I’m sure by now we’re all familiar with the current controversy involving Pope Benedict XVI. It was recently revealed through newly-found letters that back in the 1980s, at a time when Pope Benedict XVI was only a Cardinal, he failed to act on pleas to defrock a priest in California who had already been charged with multiple counts of child molestation. Years later, the same priest was charged with many more counts of child molestation, was imprisoned, and admitted to molesting “tons” of children. Now, the future of Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican are in jeopardy.
Although I believe pedophilia and homosexuality should never be compared and are two completely separate things, I feel like it’s crucial to point out Pope Benedict’s stand against homosexuality. From the beginning of his reign as Pope, Pope Benedict XVI has done everything in his power to prevent homosexuals from entering the seminary and to prevent gay couples from being recognized legally. Yet Pope Benedict continuously put off defrocking a priest who had sexually molested many children. In other words, Pope Benedict XVI condemns consensual relationships between two adults of the same sex but appears to defend adults who force children to have sexual relationships with them.
Now, atheist campaigners are threatening to arrest Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Britain later this year, believing that the Pope will not be able to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest since the Vatican isn’t recognized as a country by the United Nations. From what I’ve heard, certain Catholics think this is ridiculous and believe it is wrong to arrest the Pope as if he were any common person. Not being a Catholic myself, I’ve never really understood the general concept of having a Pope. It is to my knowledge that all Christians, including Catholics, believe in one god and feel it is wrong to worship false idols. Yet the importance many Catholics put on the Pope’s views and opinions, and on visiting the Vatican seems to indicate that Catholics view the Pope as being worthy of being worshipped. And to me, it seems that the Pope more closely resembles an elected official than a god. However, regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs, shouldn’t everyone be able to see that forcing a child into being sexually active is immoral? And if the Pope couldn’t recognize the immorality in such a situation, then why do people feel he is superior to everyone else and shouldn’t be criminalized for his defense of the priest?
In hearing about this situation, what comes to my mind is that since this priest had already been charged for child molestation back at the time that Pope Benedict XVI wouldn’t defrock him, why wasn’t he automatically forced to leave the Catholic Church? It’s as if the Catholic Diocese completely disregards federal legislation and believes that a convicted criminal may still be worthy of holding a position as a priest. Additionally, in many of these cases of child molestation by various Catholic clergy, the Catholic Diocese investigates the issue and then later decides whether or not to alert authorities of the situation. If the Catholic Church really believed that all of its clergy were innocent and that there was nothing to hide, then it would be logical that the Diocese would allow the authorities to investigate the situation first.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Wanna Cut Down on Waste? Stop Advertising.
There are several things that frustrate me about the waste disposal crisis and how it is contributing to environmental problems. For example, it’s beyond me why Styrofoam still exists when there are other plastics that can more easily be recycled, and I try to avoid buying new electronics as much as possible because nothing’s made to last these days and I know whatever I buy will end up in a landfill a few years from now. But what’s started to annoy me more than anything else lately is how much paper is wasted on unnecessary advertisements.
I guess this bothers me so much partly because of the fact that I’m pretty much blind to advertising. I’ve never been persuaded by newspaper ads to buy anything, and when I’m watching T.V., the second the commercials come on, I zone out and start daydreaming or brainstorming some new project I have in mind. Yet I can understand that newspapers, magazines, T.V. networks, and radio stations all rely on advertisements for funding. What I can’t sympathize with at all are the millions of paper advertisements that I find in my mailbox all by themselves.
Every week, I end up getting 3 different issues of the “Local Values” newspaper, which is a chunk of newsprint the size of an edition of Pioneer Press, filled with countless multi-page advertisements for sales at Jewel, Dominicks, Menard’s, Meijer, Hobo, Aldi, etc. I’d hardly call them “Local Values”, considering the nearest Meijer is at least an hour’s drive from my house. Additionally, at least once a week, I end up finding envelopes full of coupons for roto-rooters, weight loss clinics, and podiatrists, none of which anyone in my house have EVER used. And every couple of weeks, K-Mart and Target send out huge newsprint advertisements independent of any mass-advertising publication.
Maybe some people get a big thrill out of finding out where all the sales are ahead of time, but for the rest of us, why the hell are trees being cut down in order to produce all of this? When I find these things in the mail, I send them directly to the recycling bin without even looking at them, so clearly they aren’t manipulating me into buying things and boosting the economy. And what about people who don’t even bother to recycle them? Lots of people throw crap they don’t want into the nearest wastebasket without giving it a second thought, and other people are unsure of how to go about recycling paper and instead only recycle bottles and cans.
While I have no doubt that various businesses will continue to send out millions of advertisements per week, I think there should be some way of fighting this. Many of us who receive junk emails will see a message at the bottom of the page that says “Click here to unsubscribe”, even though email messages are very easy to dispose of and have no effects on the environmental problems the world faces. So why can’t we unsubscribe to paper junk mail as well? People often complain about spam, although it takes up no physical space and requires no use of natural resources, yet nobody seems to see the problem with paper advertisements.
I guess this bothers me so much partly because of the fact that I’m pretty much blind to advertising. I’ve never been persuaded by newspaper ads to buy anything, and when I’m watching T.V., the second the commercials come on, I zone out and start daydreaming or brainstorming some new project I have in mind. Yet I can understand that newspapers, magazines, T.V. networks, and radio stations all rely on advertisements for funding. What I can’t sympathize with at all are the millions of paper advertisements that I find in my mailbox all by themselves.
Every week, I end up getting 3 different issues of the “Local Values” newspaper, which is a chunk of newsprint the size of an edition of Pioneer Press, filled with countless multi-page advertisements for sales at Jewel, Dominicks, Menard’s, Meijer, Hobo, Aldi, etc. I’d hardly call them “Local Values”, considering the nearest Meijer is at least an hour’s drive from my house. Additionally, at least once a week, I end up finding envelopes full of coupons for roto-rooters, weight loss clinics, and podiatrists, none of which anyone in my house have EVER used. And every couple of weeks, K-Mart and Target send out huge newsprint advertisements independent of any mass-advertising publication.
Maybe some people get a big thrill out of finding out where all the sales are ahead of time, but for the rest of us, why the hell are trees being cut down in order to produce all of this? When I find these things in the mail, I send them directly to the recycling bin without even looking at them, so clearly they aren’t manipulating me into buying things and boosting the economy. And what about people who don’t even bother to recycle them? Lots of people throw crap they don’t want into the nearest wastebasket without giving it a second thought, and other people are unsure of how to go about recycling paper and instead only recycle bottles and cans.
While I have no doubt that various businesses will continue to send out millions of advertisements per week, I think there should be some way of fighting this. Many of us who receive junk emails will see a message at the bottom of the page that says “Click here to unsubscribe”, even though email messages are very easy to dispose of and have no effects on the environmental problems the world faces. So why can’t we unsubscribe to paper junk mail as well? People often complain about spam, although it takes up no physical space and requires no use of natural resources, yet nobody seems to see the problem with paper advertisements.
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