Something that's bugging me

I've been seeing headlines on line the past few days about Pope Benedict's comments that pissed off the Muslim world. I read the speech, will admit to some of it going over my head/boring me to tears, but these are the two inciting paragraphs as presented.

( The Pope's Remarks Taken Out of Context )

First of all, I don't know why he chose a passage from this work that meant to insult and incite. He mentions himself that there were other conversations, perhaps more involved and showing the shared points between the religions or the benefits of either religion, but we don't hear this from him. Instead, we hear, this is my point, your religion is full of violence and destruction and everything that separates your religion, the teachings of your prophet is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I'm all for condemning war, all for it, and it's nice to know that the Pope & I have that in common (not a whole heck of a lot else, and I like it that way). But so many of the world's wars have been religion based, so why is one of the most powerful figures in Western religion stirring up shit?

Holy war is bad, brought to you by the religion that sponsored the Crusades.

Why is there such a need to focus and exploit the differences between the religion, rather than to see the common threads that bind us all together? Why can't we just see the faithfulness of the people and appreciate that? I don't get it.

Something that's bugging me

I've been seeing headlines on line the past few days about Pope Benedict's comments that pissed off the Muslim world. I read the speech, will admit to some of it going over my head/boring me to tears, but these are the two inciting paragraphs as presented.

( The Pope's Remarks Taken Out of Context )

First of all, I don't know why he chose a passage from this work that meant to insult and incite. He mentions himself that there were other conversations, perhaps more involved and showing the shared points between the religions or the benefits of either religion, but we don't hear this from him. Instead, we hear, this is my point, your religion is full of violence and destruction and everything that separates your religion, the teachings of your prophet is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I'm all for condemning war, all for it, and it's nice to know that the Pope & I have that in common (not a whole heck of a lot else, and I like it that way). But so many of the world's wars have been religion based, so why is one of the most powerful figures in Western religion stirring up shit?

Holy war is bad, brought to you by the religion that sponsored the Crusades.

Why is there such a need to focus and exploit the differences between the religion, rather than to see the common threads that bind us all together? Why can't we just see the faithfulness of the people and appreciate that? I don't get it.

Cause I couldn't leave the day talking about the Pope

Returned my Oz DVD as promised. They had it in the locked up box sets in this place. In the other Borders that I go to Seasons 1-5 are out loose on the shelf. They should either all be safeguarded or all under lock & key. I'd go for the second option, being under lock & key seems so fitting.

Got home and watched a couple of movies:

"Jesus is Magic" which is actually a comedy routine by Sarah Silverman - it wasn't bad, I was a bit peeved because there was a glitch in the middle of the porn song. It seems like a soundtrack that would be fairly fun to listen to, all of the musical numbers ran that edge between charming and shocking. And she's got an interesting stage presence.

Then the awesomely talented Nicole Holofcener once again hit a high note with "Friends with Money". I love her stuff, she writes women so well, nailing all the complexities. And the cast was great - Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, and Jennifer Aniston (and the nameless men who played their partners). (A side note - I think I have seen every movie that Jennifer Aniston made in the past couple of years, and I'm not actively seeking them out on account of her, girlfriend is just making good choices - she'll probably show up in one of Soderbergh's films sooner or later).

My sister got me this creative play thing for my birthday called "Color Creations Coloring Books" where they take famous works of art - impressionism, cubism, modernism - and do the outlines of the original works and let you fill in the rest. I think I'm going to break out the crayons and really relax for a bit. I'm thinking, a nice Kandinsky ought to pass the time beautifully.

Thanks, colleendetroit, for the Beecher icons.

Cause I couldn't leave the day talking about the Pope

Returned my Oz DVD as promised. They had it in the locked up box sets in this place. In the other Borders that I go to Seasons 1-5 are out loose on the shelf. They should either all be safeguarded or all under lock & key. I'd go for the second option, being under lock & key seems so fitting.

Got home and watched a couple of movies:

"Jesus is Magic" which is actually a comedy routine by Sarah Silverman - it wasn't bad, I was a bit peeved because there was a glitch in the middle of the porn song. It seems like a soundtrack that would be fairly fun to listen to, all of the musical numbers ran that edge between charming and shocking. And she's got an interesting stage presence.

Then the awesomely talented Nicole Holofcener once again hit a high note with "Friends with Money". I love her stuff, she writes women so well, nailing all the complexities. And the cast was great - Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, and Jennifer Aniston (and the nameless men who played their partners). (A side note - I think I have seen every movie that Jennifer Aniston made in the past couple of years, and I'm not actively seeking them out on account of her, girlfriend is just making good choices - she'll probably show up in one of Soderbergh's films sooner or later).

My sister got me this creative play thing for my birthday called "Color Creations Coloring Books" where they take famous works of art - impressionism, cubism, modernism - and do the outlines of the original works and let you fill in the rest. I think I'm going to break out the crayons and really relax for a bit. I'm thinking, a nice Kandinsky ought to pass the time beautifully.

Thanks, colleendetroit, for the Beecher icons.