This Pope has a Sense of Humor

[malaise]

Defend life at every stage - abolish the death penalty
Meanwhile ReTHUGs cheered and cheered thinking he was talking about abortion. Oops!

[PeaceNikki]

1. I don't find that cute or charming or funny.

The right to abortion is in danger. Fuck him.

[LostOne4Ever]

2. +infinity (nt)

[malaise]

3. Huh

He was speaking about the death penalty

[PeaceNikki]

4. Also against a woman's right to choose. And FOR personhood laws. FUCK him.

[malaise]

8. Nothing he says influences my life

I am an atheist. That said I found it hilarious that ReTHUGs[/s] cheered without knowing what was coming.

[Humanist_Activist]

10. Really? So the church's position doesn't affect non-members?

Really?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-pregnant-woman-wanted-her-tubes-tied-her-catholic-hospital-said-no/2015/09/13/bd2038ca-57ef-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html

[madokie]

12. I'm atheist too

no sky guy for me. I appreciate what you're trying to say but it went so far over some heads its funny. Funny in a sad way actually

Life is so much simpler if one stays as far away from the myth of a supreme being, anyones flavor or everyones flavor

BTW whose sky guy is the right one? I figured this one out when I was about 14 YO.

I loves me some non believer life. When it comes right down to it its religion that wars are fought over, many people are living in strife due to one or the other not accepting the other. Fuck that noise. John Lennon got it right.

[malaise]

14. +1.000

Mom used to translate stuff for them so she would get calls from the bishop. I was 12 when I told my very Catholic mother that I wasn't calling any bishop My Lord and wasn't kissing any ring or bowing to any of them. I told her I didn't believe anything linked to gawds. As I grew older she realized that I was not faking my 'worldiness' as many call it in these parts.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. You have privilege and affluence and your royal straightness to protect you.

He was in Congress speaking against reproductive choice. In the US poor women in many states have a great deal of trouble accessing proper services.

[PeaceNikki]

18. I care about more than myself.

The things he says have an impact on the reproductive choices of millions. And right here, right now in this country, those choices are being viciously attacked. His opinions and his church are responsible for and/or contribute immensely to that.

Still not funny.

Yuck it up about the Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn on the GOP, but please don't expect I or other will. It's horrific.

[Humanist_Activist]

5. He was talking about protecting life from conception to natural grave. Its an...

Anti-choice, anti-euthanasia and anti-death penalty position.

[malaise]

15. You're saying that as if you expected something

The thing is you missed what I found funny - whatever.

[ryan_cats]

47. That is a well reasoned analysis

That is a well reasoned analysis and is no more welcomed than a divisive figure like the pope is. Unless the pope is saying something I agree with this moment, then roll out the red carpet.

[demmiblue]

7. +1

[Maven]

26. Me neither.

[Darb]

31. Your cause suffers from you,

not Francis.

[PeaceNikki]

32. Your concern has been noted.

[REP]

55. +1

Fuck the pope. I find all this mooning over Pope Frankie McDreamy very distasteful. It's as though just not being a former Nazi is enough to be a hero.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Oh, it's so funny when men who wear giant penis hats joke about further taking

women's rights away.

[LanternWaste]

11. Dr Freud, clean-up on aisle seven!

Almost as funny as regarding head gear as a giant penis. One can only wonder at the fantastical and peculiar mental decoding an Ushanka would engender from someone entertaining that particular state of mind.

Dr Freud, clean-up on aisle seven!

[Arugula Latte]

13. Those hats fit the patriarchal misogyny of the RCC to a T ... or a P.

[MohRokTah]

9. He was talking about both. eom

[markpkessinger]

19. Yes, he was . . .

. . . but he found a way to talk about both that brilliantly pointed up the hypocrisy of those on the right who are quick to cite the Church's teaching concerning the sacredness of human life when it comes to one particular issue, while clearly ignoring it with regard to many others.

[PeaceNikki]

20. And the religious think he "brilliantly pointed up the hypocrisy of those on the left"

All of it is bullshit

[markpkessinger]

22. I think, after listening to the entire speech. . .

. . . that those on the religious right who think that have a pretty tough time making that case.

[markpkessinger]

25. Apparently the folks at Fox are skewering him because they think he "ignored" abortion

Fox host offers ‘semi-apology’ for trashing pope on climate change, then rips him for ignoring abortion

[LiberalElite]

50. Then they are stupider than I thought - very impressive.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. He was talking about abortion. Then the death penalty.

Are you opposed to reproductive choice as well?

[markpkessinger]

21. No, I am not . . .

I strongly support a woman's right to choose. While I am not entirely morally comfortable with abortion, for a variety of reasons -- not least of which is this country's historical experience during the time when abortion was illegal -- I have to come down on the side of a woman's right to choose. So I can respect the Church's position -- provided it is embraced and applied consistently -- even as I strongly disagree with it, What the Pope did here, however, was to point out just how inconsistent most abortion opponents in this country really are. I applaud that.

[AllFieldsRequired]

27. Only women have discomfort during abortions, though I assume they receive some

level of anesthesia. And the level of discomfort, medically speaking, may well be quite limited. I dont know, as a man I have never had one.

