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Admitting You're Wrong
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Can anyone show me where it is written in the law book of what not to do if you're a public figure that you can never ever admit that you are wrong? My opinion for Bush, for instance, would go up several notches if he would just admit that he has made some mistakes (i.e. claiming there were WMD's in Iraq, claiming that Iraq had anything at all to do with 9/11). The vatican released yet another statement which again insists that if people would read what the pope said in context, they wouldn't get all upset about it. Great. Now the vatican is saying that Muslims can't read. Sheesh.
When the new pope got elected some dude happened to guess his papal name before the fact and bought the rights to the internet domain name. When asked if he'd been approached by anyone to buy it, he admitted that some porn folks had wanted it. When asked what he would sell it for to the vatican, he said: "Complete absolution, world peace, and one of those hats." 
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10 Comments:
Um..don't be too sensitive Bryan. The Vatican is speaking to something that is actually quite common. People often take things out of context. To suggest that a group of people are taking something out of context by not reading the entire speech is not making fun of them.
I'm not saying the Pope was completely wise in his words. I am saying that people often get upset at things they shouldn't, and apologizing for a misunderstanding is more than he 'had' to do.
If I had the hat, I'd wear it to church.
I'm with you Mike. I know we cOC'ers are all about 'low church,' but seriously! Can't a brother wear a cool hat?
while none of this is important really, my argue gland is acting up this morning so i'm going to indulge it. i disagree with you, kyle, on both points. the vatican released a preliminary statement saying that if the speech were read in context, the offending phrase would not offend so much. time passed. muslims still furious. the vatican releases another statement, saying basically the same thing. to me, that is like saying that they can't read.
the pope did make a mistake. he quoted somebody who called mohammed inhuman and evil. instead of qualifying that quote in the context of his speech, he let it stand as part of his argument against violence.
all of this being said, i don't know what to think about the muslim sensitivity that is so easily ruffled. on the one hand i bow to their zeal skillz, and on the other, i feel like they're being childish. regardless of how some western dude thinks islam ought to act, the fact is that the pope should have been aware of how sensitive they would be.
does anyone else think that hat is a big phallic symbol? i would feel kind of sheepish wearing that thing to church.
"all of this being said, i don't know what to think about the muslim sensitivity that is so easily ruffled. on the one hand i bow to their zeal skillz, and on the other, i feel like they're being childish. regardless of how some western dude thinks islam ought to act, the fact is that the pope should have been aware of how sensitive they would be."
You hit it on the head for me right there Bryan. They're being childish. Sure the Pope should be smart enough to realize that the majority of people are not going to read the entire speech (and prompting them to do it twice does not mean he thinks they can't read).
Plenty of times throughout history people have foregone sensitivity to make a point when that point was needed. I don't know that this one was it, but for groups of people to act violently over the Pope's speech is just plain silly.
-There you go making everything sexual. The hat is just a hat....a very cool hat.
I hate to be the "see both sides of it" guy. I usually have an overactive argue gland. (It leaks an embarrassing oily discharge sometimes) (I know, I know TMI!!!; sorry folks.)
But I do see both sides here. I have begun to hear the story elsewhere now, and I think the Pope is right, but wrong. And now he has his foot in it. That is never right. And yet, just how much pandering are you supposed to do for hypersensitivity?
He made a mistake, in my book, but he had a good point, it seems. I hate when good points get lost in bad choices of words or quotes etc. It happens to me a lot. I don't usually admit I am wrong either, but I will pursue peace in other ways all the same. But then I have as yet not started riots in LA or international incidents either. That would be very humbling to me, I figure.
But, all wishy washiness aside... I heard that the Vatican is
"beefing up security" and even "employing sharp-shooters" etc. That does not sound Jesus-like to me. I am inclined to think that Jesus might make some deeply provoking remarks to violent crowds on occasion, but in the end he did not "beef up security." Rather, he offered himself. Now if the Pope were to make himself more available to that kind of mentality, and I do not know what that would look like, I would begin to see genius in it. But it might really get him killed.
Maybe he will pull it off yet. Either way, the media has definitely promoted it like ringside seets at a boxing match "between the world's two greatest religions." I hope the Christians will be like Christ. And it is tough, but the politico-religio-socio vibe of Jesus day was everbit as violent if not more. His way still stands.
Many blessings...
Being "Jesus-like" is not the Pope's primary MO, unfortunately. And yes, I think Muslims are being over-sensitive on this issue. On Sunday, Benedict said he was "deeply sorry" that his remarks offended people, but today you have official governments asking for a "sincere apology". I'm not sure what kind of apology would actually qualify by their standards at this point, outside of converting to Islam.
actually, what the pope said was "i deeply apologize for the hurt feelings," not i'm sorry i did it and that it was a mistake. one thing i haven't taken into consideration is that fact that some people consider the pope infallible, and that his concession could be doctrinally impossible for him.
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Yeah. Can I use that?
"It is doctrinally impossible for me to apologize."
Man, I like the feel of saying that. I could get used to that.
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