Sender: -2.6 (spamval) -- NONE
In-Reply-To: <20050421041622.GA30560 &AElig umich.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0504210033460.14601 &AElig boston.eecs.umich.edu>
References: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0504201741350.14601 &AElig boston.eecs.umich.edu>  <42672189.261582EC &AElig wayne.edu> <Pine.LNX.4.58.0504202350010.14601 &AElig boston.eecs.umich.edu>  <20050421041622.GA30560 &AElig umich.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:56:12 -0400 (EDT)
To: Vishal Soni <soniv &AElig umich.edu>
cc: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Daniel Reeves <dreeves &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: Re: catholicism must be crushed
Status: O

Thanks Vishal.  I think he meant self-indulgent (I found another article
that paraphrased it that way).  But you omitted the best part, where he
predicts Buddhism will become the main enemy of the church in the next
century.  Go Buddhism!

Anyway, here's another great article:

http://www.tikkun.org/rabbi_lerner/news_item.2005-04-19.4230239892
 [the link is now broken; pasted below from google cache]

The New Pope is a Disaster for the World and for the Jews

Since the days in which he served in the Nazi army in Germany, to his role
as the leader of the forces that suppressed the liberatory aspects of
Vatican II and purged the most creative leaders of the Catholic Church,
Joseph Ratzinger has distinguished himself as a man who disrespects other
religions and sides with the most repressive elements in the Catholic
world.

Jewish Leader Denounces Selection of Cardinal Ratzinger as New Pope

Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the world's largest circulation
progressive Jewish magazine, TIKKUN, and rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in
San Francisco, took the unusual step of criticizing the choice made by the
Catholic Church for its new Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Lerner was
careful to make clear that he was NOT speaking as leader of The Tikkun
Community, the interfaith organization whch he co-chairs, which has NOT
taken a stand on these issues, but only as editor of TIKKUN magazine.

"Since the days in which he served in the Nazi army in Germany to his role
as the leader of the forces that suppressed the liberatory aspects of
Vatican II and purged or silenced the Church of its most creative
leadership (including German Catholic theologians Eugene Drewermann and
Hans Kung, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, and several prominent
American Catholic thinkers), to the present moment in which he is
recognized as the leader most identified with the forces of reaction and
suppression of dissent within the Church, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has
distinguished himself as a man who can be counted on to side with the most
anti-humane and repressive forces, in opposition to those who seek to give
primacy to a world of peace and justice, " said Rabbi Lerner.

"Although normally Jews would welcome any choice of leadership by our
sister religion, we have particular reason to comment on this choice.

"Jews have a powerful stake and commitment in ending global poverty and
oppression. We fully well understand that in a world filled with pain and
cruelty, the resulting anger is often channeled in racist, sexist and
homophobic directions. Both as a matter of principle, based on our
commitment to a prophetic vision, and as a matter of self-interest, Jews
have disproportionately supported liberal and progressive social change
movements seeking to end war and poverty.

"So it was with great distress that we watched as Cardinal Ratzinger led
the Vatican in the past twenty-five years on a path that opposed providing
birth control information to the poor of the world, thereby ensuring that
AIDS would spread and kill millions in Africa.

"And we watched with even greater distress as this Cardinal supported
efforts to involve the Church in distancing itself from political
candidates or leaders who did not agree with the Church's teachings on
abortion and gay rights, prioritizing these issues over whether that
candidate agreed with the Church on issues of peace and social justice. As
a result, Cardinal Ratzinger has led the Church away from its natural
alliance with Jews in fighting for peace and social justice and toward a
stance which in effect allies the Church with the most reactionary
politicians whose policies are militaristic and offer a preferential
option for the rich.

