{"id":7354,"date":"2013-12-08T12:01:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T17:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=7354"},"modified":"2013-12-08T12:06:25","modified_gmt":"2013-12-08T17:06:25","slug":"a-book-you-probably-want-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=7354","title":{"rendered":"A book you probably want to read…"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are looking for not only a \u201cgood read,\u201d but an invigorating and inspiring take on the spiritual\/political\/economic issues of our day, do not miss the just-released book from my wonderful friend Matthew Fox, Letters to Pope Francis.<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The Rev. Mr. Fox (he was once a Catholic priest, but was expelled from the church and became an Episcopalian priest) suggests that the Pope should go on an international tour with the Dalai Lama.\u00a0 Below is what he says of the tour, followed by a remarkably detailed\u00a0 and wonderfully informative look where the Pontiff stands.<\/p>\n

— Neale Donald Walsch
\n===================================================<\/p>\n

Together Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama could speak to the obvious and real moral issues of our day: \u00a0Economic inequality based on a system of avarice not only at the top but in the consumer bottom and middle\u037e gender injustice (something the Catholic Church has to address internally as well)\u037e ecological destruction\u037e unemployment, especially among the young\u037e the pressing need for religious and spiritual interfaith or deep ecumenism\u037e the necessary and desired marriage of science and spirituality (as opposed to silly fundamentalism either by religion or by science).<\/p>\n

The young could be deeply inspired by such a road show and I have no doubt that the two principals would themselves learn from one another. \u00a0This pope has displayed a refreshing humility and eagerness to learn from other religious leaders as in his book of dialogs with Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Argentina (who is also a PhD in science). \u00a0It is a fine book and they got together over a two year period to produce it.<\/p>\n

Teachings of Pope Francis that stand out include some of the following.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0A walking of his talk of simpler lifestyle. \u00a0Pope Francis was well known in Argentina for taking public transportation to work and refusing any limousine\u00adlike service which so many prelates take for granted. \u00a0He has done the same in his new position as pope where he chooses not to live in the papal apartments but in a far more modest guest house or hotel in the Vatican. \u00a0He drives a Ford Focus in Vatican city. \u00a0Might he give over the apartments to Rome’s homeless? \u00a0He has also drawn some press recently for sneaking out at night from the Vatican in the simple priestly garb of black suit and color and hanging out with homeless in the streets of Rome. \u00a0One senses he is trying to walk the talk and follow his own preaching about simplification. \u00a0And he is putting pressure on other prelates to do the same.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0As for his talk, he tends to mince no words when speaking of the divergence of wealth and poverty today. \u00a0He speaks to globalization this way: \u201cThe globalization that makes everything uniform is essentially imperialist…it is not human. \u00a0In the end it is a way to enslave the nations.\u201d (Fox, 24)[1] \u00a0Is globalization enslaving the nations? \u00a0Serious words worthy of a serious discussion.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0He says: \u201cChristianity condemns both Communism and wild capitalism with the same vigor\u201d and one needs to reject the \u201cwild economic liberalism we see today\u201d and \u201cseek equal opportunities and rights and strive for social benefits, dignified retirement, vacation time, rest, and freedom of unions.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0He praises St Francis because \u201che brought to Christianity an idea of poverty against the luxury, pride, vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time\u201d and for this reason \u201che changed history.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0He takes on the neocon preoccupation with \u201cworld terrorism\u201d and the fear such language arouses when he declares that \u201chuman rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that create huge inequalities.\u201d \u00a0How important is that? \u00a0To equate economic structures with terrorism? \u00a0Yes, Wall Street terrorizes. \u00a0Ask any Main Street citizen.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0He denounces the \u201cflight of money to foreign countries\u201d as a sin because it dishonors \u201cthe people that worked to generate\u201d that wealth. \u00a0He also condemns those who hide their wealth in off\u00adshore accounts to avoid paying taxes that are so important for the common good.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0Pope Francis has said: \u00a0\u201cThe option for the poor comes from the first centuries of Christianity. \u00a0It is the Gospel itself.\u201d \u00a0And he remarked that were he to preach sermons from the first fathers of the church on the needs of the poor he would be called a \u201cMaoist\u201d or \u201cTrotskyte.\u201d \u00a0(119)<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0He critiques clericalism as a \u201cdistortion of religion\u201d and says priests should not declare \u201cI am the boss here\u201d but listen to the community. \u00a0\u201cThe Catholic Church is the entire people of God\u201d he declares a la Vatican II\u2014not words the previous two popes were at all home with. \u00a0(85)<\/p>\n

9. \u00a0\u201cHuman rights are violated by…unfair economic structures that create huge inequalities.\u201d (71)<\/p>\n

10. \u00a0On Holy Thursday Pope Francis washed the feet of young people in jail including the feet of some women, one of them being Muslim. \u00a0It is a custom to do this ritual after the memory of Jesus who also did it\u2014but the Catholic right wing is up in arms about his daring to wash women’s feet and those of a Muslim woman!<\/p>\n

11. \u00a0He endorses the concept of small communities over what he calls \u201chierarchical mega\u00adinstitutions\u201d because these better \u201cnurture their own spirituality\u201d and after all the \u201corigin of Christianity was ‘parochial and later organized into small communities.\u201d (94)<\/p>\n

