The Global Conversation

Tag: Pope Francis

  • What about this Pope?

     

    In the last year the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has added to the dialog, and to the polarization of the world.  It has become another contentious dialog between those who wish to see change vs. those who believe nothing should ever change; that the Bible is a tool of God vs. the indisputable word of God.  It is the people who believe the Pope is the spiritual Head of the Church vs the Pope is the spiritual Head of the Church, but spirituality and politics don’t mix.  It seems that talk about money/politics and faith are separate conversations, not one ongoing conversation.

     

    This Pope has had the temerity to suggest, among many things, that we should be kind to homosexuals, review policies that exclude divorced couples from the sacraments, that we shouldn’t judge others, and, worst of all, has suggested that an equitable way of redistributing the worlds wealth should be sought!

     

    We live in an age of ever increasing mechanization of labor, and still increasing population, and stagnant wages.  Labor is told to get a job, but jobs are dwindling, and the real buying power of wages has shrunk dramatically.  All the while the rich are getting disproportionately more wealthy.

     

    The Pope sees this as against the teachings of Christ, around whom Christianity was born.

     

    What is the response I have seen most often to this Pope’s stand on our world capitalist (Trickle down) economy model?  The Pope is a Socialist!  The Pope is a Communist!  The Pope doesn’t “get it”, when it comes to Capitalism, because he took a vow of poverty and because he lived in a poor country!  These are the cries I hear from people in the media…and from many people I speak to.

     

    I, personally, think this means the Pope “gets it” more than any one of the media pundits, or anyone who lets others form their opinions for them.  This Pope has seen first hand, and in grinding reality, what poverty really is, and how the “trickle down” economic model is not working. He has demonstrated that happiness comes from within not without.  He has seen the effects of entitlement and separation from one another…and Divinity.

     

    There is a whole discussion one could have right now on exactly what “Socialism” is, but I will only say that there is no one definition, and that it is a fluid thing, with, at its core, parity for all, with each culture defining what is of “value”, and what defines an individuals “value”.

     

    What “Socialism” isn’t is an end to individualism, nor does it necessarily mean the government runs the whole thing.  It is a fluid thing.  What it means is that we can decide what our unique version of “Socialism” looks like, and then declare what we value and deem “productive” or having “value”…and isn’t that the same thing as deciding how we wish to express Divinity in our lives?  America can invent and refine and define what “Socialism” means in America, other countries can determine how it would work for them.

     

    Socialism does mean a shift back to production for use, not strictly for capital gains.    It means that we will have to re-examine just how influenced by the attitudes of buy, buy, buy and begin to know that there is enough for everyone…and understand who benefits, and who does not, if these attitudes change.  It means that a thing or persons value is determined by its usefulness, not by its exchange value.  It means that when enough of a thing has been produced, we may have to share and repair!

    Who, we must ask ourselves, is feeling the heat from the words of a Pope who also believes there is enough for all if we have the will to see life as being filled from within, and not from without?

    So many of the issues that this Pope has brought up, and which are getting so much reaction, are also those that effect the marginalized or some minority… women, the poor, gays and lesbians.  Why is it so upsetting to so many?  What would happen if these suppressed groups changed their minds about themselves…what power do they possess?

     

    This Pope says to welcome the immigrant, which usually translates to “the poor”, who will not, in economic terms, “contribute” in the short term fiscal picture.   I believe very person of any strata of society in any contributes to the “system”, if not through income tax, then through sales taxes, labor, knowledge, spirituality, and even, simply, the belief in something better.  None of these are small things, and most people do not see, minus the immigrant, their country would not look like it does today.  The idea that the immigrant population pollutes the pure genetic strain is ridiculous and completely denies that we are all One.  I don’t believe for one moment that different skin colors were created by Divinity as a social ranking tool, but merely as a means to know who we are through contrast, in this human experience….and I believe this Pope sees exactly that.