"We can't help but notice that under Cardinal Ratzinger's tutelage, the
Church began moves to elevate the infamous Pope Pius XII to the status of
saint. Instead of repenting for the failure of the Church to give
unequivocal messages telling all Catholics that they would be prevented
from receiving communion for collaborating or cooperating in any way with
Nazi rule, or for failing to hide and protect Jews who were marked for
extermination, Ratzinger has sought to whitewash this disgraceful moment
in Church history. Many Jews are outraged at a Church that denies
communion to those who have remarried or those who oppose making abortion
illegal but that did not similarly deny communion to those who participate
in crimes against humanity.

"In fact, Cardinal Ratzinger publicly praised the fascist movement in the
Church known as Opes Dei and supported canonization of Josemaria Escriva,
the founder of Opus Dei, an open fascist who served in the government of
Spain's dictator Franco, and who publicly praised Hitler.

"While many of us agree with Ratzinger's critique of moral relativism, he
extends that critique in illegitimate and dangerous ways, equating
secularism with moral relativism and suggesting that secularism is now
repressing religion. Ratzinger also publicly critiques all those inside
the Church who are tolerant enough to think that other religions may have
equal validity as a path to God. This is a slippery slope toward
anti-Semitism and a return to the chauvinistic and triumphalist views that
led the Church, when it had the power to do so, to develop its infamous
crusades and inquisitions. In 1997 Ratzinger called Buddhism an
"autoerotic spirituality" that offers "transcendence without imposing
concrete religious obligations." Hindusim, he said, offers "false hope,"
in that it guarantees "purification" based on a "morally cruel" concept of
reincarnation resembling "a continuous circle of hell." At the time,
Cardinal Ratzinger predicted that Buddhism would replace Marxism as the
Catholic church's main enemy.

"Ratzinger is being falsely described as a conservative, when in fact he,
despite his publicly genteel manner, is a raging reactionary. Unlike many
American conservatives who oppose gay sexual practices but not their legal
rights, Ratzinger in 1992 argued against human rights for gays, stressing
that their civil liberties could be "legitimately limited."

"Those of us in the Jewish world who have enormous respect for
Christianity and for the wisdom and beauty of the Catholic tradition are
in mourning today that the Church has confirmed for itself a destructive
direction that will hurt not only Catholics but all those who seek peace
and justice in the world."

"We remain hopeful that the new Pope may return to his original more
progressive positions (pre-1968) and realize that the world needs a church
that can respond compassionately and wisely to what is needed rather than
remain wedded to dogma that is so destructive. In a statement that
Ratzinger made a few years ago, he seemed deeply aligned with TIKKUN's
critique of the selfishness and materialism of the contemporary world. We
hope that he stops blaming that on secularists and comes to understand
that secularists too, as well as people from other faiths, can be allies
in the struggle for a new ethos of love and generosity. We pray that he
may find a way to bring a better, kinder, more loving and compassionate
agenda to the Catholic Church. It is precisely because we continue to feel
allied with the Church.

Meanwhile, we reaffirm our solidarity with the many millions of Catholics
who had hoped for a very different kind of Pope who would make the Church
more open to women's leadership, to prioritizing social justice, and to
returning to the hopeful spirit of Vatican II. We can say publicly what
many of you can only say privately-that this new Pope does not represent
what is most beautiful and sacred in the teachings of Jesus."


Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of TIKKUN and author of ten books,
including Healing Israel/Palestine (North Atlantic Books, 2003) and Jewish
Renewal (Harper Perennial, 1995).


We invite our Catholic brothers and sisters, and people of all faiths,and
secular people with an atunement to spiritual issues, to join with us in
creating a voice for spiritually or religiously committed progressives--by
helping us create The Network of Progressive Spiritual Activism, at our
founding conference on Spiritual Activism, July 20-23 at the University of
California, Berkeley.


