Coattailing on the pope's death
I can understand how the teachings of Jesus, Mohammed and Moses might easily have been misconstrued from their original meanings despite a written account of their beliefs. To see how this might have occurred, one need only watch the reports interpreting the life of Pope John Paul II and the maneuvering that follows in the wake of his death.
To hear the news reports, Pope John Paul II was an enigma. He was instrumental in stopping the spread of communism or he wasn't. He pushed issues of humanity and poverty or he didn't. Everyone has their view and will interpret the life of the pope to serve that view, regardless of how the pope actually lived his life or the views he espoused.
The death of a pope is big business and, like with any change in C.E.O. at businesses everywhere, there is an immediate movement by splinter groups of thought to bring their ideas to the forefront in hope of influencing a successor, to say how much that late pope approved of their ideas, to sell something papal-related or to let potential voters know that -- despite any indications to the contrary -- they are in fact piously religious.
Such is the case with the passing of Pope John Paul II. The press release venues of U.S. Newswire and PR Newswire continue to be filled with statements by organizations with one agenda or another to promulgate. The organzations paid the press release news wire companies to distribute their information to the mainstream media, business, politicians and consultants. The web now lets you view many of the same releases only the reporters used to see.
One of the first organizations to issue its condolences and agenda was an organization named Call To Action, which labels itself "the largest Catholic church reform group in the U.S., composed of 25,000 laity, religious, priests and bishops and 40 local chapters." The group said:
If there's only 25,000 of them and their group is "the largest Catholic church reform group in the U.S." it's no wonder their agenda hasn't been adopted by the Catholic church, which is comprised of an estimated one billion followers worldwide, a great many of which are not located in the U.S. Then again, one of the goals of the press release is recruitment because it contains information on how to find a local chapter.
One of the more dysfunctional press releases was issued by Catholics for a Free Choice. The organization's leader, Frances Kissling, wrote: "I have found Pope John Paul II's last year or so of public suffering more profoundly moving than any other aspect of his papacy ... As a Catholic who disagreed with the pope on many aspects of theology, I am grateful that he has given me something spiritual I can remember and learn from."
Apparently Ms. Kissling really appreciates public suffering because there was little else about the pope she says she appreciated:
Anyone who issues a press release and pays to have it distributed on a press release newswire is paying to get some attention paid to them, their organization, or the product or idea they are trying to sell. Maybe Catholics for a Free Choice wants to increase its membership and grow into a humongous organization like Call To Action.
Of course then there is the release issued by the "Rainbow Sash Movement," an organization said to be composed of gay and lesbian Catholics. You can pretty much guess what their position is on the pope's passing. And if you see folk walking into church on May 15 wearing a "Rainbow Sash" you'll know what agenda they're trying to promote using their press release of condolence.
Many folk who issue press releases, including pious pronouncements of public grief, usually issue them from a personal standpoint, from their organization's standpoint or from the standpoint of the entity they seek to control. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California took the reins as spokesman representing something slightly larger than the House Democrats: "The world mourns the passing of one of the great spiritual and humanitarian leaders of our time, Pope John Paul II." I wonder if she has greater aspirations in mind than just controlling House Democrats.
Organizations that claim affiliation with the major religions issued their own pronouncements.
The Anti-Defamation League used to be called "The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith" until someone obviously decided that name sounded too Jewish for media and public consumption, but you'll still find that name under the meta keywords tag used for search engines on the organization's home page:
The ADL issued a statement on Friday, the day before the pope died, that organization's national director, Abraham H. Foxman, would be available for comment. The statement said: "Foxman who has had seven audiences with the Pontiff was saved from the Holocaust by his Polish nanny who had him baptized and raised as a Catholic until his parents reclaimed him at the end of the war."
Maybe it's just my cynical view, but it sounds here the ADL is sending a not-so-subtle reminder that Catholic children survived Nazi death camps and Jewish children did not unless they were baptized Catholic against their will by their Polish nannies. I wonder how statements like that help heal any rifts between the religions, although I guess the answer to that depends on how often a scab should be ripped from a wound before it's allowed to heal of its own accord.
Most people believe in their own free speech but not the free speech of their opponent, which then falls into the category of "hate speech." They seek tolerance of everything and everyone but for those who they oppose. Some of the animals are more equal than others, George Orwell noted in his book "Animal Farm," a not-so-subtle allegory of communism and totalitarianism.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations stated simply:
CAIR describes itself as "America's largest Muslim civil liberties group" and said "its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."