    I ask…who and what is your God?  Does your God represent all or just the privileged?  Does your God ask you to fear change and your fellow man, or to know it is all God?  Does this Pope create fear in you, or anticipation?  Should this Pope stick to strictly “spiritual” issues, or is, as CWG says politics our spirituality expressed?

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of, and Spiritual Helper at, the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • There are 7,203,608,340 sides to every story

    The ushering in of a new year is symbolic, a time for reflection, contemplation, and transformation as many people look back upon the events which took place during the preceding year. Some of these events made headline news around the world.  And many of these headline news stories sparked heated debates.

    Some of the more controversial happenings placed even the most agreeable minds at odds with each other:  George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the trial for shooting Trayvon Martin, the release of the activist film against SeaWorld “Blackfish,” the rolling out of Obama Care, the federal government shutting down, Pope Francis’s nontraditional stances, the legalization of gay marriage in many countries and states, and, yes, even the show Duck Dynasty had some time in the spotlight, just to name a few.

    Our planet earth is a magnificently diverse home for all of us.  And while it is undeniable that there are plenty of places we could improve on the way we interact with each other and treat each other and support each other, is there also an equal amount of room for us to understand and accept each other on a higher level?  Are these hot-topic news stories only controversial because we box ourselves into one way of seeing things and then expect others to see that way, too?   Do our differences of opinion create change or stifle it?

    I’m just wondering, as we take our first steps into 2014 and think about what we want to accomplish, where we want to go, and who we want to be, if some thought might be given to recognizing that the stories yet untold and the events yet to be experienced will all be heard and experienced through the eyes of differing perspectives and filtered through the data of each individual’s unique past.  How might that level of awareness impact the way we communicate with each other?  The way we create with each other?  The way we love one another?

    Is life meant to be more of a plain vanilla experience?  Are we really trying to get to a place where we all think and act alike?  Or are the occurrences in our lives, personally and globally, providing us much larger opportunities here?  Can we live peacefully and collaboratively within the shifting realm of our differences?

    There are approximately 7,203,608,340 people in the world.  And as I write these words, that number continues to expand rapidly.  Perhaps the next time life presents us an opportunity to be “right” about something or we feel compelled to assert our knowingness upon someone with a differing point of view, we might consider the possibility that there is not only one side to any given story, nor are there only two sides; there are potentially 7,203,608,340 sides to every story.  And might it be possible that, ironically, somewhere deep within that complicated kaleidoscope of multifaceted thoughts and feelings and experiences lies the one thing that humanity is longing for:  peace?

    (Lisa McCormack is a Feature Editor at The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • Worldwide Discussion:
    IS HOMOSEXUALITY A SIN?

    There’s a brouhaha a’brewin’ over the remarks made in the January 2014 of GQ magazine in which a television personality declares homosexuality to be a sin.

    A great deal of attention was also paid to recent statements made by the spiritual leaders of the Roman Catholic Church when they have said just the opposite.

    So who is right? From an ecclesiastical point of view, from the spiritual or religious perspective, which statement is accurate?

    Phil Robertson, the main person around whom the television series Duck Dynasty revolves, is quoted in the magazine article as comparing homosexual behavior to bestiality and promiscuity.

    Discussing gay sexual attractions, Robertson is quote as saying,   “But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

    And just what is sinful about homosexuality? Explaining his reference, Robertson is quoted in the GQ article as saying, “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”

    This is in sharp contrast to the observation offered by one of the closest advisors, a member of the inner council of consultants, to Pope Francis, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of India.

    In August the Cardinal said that the Catholic Church does not permit gay marriage, homosexuality is not a sin.

    “To say that those with other sexual orientations are sinners is wrong,” Cardinal Gracias wrote.

    The top Catholic Church official in India said that Catholic clergy “must be sensitive in our homilies and how we speak in public, and I will so advise our priests.”

