Tweet Atonement: Pope Francis Twitter = Time Off Purgatory

[Jason Tandro]

Yeah... I don't even know what to say about that. I mean it sounds like the kind of thing that would be an offensive anti-Catholic joke, but it's actually a real life thing.

People who are not fans of the Catholic Church have often called out the somewhat mercenary nature of offering time off purgatory for performing various services to the church. What they fail to realize is pretty much every religion has a set up like this, they are just a bit more obvious about it.

But I mean this is absolutely the worst thing I've ever heard. You are entitled to believe that good deeds earns time off from purgatory. That makes sense in the morality and mindset of the catholic church. Good deeds make up for bad deeds. That makes sense.

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY ARGUE THAT FOLLOWING POPE FRANCIS ON TWITTER IS ANY GOOD FOR GOD? WHAT KARMIC ATONEMENT IS BEING PERFORMED BY THE ACTION OF PRESSING A BUTTON?!

I don't want to go on a whole rant about this subject as I clearly already have, because I'm trying not to make this Debate Island worthy, but I mean, COME ON?!

IF there are any Catholics here, my apologies, I don't mean to be offensive but I found this a little silly. Don't worry, you all know I'm Mormon so you have plenty of options for counter-shots at Mormonism if you so choose.

[inferiare]

MORMON JESUS.


...now that that's out of my system, I... don't really know what to say to that.

On the upside, why buy your way out of Purgatory when it can end up like Lost?

[geekgirl101]

Most religious groups if not nearly all of them have some manner of lasooing members into their little circle and instilling fear of leaving or falling back into "sinful nature". For Catholics redemption is by repeated prayer, like writing school lines during detention, and confession. Other groups offer redemption through long droning prayers, use of ritualistic objects like vials of oil or holy water, and exorcising demons that could be influencing the members' behaviour. This in turn keeps the member involved because they feel they've been redeemed and to avoid slipping away in the future they must stay in that society.

As members of a religious group we should not be feeling afraid. We are there to worship, to learn and teach, and to love. We should feel free to stay or go as we've been given the freedom of choice. Nobody likes to see members leave, but sometimes it can't be helped and we should not hate or judge them for leaving. It could be that they disagree with or feel uncomfortable about what they're being taught, or they may have decided to go to a different congregation that is more in line with their personal preference. It may even frighten them to be involved in a religious group and they are trying to come to terms with being open and honest in a place with complete strangers and being loved and feeling as part of a family. We are also still imperfect beings and bound to slip up one way or another. Again it's not to be judged or shameful of if we are honest about it and genuinely sorry.

In the end what we've all been taught in common is to love and worship God, regardless what we call him, and to love each other as we expect to loved ourselves. They're just simple instructions to help us better ourselves and each other and make life a more pleasant experience, for what is a world without love? It's then a world full of hatred, greed, envy and violence, with people suffering in every corner and being fearful.

Now as for your mention about people following the Pope's tweets, well I don't see any wrong in doing that if he's offering words of wisdom and encouragement to his followers. It's a way of keeping in touch with each other and reaches far further than a square in Italy. Followers may even retweet them that friends and followers who are from a completely different religion or no religion at all may find encouragement in those words. While you think it's not doing any good deed it may well be doing far more than you think.

[Jason Tandro]

Wow. The newbie can also debate with the best of them!

Very good counter-arguments! I still fail to see it myself of course but obviously I realize my opinion isn't the end all be all.

More than being upset i just found it kind of humorous.

[EverPhoenix]

I find this pretty funny. I mean, geekgirl does bring up a good point - following the Pope's twitter might lead to being exposed to some kind of useful information, which could in turn lead to encouragement to do more good deeds, which in turn leads to the chance of having a higher chance to get into Heaven. That's a lot of layers of maybes.

Sounds like "Follow for a chance to win tickets to Heaven!". Or like those annoying popup ads which promise you riches and various Apple products.

On a more serious note, this is pretty poor. What's the next step? Selling "time off purgatory" after Sunday morning Mass?

[Jason Tandro]

You know, they literally used to do that in the 14th Century. "Coin in the coffer saves your soul" or something to that effect.

[psychokind]

a catholic is a good catholic if he doesn't complain and just follows the rules that fit his personal life and ESPECIALLY pays his church tax.

that's why i consider myself a real catholic i sometimes drink til the morning light with my local priest, have a beer with my buddies from the local catholic association. i gifted money for a new church bell and generally think of bad of protestants.

and that's why the pope does stupid things like twitter without consequences. it's emberrasing, but there will be another pope and maybe he does more usefull things with his time. you have to think like that and focus on the things the church does right.

[Jason Tandro]

Another good point, psychokind. Too many people nitpick the things they hate about religion without looking at all the good it does. I know Mormons get that treatment.

[EverPhoenix]

Problem is, that doesn't apply only to religion. It applies to anything and everything people take for granted.

Everything fine? It's meant to be that way, don't say anything/
Something goes a little wrong? It's everyone else's fault, and how dare they not fix it immediately.

[Jason Tandro]

@EP: Well humans are creatures of habit, and frankly even the brightest of us tend to get wrapped up into seeing things in black and white. Either something is wholly good or the sum of all evil.