A NEW POPE, SO?

A new pope has been elected, finally, after a month of speculations and news casts, we have the 76th year old Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio).

I don't understand all the fuss even if I was raised as a Catholic. For the first few years of my life I was forced to attend Church every Sunday even if my grandmother didn't. I attended a Catholic school ran by nuns and, in grade sixth, I had a great teacher, her name was Sister Cecile, she was full of life and she attended church every day, sometimes twice a day. Soon after a couple of friends and I attended mass once and sometimes twice a day during that school year. I suspect I was looking for Sister Cecile's approval. This piety lasted until the end of my grade sixth year, I guess I did not have the CALLING and my inquisitive mind did not find the answers it was looking for. I guess I lacked faith, that blind faith.

I used to be intimidated by priests until I got to know one better, this one used to come to my aunt's house on a regular basis for many years while I grew up, I soon realized that he was just a man like all the others and that he liked little girls, especially when they sat on his lap. Fortunately for me, that was the extent of my experience with a priest. Then he got transferred and that was it.

However, as I got older and asked more questions that would remain unanswered or avoided, I decided that religion should be a personal affair, I believe in God, but I seriously question the Church and its leaders. Christ was a loving and forgiving soul unlike his Representative.

My impression of the Vatican is that its an institution that has grown on the back of the weakest, I am not sure what they have done for the people that would merit such attention. I couldn't believe the size of the crowd gathered at the Basilica to find out who the next Pope was going to be. The King of the Catholics, a spiritual King, leading a sick Kingdom. Again, I believe in God but not in the Church, at least not this one, I doubt that today's Church is in God's image.

And why do Popes have to have one foot in the grave to be elected, why can't they elect a forty year old one, is it because he may live to long and others won't get a turn? It would be nice to see a passionate person as a Pope, someone with energy and vision. But, they elected an old man, again. Congratulations to the New POPE, you made it !!!

For me the Vatican is nothing more than a fancy Boy's Club where a bunch of men decides what kind of life women and the less educated can have. So, so, so far from our reality.

VENTING

It has been a long time, but lately I have been getting all kinds of links regarding animal cruelty of all kinds, shark finning, dog farming for meat, news of some crazy man shooting innocent children at school. Then you read stuff like inhuman slaughtering of animals, and I wonder what is a human slaughtering? Is instant death what makes it human?

For instance, lets take the sharks, sharks may kill about 30 humans a year but humans kill over 100 000 sharks a year. And what about dogs? How many humans have dogs killed? How many dogs, cats, pigs, cows, chickens and other God creatures are we killing a year? And how many humans are killed by humans?

I am ashamed to say, I killed, yes I did, I directly killed a six week old kitty by stepping on its back in the middle of the night, I was going to the washroom in the dark, the experience traumatized my best friend who was sleeping over that night, and I felt like..., I still haven't found a word for how I felt that night, forty years ago. I am still thinking about it.

Anyhow, my point is I would like to understand, no, maybe I don't, matter of fact I don't want to understand why people become killers, killers of animals or killers of man. Understanding would equal forgiveness. As of late, I take to thanking the part of an animal on my plate for giving its life so I can savor its flesh feeling less guilt. A a few times a  week I try to convert to vegetarianism  but it requires a lot of preparation time, so I compromise by not eating meat a few days a week, I consider its a beginning.

Its a two edge sword, no animals in the food chain, I would eat other stuff, but if I stop eating meat would the demands diminish, would fewer animals get to the slaughter house? I am heading in the vegetarian direction, eventually, one day, maybe sooner than anticipated.

But what about killers of men? War, cruelty, vengeance, passion crimes and whatever reasons people kill people, it doesn't matter if I am a vegetarian or not, it won't impact how many people will die at the hands of a human. I wonder if in our gene pool exist a couple of designer genes, one that makes some of us pacifists and the other, killers. Go figure, what if everyone had the pacifist gene? How would that play out, the planet is over populated in some area as it is, imagine if there was no war, would we also inherit a birth regulator gene? Balance...

To be ....