    The remarks appeared to echo and enlarge upon comments made earlier in the year by Pope Francis himself, who had this to say when exploring the subject of whether gays are condemned as sinners: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.”

    This is sharply and markedly different from the comments of Catholic leaders in the past, the vast majority of whom have rounded condemned homosexuality and those who practice it.

    It is also in stark contrast to the views of television personality Phil Robertson, who added in his magazine interview:

    “Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

    When persons who stand so hugely in the public eye as the central figure of one of the most watched non-fiction programs in cable television history make statements such as this, it raises once more in the public mind the central question of the human conscience: What does God want? Does God punish us for our sins? Do certain behaviors make us ineligible to “inherit the kingdom of God”? Is homosexual love and gay sexual experience one of those behaviors?

    Your comments are invited below.

  • Why isn’t “enough” enough?

    Every day, an estimated 20,864 people die from hunger-related causes in our world, according to statistics provided by The World Bank.

    Some 80 million people, around 43% of America’s working-age adults, didn’t go to the doctor or access other medical services last year because of the cost, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s Biennial Health Insurance Survey.

    And while it is difficult to pinpoint exact numbers, a study of homelessness in 50 cities found that in virtually every city, the city’s officials estimated the numbers of homeless people greatly exceeded the number of emergency shelter and transitional housing spaces.  And of the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are an estimated 640 million (1 in 3) without adequate shelter.

    The average annual income for school teachers around the globe spans anywhere from a meager $10,604 in Egypt to $45,755 in Singapore (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

    However….

    At the same time, in Limburg, Germany, Bishop Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst was busy renovating his lavish residence to the tune of $43 million dollars, an indulgence that has earned him the nickname “Bishop of Bling” and which also led to his suspension from his Bishop duties by Pope Francis.  By the way, interestingly, the Vatican’s wealth has been valued to be between $10 billion and $15 billion.

    On another note, just two years ago, people from around the world excitedly turned on their television sets in order to catch a privileged glimpse of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s extravagant $34 million royal wedding.

    And let’s not forget to include in our observations the number of golf fans who continue to be mesmerized by Tiger Woods’ extraordinary ability to sweep the floor with his competitors, which earns him a cool $78 million a year.

    In addition, we have billionaire timeshare mogul David Seigel, who is continuing to move forward with construction of what is being touted as the largest home in America, measuring a whopping 90,000 square feet and costing upwards of $65 million upon its completion.

    I know, I know.  Don’t judge.  Love what is.   Pick yourself up by your bootstraps.  Suck it up.  Everyone has the same opportunities and choices.  Oh, and I almost forgot the best one of all:  When life gives you lemons, made lemonade.

    Well, those spiritual and motivational platitudes are easy to roll off the tongue, but I’m not so sure they are particularly helpful to someone whose last meal was yesterday or perhaps the day before or maybe even the day before that, nor are they soothing to the elementary school teacher who holds down an additional part-time job in order to pay her bills, nor are they useful to the homeless person who has been sleeping on the streets for a longer period of time than most of us could ever possibly imagine doing.

    Does everyone truly have the same opportunities in our current system the way we have constructed it?  Are we all afforded the same pool of choices from which to choose?  As we all know, with money comes power.  And with power comes the ability to be the rule-makers.  And the end result is not surprising — those who get to make the rules tend to do so in a fashion that benefits them.

    In a world with enough inherent resources to take care of the needs of all of humanity, why is there not enough to go around?   How is it that “enough” is not actually enough?

    I guess the answer to the “why” question may be easier to answer than the ensuing question:  What can we do to change that?  Surely, there must be something.  Is there a way to account for and then distribute the planet’s natural commodities in a way that would more evenly benefit all human beings?

    How far back do we have to unravel the current paradigm to begin rebuilding a system that works for more than just a few?  What will it take to create a world where grotesquely huge houses and disturbingly overpaid athletes will be a thing of the past because they will no longer represent who we know ourselves to truly be?

