Roxas_XIII wrote:
Well, I may be a Protestant, but i think the Vatican has the right idea. We should pay more attention to what is happening to the fragile balance of our biosphere. As if Katrina and the other 20+ hurricanes above Class 3 so far this century wasn't enough warning that our planet's climate is starting to destabilize.
Well, the distinction here comes in calling it a
sin not to treat our environment with a high respect. Many things are inadvisable while not being sins against God.
Roxas_XIII wrote:
Problem is, since it is after all the Vatican saying this, no one but Roman Catholics are going to take them seriously. And how many Catholic people have you seen roaming the streets today? Not a majority, for sure.
Depends on where you live.
There are plenty of homeless Catholics in impoverished nations. And the Catholic Church, by discouraging contraception (even in marriage), effectively insists that those families keep breeding, whether they have the money to feed their children or not. From the standpoint of the Vatican, more Catholics is never a bad thing, especially financially.
But, why should religious leaders live in opulence while their supporters live in poverty?
"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt 20:25-28).
And Jesus knelt down and washed his disciples' dirty feet
because he was their spiritual leader.
He chose to die on the cross for them
because he was their lord -- the one who loved them most -- not in spite of that lordship.
"And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark 9:35).
Spiritual leaders ought not be endlessly served as a result of their office.
On the contrary! They should, firstly, insist that such honors belong to God and God alone, and secondly, they should be the most servile of everyone!
God didn't put the pope in a gold chair to sit there and be honored by the world. That's more Satan's style. When the whole world
does honor such a man that way, with nearly complete unity of Earth's entire population, it's time to hold out your wrist to receive your "666" mark.
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Christianity is different than Judaism only in people's minds -- not in the Bible.