12. \u00a0\u201cRepair my church in ruins\u201d he said on taking over the office of the papacy. \u00a0He seems to get it. \u00a0The schismatic church of John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) has left a Catholicism which the young have abandoned en masse<\/em>.<\/p>\n

They left a church in ruins run by fascist leaning opus dei cardinals and bishops all over the world. \u00a0One Catholic paper in India declared \u201cthere is a civil war in the church.\u201d \u00a0I for one do not believe this pope or any pope could return Catholicism to its previous state\u2014or should. As I concluded in my book, \u201cThe Pope’s War,\u201d I see the destruction of the Catholic Church as we know it the work of the Holy Spirit. \u00a0It is time to simplify the message and the presence of those who follow a Christ path.<\/p>\n

It is time to travel with backpacks on our backs, not basilicas. \u00a0The pope’s work will not bring Catholics \u201cback to the church\u201d but hopefully it will inspire Christians and non\u00adChristians alike to consider the basic teachings of Jesus around compassion and justice and start acting accordingly.<\/p>\n

13. \u00a0Says Pope Francis: \u201cThe worship of the golden calf of hold has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any human goal.\u201d \u00a0We need, he says, a \u201cbalanced social order that is more humane\u201d and that resits consumerism. \u00a0\u201cMoney has to serve and not rule.\u201d \u00a0It is a \u201csavage capitalism\u201d that teaches \u201cthe logic of profit at any cost\u201d and exploitation of people.<\/p>\n

14. \u00a0Says the pope: \u201cI prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.\u201d \u00a0Structures can \u201cgive us a false sense of security\u201d and \u201crules makes us harsh judges…while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us, \u201cgive them something to eat.’\u201d \u00a0He wants to decentralize the church for \u201cexcessive centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the church\u2019s life and her missionary outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

15. \u00a0Unfettered capitalism is a \u201cnew tyranny\u201d \u00a0\u201cToday we are living in an unjust international system in which ‘King Money’ is at the center.\u201d \u00a0This \u201cthrowaway culture discards young people as well as its older people…..A whole generation of young people does not have the dignity that is brought by work.\u201d \u00a0A \u201cdiminishing of the joy of life\u201d is the result of such idolatry (125f) and interestingly he chose a parallel phrase, the \u201cJoy of the Gospel\u201d for the title of his most recentpronouncement.<\/p>\n

In his recent document entitled \u201cThe Joy of the Gospel\u201d Pope Francis speaks bluntly, as all the prophet do. He says No\u2014as all the prophets do. \u00a0He denounces \u201ctrickle\u00addown\u201d economics as \u201cnever having been confirmed by the facts\u201d and being built on a \u201ccrude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power….Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.\u201d [2]<\/p>\n

Following are some of his No’s presented in his own words:<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0\u201cNo to an economy of exclusion….An economy of exclusion and inequality kills….Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0\u201cNo to the new idolatry of money….While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority form the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few…..Self\u00adserving tax evasion has] taken on worldwide \u00a0dimensions. \u00a0The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits….Whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a defied market, which becomes the only rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0\u201cNo to a financial system which rules rather than serves. \u00a0Ethics is seen as counterproductive, too human, because it makes money and power relative. \u00a0It is felt to be a threat, since it condemns the manipulation and debasement of the person….<\/p>\n

Money must serve, not rule! \u00a0The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. \u00a0I exhort you to generous solidarity and a return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favors human beings.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0\u201cNo to the inequality which spawns violence. \u00a0[Violence happens not]simply because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded form the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root. \u00a0Just as goodness tends to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its baneful influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no matter how solid it may appear…..Evil crystallized in unjust social structures…cannot be the basis of hope for a better future.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis speaks out against an \u201ceducation that would tranquilize the poor, making them tame and harmless.\u201d \u00a0And he defines injustice as \u201cevil.\u201d \u00a0He has invited liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez to the Vatican and the word is out that he will canonize Archbishop Romero.<\/p>\n

A different kind of papacy? \u00a0Surely from the past two popes\u037e much more like Pope John XXIII. Does that mean we go back to papalolatry? \u00a0Absolutely not. But it does mean that it is good that a person in the public eye is keeping his sights on values that matter and speaking up for the kind of people of conscience who read and act on the values that Tikkun represents.<\/p>\n

When it comes to issues of women, Pope Francis has much to learn (including how women were leaders in the early church). \u00a0But I think he is capable of learning.<\/p>\n

On homosexuality, he has uttered a telling line, \u201cWho am I to judge?\u201d that certainly distances him from the previous two popes. \u00a0On issues of abortion, at least he has spoken to the need to care about the women involved.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis is not perfect\u2014none of us is\u2014but he is an ally to all those seeking a world of justice and therefore peace.<\/p>\n

=================<\/p>\n

[1] Subsequent citations are from Matthew Fox, Letters to Pope Francis (South Orange, NY: LevelFiveMedia, 2013<\/p>\n

[2] Aaron Blake, \u201cPope Francis denounces ‘trickle\u00addown’ economics, The Washington Post, Nov. 26, 2013.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are looking for not only a \u201cgood read,\u201d but an invigorating and inspiring take on the spiritual\/political\/economic issues of our day, do not miss the just-released book from my wonderful friend Matthew Fox, Letters to Pope Francis. The Rev. Mr. Fox (he was once a Catholic priest, but was expelled from the church […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-column"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7354"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7360,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7354\/revisions\/7360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}