According to the Pope, the Catholic Church is “always on the side of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion.”
This seems like a claim that should have an asterisk next to it.
According to the Pope, the Catholic Church is “always on the side of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion.”
This seems like a claim that should have an asterisk next to it.
Or as it’s said these days, “citation needed”.
I find that scholars of every organized religion tries to come up with their own definition of “freedom” which conveniently fits into their religious paradigm. I’ve debated this topic way too much with fundies of all faiths (namely, Evangelical Christians and Muslims and some Orthodox Jews) to know that they love twisting things around. “Oh, freedom is whatever my god/holy book says it is,” etc.
Of course, freedom is whatever libertarians say it is.
Well, lets say that an institution that persecuted people for not following their religion or for not accepting all their specific dogmas for centuries (and even killing them in the process), cannot say they have suppported “freedom”? Or do you think is because libertarians have some weird definition of the word that doesn´t apply to those cases?
Actually I’d say we libertarians bicker more about what freedom means than the other groups just because we’re honestly trying to grapple with what it means. When Roman legal documents or papal encyclicals mention freedom it’s not usually with much thoughtfulness or precision.
I think this papal pronouncement is pretty clear about what freedom is. It’s just against it.
I got the feeling I had read that particular encyclical before, when I chanced upon this gem: