and to counter fears with a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors.” We the one’s who have to change our attitude. Than we the one’s who have to change our way of life to “overcome indifference”. After all that, we the one’s who have to change the law to make sure we are not offending them by following only our law. It is hard to say they knocking at our door. To use such an expression is simply undermining reality. The next paragraph says: “He called for the promotion of an “integral human development” of migrants, exiles and refugees and said this requires “a coordinated effort” involving the political community, civil society, international organizations and religious institutions.” Lets call it simple – collectivism. The next paragraph is even more disturbing: “The pope highlighted the need for the integration of migrants in host countries and explained that this “is neither assimilation nor incorporation. It is a two-way process, rooted essentially in the joint recognition of the other’s cultural richness: It is not the superimposing of one culture over another, nor mutual isolation, with the insidious and dangerous risk of creating ghettos.” This is exactly what he says it isn’t. There is no two-way process since most Europeans does want to preserve their own culture in the same way as migrants want to preserve theirs. I doubt that each side would just simply start giving up on their heritage. Simple fact is that ghettos are fact of life. Just look at big cities in Europe or USA. It seems to me that the sun has almost blinded Pope. Don’t forget that he’s only the face. He represents huge institution. In all of this crisis there is no talk or any plan of them coming back to their own country…..
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In the article published on Vatican Insider Pope said: “if you want to understand the mystery of Jesus be mindful of being nothing”, because the Lord “fell in love with our smallness, suffering and fatigue” To understand mystery of Jesus according to Pope man first has to be aware of that he is nothing. Being grown up man and seeing myself as a mature human being makes me wonder what really is the message here. Should I expel all I have learned during my lifetime ? Or should I forget about all of this for a little while or only for the time of praying ? How would I function in this world ? To live in this world and be active part of it I can’t be just nothing. Which part of myself I should get rid of first ? The one I’ve learned in the school which made me to be obedient little cog in the machine ? Or the social one ? The one big blob of nothingness. If you still have doubts that’s the place when love comes. Just “fell in love with our smallness, suffering and fatigue”. I get the message now. First you have to “lower yourself: make yourself small”. There are times when form of scaling down is necessary. It’s helpful. You can see more detail – atomic structure you can say. But what is the next step ? Am I supposed to stay there forever or rise up again to become better man ? God has “mixed Himself up with us in the journey of life” and gave “His Son, and life of His Son, for our love” – Pope says. I’ve got a few questions. Why would God mixed himself up with us in the first place ? If we are his creation are we not on our own journey of life ? Why would he give life of his own son ? Being almighty doesn’t make any sense to sacrifice your own son for love of other people. What am I supposed to celebrate wit a joy ? Death of God’s son ? I don’t agree with the statement “The Holy Father said it is not we who have chosen God”. This sound like there wasn’t any choice. What about free will ? What about all the other Gods before christian God ? Surely there was plenty of them in different past ages. Next statement says “God has made Himself a “our prisoner”. What is the purpose of God making himself “our prisoner” ? Did he gave himself up with resistance or on free will ? Being raised as a Christian I haven’t chosen this religion - it was forced on me. Christ " not only chooses and reveals Himself to the little ones; He calls the little ones: ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. You that are the smallest – because of suffering, because of fatigue – He chooses the little ones, He is revealed to the little ones, and He calls the little ones”. After reading above statement I see the bigger picture now: God sacrificed his own son for our sins who later reveals himself to the little ones. The little ones are burdened and Christ will give them rest because of suffering and fatigue. What do they suffer from ? Fatigue from what ? In the next statement Pope Francis asks: "But the great, does He not call them? His heart is open, but the great do not recognize His voice because they are not able to hear it because they are full of themselves. To hear the voice of the Lord, you must make yourself little.” My understanding is that I shouldn’t become great because I won’t hear his voice. What about the great poets, painters, musicians who were full of themselves ? Haven’t God spoken through them ? From the Body of Christ transfixed by the soldier’s lance, “blood and water” flowed out, the Pope reminded us; and “this is the mystery of Christ”. What sort of mystery it is Pope doesn’t explain. Looks like every man has to come up with his own. If that’s not achievable we can find a common one. I’m sure. “The problem of the faith is the core of our life” and I agree with this. At the moment we have great example of it in Europe – Islam. |
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"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a king" - Desiderius Erasmus Archives
December 2019
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