Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Pope: the spirit of curiosity is not a good spirit


Keep in mind that this is supposed to be the nice pope, the good pope, the liberal pope. This is the new pope saying these things.

From Vatican Radio comes this homily by Pope Francis on "the spirit of curiosity":
The spirit of curiosity generates confusion and distances a person from the Spirit of wisdom, which brings peace, said Pope Francis in his homily during Thursday morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta. ...

In the Gospel, the Pope underlined, “we find ourselves before another spirit, contrary to the wisdom of God: the spirit of curiosity”.

“And when we want to be the masters of the projects of God, of the future, of things, to know everything, to have everything in hand… the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When will the Kingdom of God come?’ Curious! They wanted to know the date, the day… The spirit of curiosity distances us from the Spirit of wisdom because all that interests us is the details, the news, the little stories of the day. Oh, how will this come about? It is the how: it is the spirit of the how! And the spirit of curiosity is not a good spirit. It is the spirit of dispersion, of distancing oneself from God, the spirit of talking too much. And Jesus also tells us something interesting: this spirit of curiosity, which is worldly, leads us to confusion.”

You see? Thinking is bad. Asking questions is bad. Wanting to know things is bad. It'll just confuse you.

So, why would a religious leader say that, if his beliefs were actually true? Scam artists want you to stop thinking. Scam artists encourage gullibility. Scientists, on the other hand, want you to think. If you prove scientists wrong, they'll thank you for that.

The only reason that asking questions is bad is because Pope Francis doesn't have any good answers. The only reason why thinking is bad is because you might come to understand the truth, and that would be terrible for the Catholic Church. Obviously, if Christian belief were actually true, popes would be encouraging what they now discourage.

The spirit of curiosity has brought us incredible advances in the real world. These days, most children actually have a chance to grow up, instead of dying in droves of preventable diseases. Prayer had nothing to do with that. For thousands of years, parents have prayed for their children, without success. No, it was the spirit of curiosity which solved this problem, and so many more.

But "the spirit of curiosity is not a good spirit," according to Pope Francis, because it makes you question what Pope Francis would rather you just take on faith. Tell me what kind of person would argue against the "spirit of curiosity"? Clearly, it's the person who has something to hide, isn't it?

Well, maybe you can have peace in Christianity, if you turn off your brain, I don't know. But that's not something I'd want to do, even if I could. You'll have peace enough when you're dead, for the same reason. You won't be able to use your brain then.

As long as I'm alive, I'll continue to use my brain as best I can. I'll continue asking questions. I'll continue being curious. And to hell with faith-based idiots like the pope.

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