I'm very happy with the man the Cardinals chose.

Ratzinger is a man who understands that truth is not
subject to public opinion, and who refuses to do a
thing simply because that thing is in fashion.

We need more men (and women) like him.

73,

Steve

--
Steve Lawrence
Burnsville, Minnesota

Every moment of a human life is an act of worship.

Coincidence is God's way of being anonymous.

"John S." wrote in message
oups.com...
I think that choosing a Pope from South or Central America would have
helped the church in more than one way.

First it would signal to the world that the church is not as closed to
something as radical as a non-european pope. Seems kind of strange to
characterize such a change a radical when other religions include
females as a matter of course.

Second, it would have helped the church with membership in Brazil and
other south american countries where membership has been lost to more
open non-catholic religions.

"We need more men (and women) like him."

I doubt that under this pope you will see women and men in equivalent
positions within the church, if that was what you meant by the
parenthetical reference to women.

"John S." wrote in message
oups.com...
"We need more men (and women) like him."

I doubt that under this pope you will see women and men in equivalent
positions within the church, if that was what you meant by the
parenthetical reference to women.

When I said we need more men and women like him,
I meant to say that society would benefit from people
with greater reverence for tradition. I am, myself, a
traditionalist and a conservative, for what it's worth.

I may disagree with some of the things I see in the
Church, but I acknowledge the Church's right to
do things as She sees fit.

73,

Steve

Steve Lawrence
Burnsville, Minnesota

Every moment of a human life is an act
of worship.

Coincidence is God's way of being anonymous.

Interesting characterization of gender given the church will not
consider placing women in any position of responsibility.

When I said we need more men and women like him,
I meant to say that society would benefit from people
with greater reverence for tradition. I am, myself, a
traditionalist and a conservative, for what it's worth.

Tradition can be good or bad. There are many positive traditions, and
we celebrate many of them in our holidays. But - there is a dark side
too.

Tradition in some places holds that young men and women can be
betrothed to each other even if they are impossibly mismatched. Female
circumcision is traditional in some African nations, where the western
world would call it misogyny and brutality against women. Slavery was
traditional for millenia. Bigotry is traditional, and still holds sway
in many places on this planet. It is traditional for the rich to rule
the poor, the mighty to rule the weak, which of course goes against the
supreme law of the United States (even as the current leadership
attempts to bring it back - and I don't mean just Republicans either).

The Founders of the U.S. started several new ideas that were not
traditional at the time - sometimes, we have to carefully define what a
tradition is, lest we deceive ourselves.

Traditions are not infallible or universal or right - and we owe it to
our descendants to pick and choose those that are just, decent and
wise, while rejecting those that demean, brutalize, persecute and
ostracize.

Bruce Jensen

America does not have any official Holidays.
cuhulin

wrote:
America does not have any official Holidays.
cuhulin

Once again, the king of morons misspeaks.

There are 10 "Official" Federal Holidays:

1. New Years Day
2. Martin Luther King Day
3. Presidents day
4. Memorial Day
5. Independence Day
6. Labor Day
7. Columbus Day
8. Veterans Day
9. Thanksgiving
10. Christmas

Seems pretty "official" to me.

Les

"Les" wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
America does not have any official Holidays.
cuhulin

Once again, the king of morons misspeaks.

There are 10 "Official" Federal Holidays:

1. New Years Day
2. Martin Luther King Day
3. Presidents day
4. Memorial Day
5. Independence Day
6. Labor Day
7. Columbus Day
8. Veterans Day
9. Thanksgiving
10. Christmas

Seems pretty "official" to me.

Quick, how many of these do you actually get off at work??

In previous jobs, I got 2 (retail job), 6 (plus a floating holiday
to compensate for both MLK and Presidents Day), and I
now get 8 off. I've discovered that with the exception of
retail jobs, the larger the company, the more your off days
correspond with the official holidays.

--Mike L.

Ratzinger is a man who understands that truth is not
subject to public opinion, and who refuses to do a
thing simply because that thing is in fashion.

Yeah, like that Hitler Youth outfit he was in many moons ago - nothing
fashionable or expedient about that - only Truth.

I am being facetious here - at this point in his life and given the
high probability that he was totally innocent of any war crimes, it is
unimportant - but like any other human, he has no monopoly on Truth.
Let us hope he has the wisdom to be just.

Bruce Jensen