--- \/   FROM Vishal Soni AT 05.04.21 00:16 (Today)   \/ ---

> A friend of mine sent me this article:
> http://www.newint.org/issue327/worldbeaters.htm
>
> Its more of the same stuff, except maybe a little more explicit:
>
> "In 1997 Ratzinger annoyed Buddhists by calling their religion an ‘
> autoerotic spirituality’ that offers ‘transcendence without imposing
> concrete religious obligations’."
>
> Autoerotic? A little confused (maybe there's an interpretation of the word I'm
> unaware of), I consulted the dictionary:
> au·to·er·o·tism  (ôt-r-tzm) or au·to·e·rot·i·cism (--rt-szm)
> n.
>    1. Self-satisfaction of sexual desire, as by masturbation.
>    2. The arousal of sexual feeling without an external stimulus.
> (source: www.dictionary.com)
>
> Funny guy, this new pope.
>
> -V
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 20, 2005 at 11:59:34PM -0400, Daniel Reeves wrote:
>
> > wow, sent my last email before I saw this.  This is an absolutely
> > delightful response.
> >
> > and yes, I retract that "must be crushed" part.  (it was a Voltaire
> > reference)
> >
> > --- \/   FROM Andrew Reeves AT 05.04.20 23:44 (Today)   \/ ---
> >
> > > Danny:
> > >    I think your animosity is ill-advised; I certainly oppose very
> > > strongly any attempt at "crushing" (whatever that means) because it
> > > would only cause the "circling of the wagons" by the faithful.
> > > Catholicism must be allowed to die peacefully, and it is my serious
> > > opinion that you and your generation will live to see that happening if
> > > you only leave it alone and let it expire by the weight of its own
> > > internal absurdities and prevarications. The election of Ratzinger was
> > > in my opinion an excellent step because it will only accelerate this
> > > process. I was actually trembling that they might elect a "moderate"
> > > Pope who would make concessions with the superficial problems such as
> > > celibacy (closely associated with priestly pedophilia) exclusion of
> > > females, and so forth which would keep the simpletons happy and thereby
> > > add a few decades to the moribund agonies of the church. In the
> > > meantime, of course, the core problems (tri-une God, Virgin Birth,
> > > transubstantiation) would remain untouched. Seeing that this is not what
> > > happened (and how promptly!) almost makes me believe in the Holy Spirit!
> > >    To answer your questions: All militant religions are equally evil;
> > > Islam has in our time a slight edge because it blows up buildings which
> > > Catholicism has outgrown. I don't begrudge any cleric to think that his
> > > religion is the only true one and all the others are false; history
> > > shows that the smaller the difference the hotter the fury. Remember the
> > > "one iota" difference (homousion vs. homoiusion) between the Anathasians
> > > and Arians at the Council of Nicea? 50,000 people were massacred in one
> > > night which was quite a feat in the 4th century. Given the advances in
> > > weaponry even Osama has a lot to learn. --Grandpa Andrew
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Daniel Reeves wrote:
> > > >
> > > >  Seriously, is there a greater force of evil in the world than the
> > > > catholic church?
> > > >
> > > > Couple blurbs from CNN about the new anti-gay, anti-feminist,
> > > > anti-contraception, anti-catholicity pope:
> > > >
> > > >   Ratzinger has said modernity led to a blurring of sexual identity,
> > > >   causing some feminists to become adversaries of men. He labeled
> > > >   homosexuality "an intrinsic moral evil."
> > > >
> > > >   He argued that Muslim Turkey did not belong in Christian Europe and
> > > >   issued a document saying that Catholicism was the only true religion,
> > > >   questioning the validity of other religions, even Christian ones, even
> > > >   as his Pope John Paul II was trying to reach out to other faiths.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves  - -  google://"Daniel Reeves"
> > >
> >
> > --
> > http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves  - -  google://"Daniel Reeves"
> >
> > "There was a time when religion ruled the world.  It is known as the
> > Dark Ages." -- Ruth Hermence Green (Women Without Superstition)

-- 
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/dreeves  - -  google://"Daniel Reeves"

"Six wise, blind elephants were discussing what humans were like.
Failing to agree, they decided to determine what humans were like
by direct experience.  The first wise, blind elephant felt the
human, and declared, 'Humans are flat.'  The other wise, blind
elephants, after similarly feeling the human, agreed."