A man is not capable of having any physical discomfort during an abortion, and if he has discomfort otherwise, then I suggest he check into that.

Given he has no business making any kind of judgment on something he never has to experience or deal with.

[markpkessinger]

28. I don't disagree with you at all . . .

. . . I thought my post made that clear.

[AllFieldsRequired]

30. What does this mean?

While I am not entirely morally comfortable with abortion for a variety of reasons -- not least of which is this country's historical experience during the time when abortion was illegal

[markpkessinger]

35. You omitted a critical comma in your quote of my post . . .

My original reads:

"While I am not entirely morally comfortable with abortion, for a variety of reasons -- not least of which is this country's historical experience during the time when abortion was illegal -- I have to come down on the side of a woman's right to choose. "


I didn't say there were a variety of reasons that I am morally uncomfortable with abortion. I said I am morally uncomfortable with abortion, (but) for a variety of reasons I come down on the side of a woman's right to choose.

So was your omission of that comma after the word abortion, as well as of the concluding phrase of the sentence which clarified any ambiguity as to my stance regarding a woman's right to choose, a deliberate attempt to mischaracterize what I said? If it wasn't, it sure looks like it was.

BTW, those double dashes indicate an interruption of a phrase, therefore, "for a variety of reasons" clearly belongs with what follows the interruption, namely, the phrase "I have to come down on the side of a woman's right to choose."

[AllFieldsRequired]

36. no i copy posted it in two movements, i dont see what difference it makes

what moral reasons do you have discomfort with abortion?

you still havent explained that, have you?

i guess it doesnt really matter

[markpkessinger]

37. My moral reservations about abortion are my business . . .

. . . I don't go around trying to impose my moral views on others, and I sure as hell don't owe you any explanation of those views. I nevertheless strongly support a woman's right to choose, so why would you even care?

And you DID omit that comma, whether intentionally or not. That comma is critical to the meaning of the sentence. If you cannot understand how it affects the meaning of the sentence, then you don't have a very good grasp of English punctuation.

[AllFieldsRequired]

38. So we are back to my question, you dont want to answer, fine.

the comma was NOT omitted on purpose, I copy pasted the first part then realized I didnt get it all and did it a second time and the comma got missed

It makes no difference because I was asking a question you dont want to answer, and you are right, you dont have to answer it

I made my point

[markpkessinger]

39. My position about a woman's right to choose has been clear from the outset . . .

. . . you want to pick apart my personal moral reservations about abortion (reservations that apply in some, but not all, cases). Frankly, my reservations are none of anybody's business so long as I am not using those reservations as a basis for denying a woman's right to choose. And I am not using them for such a basis. But I don't owe an explanation of matters of private conscience to you or anyone else. I support a woman's right to choose, full stop. If that isn't enough for you, too bad.

[AllFieldsRequired]

41. Didnt say they werent good enough for me, I am attempting to make a point

about the inappropriateness of any man having any position on abortion, at all

[markpkessinger]

42. People hold positions on many things . . .

. . . there's nothing inherently wrong with holding a position or opinion about something, even if it is something that does not directly affect that person. It's how that position is given expression politically that counts. I recognize my own lack of standing relative to the issue, and that is another of the reasons I defer to a woman's right to choose.

[AllFieldsRequired]

44. Thank you, and I like to make the point that men having a position on something they

have no business having a position on, or a judgmental position, because I think this is the way to get people to learn and change their minds.

It is how my mind was changed on some stuff over the years.

[AllFieldsRequired]

40. As a woman I have "moral reservations" about men getting vasectomies.

Now I am not a woman, but if a woman said that, it would sound kind of stupid, wouldnt it.

What god damn business is it of hers?

Get my point?

[markpkessinger]

43. Fine -- call my opinion stupid if you wish (I really don't care)

. . . personally, I think it is stupid to work so hard to alienate someone who is an ally on the underlying question merely because he or she comes at the question a bit differently from the way you do.

[AllFieldsRequired]

45. Didnt mean to do that, i really didnt. i take that back

[markpkessinger]

46. Thank you . . .

. . . I appreciate that.

[malaise]

54. 1,000

[bklyncowgirl]

23. I thought he was messing with their heads too.

The way the wild cheers died when he started talking about the death penalty was pretty funny.

[malaise]

24. Shhhhhhhhhh!

[Darb]

33. I get it too.

Be careful out there, Francis is evil dontcha know.

[markpkessinger]

48. +1 n/t

[spanone]

29. K&R...

i thought it was brilliant and i think he knew exactly what he was doing.

[LittleBlue]

34. That was nice

Wonder how many were thinking "oh shi-" halfway through the applause.

[LiberalElite]

49. I think he is talking about abortion nt

[PeaceNikki]

52. It's ok to laud a deep dig at reproductive autonomy if temptered with a HILARIOUS jab at the GOP

[LiberalElite]

53. ?? I just

got home and I'm exhausted, so - what do you mean? (I think my brain went to sleep without me. Lulz.)

[rug]

51. He channelled Lucy.

[malaise]

56. Charlie Pierce notiecd it as well

Love the Lucy analogy - perfect.