Many organizations must see the death of the pope as a windfall of sorts, to cash in on an expected renewal of faith or trinket sales, because many of them are offering messages of condolence along with hawking their wares. Ignatius Press, which calls itself the "largest Catholic publisher in the U.S." put out a press release offering "expert" commentary from its employees:
The press release from Ignatius Press also noted that the company "is exclusive distributor in the U.S. of a brand-new book on the extraordinary, epoch-making pontificate of Pope John Paul II, entitled John Paul the Great: Maker of the post-conciliar church (by William Oddie). In addition, Ignatius publishes a number of books written by Pope John Paul II, including Love and Responsibility, Springtime of Evangelization, The Jeweler's Shop and Mary: God's Yes to Man."
These are just a few of the press releases folk have put out for public consumption. I urge you to browse the press release wires yourself. You can't be a good consumer of news and information until you understand the forces at work promoting their agendas to the mainstream media and understand why you see what you see on tv, read what you read in the newspapers and hear what you hear on the radio.
People are going to read this post and claim I'm anti-Catholic, homophobic, chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, anti-Democrat, intolerant and anti-whatever-cause-they-espouse. And really, all I am is just a cynic when I read such things. I didn't go to church; I wondered what Jesus, Mohammed or Moses would've thought and I wrote this.
Remember I'm one who believes the world religious and non-religious should join together to find a solution to the causes that lead to abortion. I realize that's pretty audacious to suggest that folk might consider the life of the unborn children and the impoverished and starving orphans of the world more important than a particular agenda or pressing the superiority of one religion over another.
I can understand why Jesus might have gotten angry at the money lenders in the temple and at the zealots of his time, who he likened to "whitened sepulchres filled with the dead men's bones." I pray at night not to be a cynic but it is a sin I have yet to overcome and I make note that Jesus never turned his other cheek to the pharisees or the temple money lenders.
I'd like to offer a suggestion. The next time a pope dies, the Vatican should put out this announcement:
"In lieu of flowers and messages of condolence that really are designed to promote your agenda and sell your products rather than honor the memory of the dead, the family of man requests that you love yourself and that you love one another as you love yourself. Seek truth and freedom for all; peace will follow. Be charitable. Forgive as you would seek forgiveness for your own wrongs. Be a friend to strangers, your family and your friends. Strive to make friends with your enemies. If you fail, strive some more until you succeed. And remember when you drive down the street in your Mercedes with a fish symbol on the trunk and a bible in your back window that you might be blessed but it's still easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven. It's a fact of life we all die."
Porn spam Easter egg of the day:
To hear the news reports, Pope John Paul II was an enigma. He was instrumental in stopping the spread of communism or he wasn't. He pushed issues of humanity and poverty or he didn't. Everyone has their view and will interpret the life of the pope to serve that view, regardless of how the pope actually lived his life or the views he espoused.
The death of a pope is big business and, like with any change in C.E.O. at businesses everywhere, there is an immediate movement by splinter groups of thought to bring their ideas to the forefront in hope of influencing a successor, to say how much that late pope approved of their ideas, to sell something papal-related or to let potential voters know that -- despite any indications to the contrary -- they are in fact piously religious.
Such is the case with the passing of Pope John Paul II. The press release venues of U.S. Newswire and PR Newswire continue to be filled with statements by organizations with one agenda or another to promulgate. The organzations paid the press release news wire companies to distribute their information to the mainstream media, business, politicians and consultants. The web now lets you view many of the same releases only the reporters used to see.
One of the first organizations to issue its condolences and agenda was an organization named Call To Action, which labels itself "the largest Catholic church reform group in the U.S., composed of 25,000 laity, religious, priests and bishops and 40 local chapters." The group said:
"It advocates reforms in the Catholic Church such as the ordination of women; optional celibacy for priests; change in birth control teaching; Church financial and leadership accountability; equality for homosexuals and minority groups; clergy sex abuse reforms; and focus on the church's peace and social justice teaching."
If there's only 25,000 of them and their group is "the largest Catholic church reform group in the U.S." it's no wonder their agenda hasn't been adopted by the Catholic church, which is comprised of an estimated one billion followers worldwide, a great many of which are not located in the U.S. Then again, one of the goals of the press release is recruitment because it contains information on how to find a local chapter.
One of the more dysfunctional press releases was issued by Catholics for a Free Choice. The organization's leader, Frances Kissling, wrote: "I have found Pope John Paul II's last year or so of public suffering more profoundly moving than any other aspect of his papacy ... As a Catholic who disagreed with the pope on many aspects of theology, I am grateful that he has given me something spiritual I can remember and learn from."
