“Cannot” means “shouldn’t” in this context, not literal impossibility; I am surprised Harsanyi did not catch on to that, even while disagreeing.
Even the bible warns, however, that things can and sometimes will come to such a pass, indeed that “those who kill you [Christian believers] will think they are doing a service for God.”
I no longer pay any attention to this man or anything he says. He is irrational. I had a lot of respect for Popes John Paul and Benedict. But this man is as much bad news for the world as John XXIII was bad news for the Catholic Churchin in general.
They don’t say “ God is great” before slaughtering a village, they say say “allah akbar” which addresses satan.
Perhaps the Pope’s reservations about Charlie Hedbo stem from the fact that the magazine often skewered Catholicism.
In fact, on one cover, the magazine pictured the figures of the Holy Trinity engaging in anal sex.
Did you see any reports of outraged Catholics trying to murder the staff of Charlie Hedbo?
There is a difference between what is legally permissible, and what should in not be done, in terms of common decency. To ignore that will only result in ever increasing requests for the State to regulate speech, which coincidentally, is exactly what has happened in Western secular democracies over the last several decades.
Self-regulation is the key here, not government intrusion.
You are free to write all kinds of trash. Doesn't mean it's a good idea though. And just because you are free to do so does not mean that I have to buy or read your magazine, or celebrate it.
He is also a Muslim "Usefull Idiot". -Tom
The pope is a vain old fool who wants to be loved by the world.
What also disturbed me was that he thought it was cute to suggest punching somebody in response to an insult his mother (and then, of course, he used this to justify the Muslims slaughtering 12 people). I guess he missed the part in the gospels about returning good for evil, turning the other cheek, praying for those that persecute you, etc., etc. And that would certainly mean tolerating or ignoring real or imagined verbal insults.
To have a Christian leader making such statements was appalling.
Sadly the Pope is showing his Marxist roots. He obviously has no understanding of the concept of God given liberties including the freedom of speech or of the dehumanizing effect of socialism where the individual is subservient to the state. The concept of individuals being endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that is the basis of our Constitution is a product of the Protestant Enlightenment.