Posted on 05/24/2006 6:47:17 AM PDT by NYer
Huh?
What does sex have to do with studying sociology and demographics? Which of couse, is what he is discussing.
Following your "logic", a psychiatrist can't help someone with a particular psychosis if he hasn't suffered from it himself.
Italy has been under heavy criticism from the Vatican for many years now regarding its plummeting birthrate. I vaguely remember Pope John Paul II pointedly mentioning it during a visit to the Italian Parliament.
It's sure not Episcopalian.
Low birthrate? We have a solution, cheap Mexican immigrants. We'll just tell them to keep heading north. Free healthcare up there, right?
Wrong Pope.
I would respectfully suggest that chastising Canadians when he is not persuasive in his own backyard is counterproductuve.
That doesn't work. Witness how homosexuality is no longer considered a mental disorder.
I think they wrote about it in a book "I'm OK, You're Still Nuts".
They're not experts on invasive surgery, either - should the Vatican shut up about abortion, too?
Since procreation and marriage are things relating ultimately to God, maybe His representatives have a valid opinion? I mean, I wouldn't expect the CEO of General Electric to issue a statement on the evil of contraception.
Agree, Pope John Paul II, not Pope Benedict.
Look, anyone who us not blind can see that nothing is currently working to raise the birthrate...in places as diverse as Italy and Russia.
The underlying cause is not that the world population is suddenly more degenerate that in the past.
If that were so then the birthrate in certain Moslem countries should also be in the pits and it's not. Aren't Palestinians busy breeding suicide bombers? Are they more virtuous and loving than Italians?
1.61 is still way too low. We need it around 2.50.
Well, Jesus wasn't married, so should we reject his command to "be fruitful and multiply"?
And if you want to mock celibacy, you'll have to reject the words of Jesus and St. Paul:
Matthew 19:12"For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."
1 Corinthians 7:38
So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.
What would be productive? Slapping them on the back?
2 Timothy 4:2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encouragewith great patience and careful instruction.
I honestly have no idea what point you are driving at.
God bless Canada, eh.
The birth rate is low in diverse industrialized nations because adults have come to see children as accessories and not blessings. One or two, fine. After that, they're a drag on the retirement fund or just take up too much time.
The world is increasingly self-centered. Moral relativism is the product of radical individualism, so this is not a surprise to anyone (especially the Vatican) who has been warning of the consequences for years.
I highly recommend "Veritatis Splendor", by Pope John Paul II. It was written in 1994, but the rest of the world is woefully behind the curve.
So far as Palestinians go - we can't compare the act of procreation with the manipulation/indoctrination that occurs afterwards. In a sense, if Italians are willfully saying "NO" to continuing the human species, what makes them less dangerous than a suicide bomber? Both acts - the will to destroy innocent life, and the will to prevent innocent life from existing, are evil. And abortion seems to bridge any gap between the two: There is both will to destroy innocent life, and the will to prevent innocent life from existing.
First of all, in post 26 you wrote "wrong Pope" regarding the response of someone about chastising Italy about their low birthrate. In this post you essentially admit he did. I'll take that as an admission Benedict has spoke to Europeans and specifically Italians about their low birth rates.
Now, that said, I don't understand what you are saying here. How is preaching to Catholics in other countries the EXACT SAME THING you've preached to other Catholics "counterproductive"? That makes no sense at all. What is "counterproductive" here?
Canadian leaders and media people should thank him for addressing their serious demographic problem. It seems it's the eight-hundred-pound elephant in the corner that no one wants to mention.
"Fair enough. We live in a free country, where no one is forced to believe anything they don't wish to believe. No one could argue against that."
Where has this guy been? The islamists argue loudly against that!!!
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