Apparently Ms. Kissling really appreciates public suffering because there was little else about the pope she says she appreciated:
"On the temporal level, this papacy was a profound disappointment for those who believe that Christ's message of liberation, human freedom and more democracy should apply not just to the world, but to the church itself. In the light of the pope's personal embrace of suffering, it is hard to reconcile his seeming lack of compassion for those in the church who have suffered so much at the hands of his administration: for married priests, for women who have lost their lives and fertility and health in botched abortions, for women who cannot feed the children they have, for theologians who struggle with many aspects of church teaching, for those who minister to people with AIDS, for gay Catholics who long to be welcomed at the altar, for those sexually abused by priests, for women who are called to ordination.... The list is almost endless.
These blind spots, where charity, compassion and justice are concerned, were not overshadowed by his public commitment to the transformation of unjust systems in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, nor by his episodic and selective commitments to human rights throughout the world.
He was a pope, but he was a man. He was human; he did good things and bad things. He had glorious achievements and abject failures. God has finally taken him home and, I am sure, welcomed him with love and compassion."
Anyone who issues a press release and pays to have it distributed on a press release newswire is paying to get some attention paid to them, their organization, or the product or idea they are trying to sell. Maybe Catholics for a Free Choice wants to increase its membership and grow into a humongous organization like Call To Action.
Of course then there is the release issued by the "Rainbow Sash Movement," an organization said to be composed of gay and lesbian Catholics. You can pretty much guess what their position is on the pope's passing. And if you see folk walking into church on May 15 wearing a "Rainbow Sash" you'll know what agenda they're trying to promote using their press release of condolence.
Many folk who issue press releases, including pious pronouncements of public grief, usually issue them from a personal standpoint, from their organization's standpoint or from the standpoint of the entity they seek to control. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California took the reins as spokesman representing something slightly larger than the House Democrats: "The world mourns the passing of one of the great spiritual and humanitarian leaders of our time, Pope John Paul II." I wonder if she has greater aspirations in mind than just controlling House Democrats.
Organizations that claim affiliation with the major religions issued their own pronouncements.
The Anti-Defamation League used to be called "The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith" until someone obviously decided that name sounded too Jewish for media and public consumption, but you'll still find that name under the meta keywords tag used for search engines on the organization's home page:
[META NAME="KEYWORDS" CONTENT="Anti-Defamation League, ADL, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry, hatred, prejudice, bias, Holocaust, Israel, democracy, terrorism, militia, Jews, Jewish, diversity, anti-Semitic incident, racist, discrimination, Holocaust denial, neo-Nazi, Nazi, Nazis, tolerance, civil rights, Black, extremism, extremist, hate crimes, skinheads, Middle East, Islamic Extremist, education, White supremacy, minority, bias, religious freedom, Constitution, religious right, Christian, free speech, war criminals, school prayer, religion, justice, hidden children, Internet, World Wide Web"]
The ADL issued a statement on Friday, the day before the pope died, that organization's national director, Abraham H. Foxman, would be available for comment. The statement said: "Foxman who has had seven audiences with the Pontiff was saved from the Holocaust by his Polish nanny who had him baptized and raised as a Catholic until his parents reclaimed him at the end of the war."
Maybe it's just my cynical view, but it sounds here the ADL is sending a not-so-subtle reminder that Catholic children survived Nazi death camps and Jewish children did not unless they were baptized Catholic against their will by their Polish nannies. I wonder how statements like that help heal any rifts between the religions, although I guess the answer to that depends on how often a scab should be ripped from a wound before it's allowed to heal of its own accord.
Most people believe in their own free speech but not the free speech of their opponent, which then falls into the category of "hate speech." They seek tolerance of everything and everyone but for those who they oppose. Some of the animals are more equal than others, George Orwell noted in his book "Animal Farm," a not-so-subtle allegory of communism and totalitarianism.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations stated simply:
''Muslims worldwide respected Pope John Paul II as an advocate for justice and human rights. His message of international peace and interfaith reconciliation is one that will reverberate for decades to come. We offer our sincere condolences to members of the Roman Catholic Church and to all those who seek a more peaceful world.''
CAIR describes itself as "America's largest Muslim civil liberties group" and said "its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."
Many organizations must see the death of the pope as a windfall of sorts, to cash in on an expected renewal of faith or trinket sales, because many of them are offering messages of condolence along with hawking their wares. Ignatius Press, which calls itself the "largest Catholic publisher in the U.S." put out a press release offering "expert" commentary from its employees:
With the urgency of the Pope's health situation, media will be looking for reliable spokespersons available to comment and be interviewed on various facets of this breaking news, as well as on the comprehensive background and notable points of Pope John Paul II's pontificate. Ignatius Press has several prominent authors, researchers and experts poised to help in this regard.
-- Philip Lawler, editor, Catholic World Report magazine (published by Ignatius Press). Lawler has covered John Paul II's papacy widely, and has numerous connections in the Vatican.