    When will “enough” actually demonstrate itself to be enough…for everybody?

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • What do the Pope and a musical have in Common?

    As the entire world has observed, religion took a fascinating and wonderful turn this week with the declaration made by Pope Francis. As His Holiness stated, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”, a new turn has been taken to create a more accepting, more open religious world. And since that utterance on July 29th, celebrations all over the world have taken place to commemorate this wonderful event.

    With such a change of heart from the Pope himself, the question for us remains: who are we to judge anyone’s highest intentions?  

    While a person’s highest intentions may include their homosexuality, it ALSO includes their own faith. As love comes in many different forms, beliefs do as well. In the essence of both love and belief, some forms just work at a higher level for others. In accordance to an individual’s own experience, knowledge, and understanding, their intentions are manifested by who they are and what they choose to believe.

    The core of the problem with all major religions, sciences, governments, and economic systems is the central belief that there can only be ONE right way. And, more importantly, everyone who does not follow that single way is living the WRONG way. Throughout the course of religion, (and even spirituality, in some aspects) different sects have displayed some very unflattering views to other beliefs. But there one thing we forget too often…

    Each faith, in accordance to its highest understanding, attempts to create a meaning to life and a connection to God (or the Universal Being).

    Spiritually, we may not morally agree with the teachings of Islam, the rituals of Hinduism, or the sacraments of Catholicism. As many visitors of The Global Conversation have become aware of their own spiritual path, it becomes very easy to for us to shun organized religion completely. But is we are to truly move in the direction of Oneness and Beingness, we must understand that theirs is not the wrong way, but rather just another way. Just as we have empathized acceptance for homosexuality, we also apply this to religion. As our world grows more and more open to the diversity of lifestyles, we need to open and expand our minds more and more as well. For when we accept, we appreciate, and when we appreciate, we learn far more about ourselves than we would have before.  

    A great example of religious belief and acceptance would be from none other than Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s sensational and inspiring musical, The Book of Mormon (hey, no judgments here!). The musical follows the journey of two Mormons, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, on their two year mission in Uganda. As the original Mormon text does not connect with the Ugandan people, Elder Cunningham decides to twist the scriptures so that it relates with the all-too-real plights of Uganda.

    While it hardly resembled Latter Day Sainthood in the end, this new faith that these two Elders created brings more happiness, hope, and love of life to the people than they have ever felt before. Though the Elders were highly judged and criticized, they lived out their highest intentions (with comedic effects) to fully and honestly help the people. Though the musical itself is highly controversial, it truly speaks for own ability to judge less, and accept more.

     Ma ha nei bu Eebowai! Or, Thank you God!

    So whether you’re a Latter Day Saint or His Holiness himself, we could use some more acceptance on our paradise planet. The Pope and The Book of Mormon had the same message – for more love and less judgment on the religious level. The less we look at people’s beliefs from the “right vs. wrong” perspective, the more opportunity we have to understand Who They Really Are. And that is when the REAL change occurs.

    When we see the highest intentions in both ourselves and in others, we can ALIGN those intentions into a greater or deeper purpose. This fact seems elusive to many, but becomes very evident once these intentions are explored further and further. In respect of our differences, we CAN share our intentions instead of shun them for their differences.  As the root of all belief, religious or spiritual, is to create a personal connection to something bigger than ourselves, we CAN do it together. Tomorrow IS a Latter Day, and there is nothing stopping us from creating a better world today than our judgments of intentions as lower than what they truly are.

    As Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” So, who are we to judge?

    (Lauren is a Feature Editor of The Global Conversation. She lives in Wood Dale, IL, and can be reached at Lauren@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • First the Pope…then Pat Robertson

    In light of some recent unexpected statements made by some highly influential people in our world, I have been exploring more deeply the underpinnings of why we believe what we believe, and what it takes to create significant change in long and tightly held belief systems.   What is the aftereffect globally when someone who has the massive outreach of the Pope or the controversial but well-known televangelist Pat Robertson publicly speaks outside of the box which holds their traditional points of view?

