prejudice and the pope (Sept 16, 2006)

Not gonna lie, guys - I don't think quoting someone who said Mohammed brought nothing but violence and evil into the world was the best thing for the Pope to do... Especially when the man quoted lived in the 1300s and wasn't too far removed from those things, what were they called? Oh yes, the Crusades. It's awfully high and mighty for Christians to accuse other religions of bringing violence into the world.

The pope, more than anyone, should understand how genuine faith can go wrong - and how it doesn't mean that the entire religion itself isn't bad. If you were to look at the history of Christianity, sometimes you'd have to look pretty hard between the bloodstains to see anything good and Christ-like at all. Should we then say that Jesus brought nothing but division and violence into the world? Of course not.

I have tried to find a transcript of the Pope's entire speech so I could understand the context surrounding the statement. I've read the apology he and the Vatican have issued, and there is a lot of "The Catholic Church holds Islam in high regard..." talk, which is good and they should... but I'd be more interested in hearing, "Hey we've all got prejudices that come out unexpectedly when our emotions are high, prejudices that we work hard to eliminate but that often linger just deep enough to remind us that we're human and thus imperfect. This incident was an example of human imperfection and our desperate need for grace and understanding."

Because don't we all have biases and prejudices that we feel but rarely - if ever - let surface? For example, when you heard of the recent attempt in August to blow up dozens of trans-Atlantic airplanes, did you not feel a little pang of anger towards Muslims, even though you know most people who are Muslim had absolutely nothing to do with it? It was just a moment, and you knew it was absurd, but you felt it nonetheless. I'm just saying it's there. It's not good, but it's true. I wish these feelings didn't exist... but I wish that instead of ignoring the elephant in the room, people would admit that it's there and that they are doing their best to overcome it.

I know that people don't want to see weakness. People don't want leaders with problems. People want leaders who are super-human, able to rise above all the downfalls we "normal" ones experience, and someone save the world. No such person exists, however... yet we still seem to want it.

I don't know though... a lot of us seem to react pretty strongly in a good way when we see someone unexpectedly ooze humanity against their better judgment. Like Anderson Cooper breaking down on camera after Katrina hit and finally asking leaders the questions that needed to be asked and telling them what needed to be said - "Where is the aid? It pisses us off to hear leaders patting each other's backs when people have been lying dead in the streets for days and living like animals without water." (Or something along those lines.)

We need people to be honest and real. Sometimes when we're unexpectedly real, we say dumb things. Hurtful things. Things that shouldn't have been said. It happens. But when, after these things happen, we admit our mistakes, acknowledge our skeleton in the closet that just managed to poke it's head out, it's good. No one is perfect, but everyone is human. We can relate to that. I respect honest mistakes and honest apologies a heck of a lot more than I respect, "no, you didn't understand what I said, I didn't do anything wrong."