-- Mark Brumley, president, Ignatius Press, and author on Pope John Paul II. He's written extensively on the Pope and has lectured widely on his teachings.
-- Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., founder and editor-in-chief, Ignatius Press. Fr. Fessio is a close friend of several highly placed Vatican officials, including Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
-- Carl Olson, editor of IgnatiusInsight.com, and author of two recent Ignatius Press bestsellers, Will Catholics Be 'Left Behind'? and The DaVinci Hoax.
The press release from Ignatius Press also noted that the company "is exclusive distributor in the U.S. of a brand-new book on the extraordinary, epoch-making pontificate of Pope John Paul II, entitled John Paul the Great: Maker of the post-conciliar church (by William Oddie). In addition, Ignatius publishes a number of books written by Pope John Paul II, including Love and Responsibility, Springtime of Evangelization, The Jeweler's Shop and Mary: God's Yes to Man."
These are just a few of the press releases folk have put out for public consumption. I urge you to browse the press release wires yourself. You can't be a good consumer of news and information until you understand the forces at work promoting their agendas to the mainstream media and understand why you see what you see on tv, read what you read in the newspapers and hear what you hear on the radio.
People are going to read this post and claim I'm anti-Catholic, homophobic, chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, anti-Democrat, intolerant and anti-whatever-cause-they-espouse. And really, all I am is just a cynic when I read such things. I didn't go to church; I wondered what Jesus, Mohammed or Moses would've thought and I wrote this.
Remember I'm one who believes the world religious and non-religious should join together to find a solution to the causes that lead to abortion. I realize that's pretty audacious to suggest that folk might consider the life of the unborn children and the impoverished and starving orphans of the world more important than a particular agenda or pressing the superiority of one religion over another.
I can understand why Jesus might have gotten angry at the money lenders in the temple and at the zealots of his time, who he likened to "whitened sepulchres filled with the dead men's bones." I pray at night not to be a cynic but it is a sin I have yet to overcome and I make note that Jesus never turned his other cheek to the pharisees or the temple money lenders.
I'd like to offer a suggestion. The next time a pope dies, the Vatican should put out this announcement:
"In lieu of flowers and messages of condolence that really are designed to promote your agenda and sell your products rather than honor the memory of the dead, the family of man requests that you love yourself and that you love one another as you love yourself. Seek truth and freedom for all; peace will follow. Be charitable. Forgive as you would seek forgiveness for your own wrongs. Be a friend to strangers, your family and your friends. Strive to make friends with your enemies. If you fail, strive some more until you succeed. And remember when you drive down the street in your Mercedes with a fish symbol on the trunk and a bible in your back window that you might be blessed but it's still easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven. It's a fact of life we all die."
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Score a coups for CBS; blood helps: CBS was able to collar Polish-born diplomat and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski for a discussion at Bob Schieffer's Face the Nation on the death of the Polish-born Pope John Paul II. Dr. Brzezinski, who knew the pope and was NSA under Pres. Jimmy Carter, is father to Mika Brzezinski who works for CBS News as a correspondent and sometimes anchor. Do you think that family connections can help one get and maintain a post in the mainsteam media business?
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Porn spam Easter egg of the day:
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posted by NEWS4A2, blood-sucking journalist @ 18:00
2 comments
2 Comments:
No offense to Jimmy, but his request is obviously self-serving.
Beyond that, he had the opportunity to attend Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I's funerals, but snubbed the Catholic Church both times....
In any event, it is sad that much of media's focus is on Jimmy Carter, and not the Pope John Paul II's life and accomplishments.
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Nothing's stopping the former president from attending the funeral. He can go as part of the delegation or not. Let him buy a plane ticket, take his own secret service with him and just go if he wishes. However, my quick take is that he just wants to create a fuss for political purposes. If Carter really were refused access to the delegation, Slick Willie I'm sure would put up a fuss -- and he hasn't.
As reported:
Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said: "It was ( former President Carter's) decision to make (to join the presidential delegation to the pope's funeral). We would have been more than happy to have him be part of the delegation."
Personally, I'm surprised the Bushes are taking along Slick Willie Clinton. IMO, Slick is the worst president this country has ever had. Maybe it's payback for the tsunami thing. Maybe Shrub is really bending over backwards in trying to build a consensus and forged some bi-partisanship. But it's strange that he'd use the pope's funeral as another occasion to dance with the devil.
That being said, the reference in this post I made regarding Jimmy Carter is that the daughter of his National Security Advisor is a correspondent for CBS, Mika Brzezinski, although you'd never find her family association listed on her CBS News bio. And CBS was able to snare her Poland-born father, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, for an interview. It's another example of a Democratic Washington-Mainstream Media arrangement that's just a little bit too cozy in my opinion.
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