    In an article published by The Huffington Post, “The 83-year-old televangelist [Pat Robertson] sat down on Sunday for the ‘Bring It Online’ advice portion of his Christian Broadcasting Network show, ‘The 700 Club.’ A viewer named David wrote in asking how he should refer to two transgender females who work in his office and have legally changed their genders. Instead of criticizing the trans individuals, Robertson approached the situation in a seemingly level-headed manner.”

    “‘I think there are men who are in a woman’s body,’ he said. ‘It’s very rare. But it’s true — or women that are in men’s bodies — and that they want a sex change. That is a very permanent thing, believe me, when you have certain body parts amputated and when you have shot up with various kinds of hormones. It’s a radical procedure. I don’t think there’s any sin associated with that. I don’t condemn somebody for doing that.’”

    “He went on to say he would ‘question the validity’ of someone who just says, ‘Well I’m really a woman’ because you ‘don’t count somebody as female unless they really are, or male unless they really are.’”

    “When his co-host said the viewer doesn’t know the intentions or medical history of his co-workers, Robertson rebutted, ‘It’s not for you to decide or to judge.’”

    Yes, Mr. Robertson’s unpredictable statements are still interwoven between layers of intolerance and judgment, but couple his message with the most-recent comments by Pope Francis which have been making spectacular headlines around the world where he told reporters “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” I am just wondering what might be happening here.

    When the people who have been placed collectively at the forefront of large groups of people — whose numbers easily reach into the millions — change their points of view about long-held beliefs, or when they express new thoughts about old ideas, how does this impact the belief systems of the people who associate themselves closely with those groups?  What is the ripple effect?  Do large numbers of people “change their minds” because someone now told them to, whether that be for “better” or “worse”?  How do we know when someone is a messenger versus a manipulator?

    Of course, we know that truth, real truth, is a knowing that emanates from deep, deep within.  So why is it, then, that so many of us experience our lives as a journey of seeking and finding, gathering our truth from places that exist external to us, perhaps even in the words of someone else’s truth, ignoring the accuracy of our own internal compass and pushing painfully past the true nature of our feelings?

    Imagine a world where each and every one of us stood in the light of our own truth, where we didn’t say “yes” when we meant “no”; where we didn’t say “no” when we really truly wanted to say “yes.”

    Perhaps in that kind of world we wouldn’t have parents giving birth to children on Saturday, July 20, and waiting until Wednesday, July 24, to name their newborn child, a precious new life, so they can find out what Prince William and Kate Middleton named their child first and follow suit accordingly.

    Maybe in that kind of world it would be highly unlikely that some of the highest-rated television programs would continue to be “reality” shows which depict the “reality” someone else is choosing for us instead of the one we have the ability to create ourselves.  Perhaps we would simply not desire to watch television at all…unless we do.

    Maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t be shooting people in our own neighborhoods because they look different than we do.  Do you think it is possible that within the space and light of our own truth we would not ever feel moved to hurt or oppress another because we would understand at a very deep level that the “truths” we have been told, the stories we have made up about each other or been handed down, the ones which cause us to hurt each other in the first place, are simply not true?

    And perhaps in that kind of a world people in positions of power and influence, such as Pope Francis and, yes, even Pat Robertson, will continue to break free from the bonds of history, tradition, and sameness to demonstrate that change, significant and lasting change, is not only a remote possibility, but it is something which is actually taking place right here, right now.

    I’m just wondering how the tide of change will roll onto the shore of Humanity in the wake of some of these surprisingly refreshing and recently made comments.   If we are going to live in a world where we continue to adopt someone else’s truth as our own, maybe we should be paying close attention right now to the new “truths” that are yearning to be heard and the new “story” that is desiring to be written.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)