Pope pope pope. You really should learn to think before you speak. NPR says why.
Pope Francis said that couples who opt not to have children are being “selfish” as he spoke of a “greedy generation” that’s choosing not to procreate.
Think, pope pope. Slow down, stop talking, take a breath, and think.
Any luck yet?
Pope pope, you opted not to have children yourself. Officially. You look very fucking stupid saying things like that, given your own choices.
I know – you expect us to treat that as different, because it’s part of your ReLigIon. Nope. Not gonna do that. It’s not different, it’s the same, so you have no standing to go tut tut at everyone.
That’s before we get to the fact that it’s terrible advice at a time when the planet may be tipping into a rapid slide to drought and famine and mass extinction.
Speaking at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Francis talked on the joy of children and their importance in society, at one point reminiscing about his own mother.
“A society with a greedy generation, that doesn’t want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society,” the pope said. “The choice to not have children is selfish. Life rejuvenates and acquires energy when it multiplies: It is enriched, not impoverished.”
Except, of course, when the ice caps are melting and the rivers are shrinking and the coral reefs are dying and the crops are failing.
I suppose he thinks his buddy God will intervene at the last minute and reverse all that, and then we’ll want all those extra babies.
The pope doth protest too loudly, methinks. “Wrong for thee but not for me”?? I think he’s just worried about losing market share.
a “greedy generation”
A “greedy generation” called such by a man who lives in a -literally- gilded palace?
I think that it was just last week that he was telling a woman she was irresponsible for having too many children. And even though he thinks it is wrong to have too many children, he is still against birth control. And why does he assume that people who don’t have children are selfish. They may realize they are not parent material and made the decision not to have children. Popes are always disconnected from the rest of society.
If Catholics don’t have enough children, who are the priests going to fuck with ?
I love being told the decision my wife and I arrived at after long debate to not have children is simply a sign of greed. Never mind that we had to consider that some of the medication we must take will cause serious birth defects, we’re still greedy. Of course, failure to take the medication could lead to crippling depression that would adversely impact our ability to care for children indicating once again our greed. The pope and anyone else who thinks not having children is simply greed can go fuck themselves.
Didnt paul cover this ?(Being celibate is best but if you cant then marry and have many kids?)
@4: Ah, but celibacy requires *sacrifice*. What’s selfish is wanting to have sexytimes but not having to pay for it for the next 20 years…..
Yeah, Paul thought that being single and chaste was best for Christians. Marriage and subsequent children were for losers who were too horny to be as cool as he was. Divorce from a pagan spouse if the pagan spouse objected to Christianity was OK too. And Peter never mentions anyone getting married or having children anywhere in Acts. Stephen’s daughters weren’t married, and they gave prophesy with authority. So much for the whole women not speaking with authority thing.
Of course, Peter and Paul both believed the End Times were near.
In some ways the Jehovah’s Witnesses have the right idea. They are apolitical and endorse contraception. Why have lots of children if the end times are near?
Damn. I’ve got Tim MInchin going through my head again.
The Catholic church has been the poster child for greed for many, many generations. It refined greed and corruption to a high art. I really hope the athetists giving this asshole a pass before have reconsidered their initial impressions.
Not only was marriage a poor second choice for Paul, it only redeemed itself in the production of more virgins for God. Paul was pretty fucked up, all around. Or was that Augustine? It’s hard to keep track of where all the different little lunacies came from.
Ophelia – Glad to see you got the hypocrisy right away. I’m shocked at how many people aren’t noticing the fact that celibate dude is saying that not having kids is selfish with zero self-awareness.
Why does a professional virgin think he has any standing to talk about normal peoples’ sex lives?
Not to mention it’s pretty selfish to have children to expect them to take care of you when you’re old. Alternatively, less children is less devout catholics is shrinking church influence. So we’re being selfish for not procreating for the glorification of the Roman Catholic church.
The pope doesn’t give a damn about any subject. He’s in the business of keeping the flock under control and the best way to do that is to find out what the flock are doing – and then tell them they are wrong and they should do the opposite. As long as the pope is giving orders the flock will know their place – and that’s all the pope cares about.
I’m with you Trebuchet. Tim’s song will be in my head for the next few hours.
The ridiculous hypocrisy aside, it still doesn’t make sense. Being selfish implies you’re withholding something from another. Who exactly are couples without children being selfish to?
Who exactly are couples without children being selfish to?
I guess prospective would-be doting grandparents?
Usually when someone says something dumb along the lines of “you’d make a good dad…” (amazingly, it happens!) I give them a short rant about how much less pollution I’m producing by not bringing another shit-generating stuff-eating SUV-driving probably horrible human into the world. Remember: contraception is the only truly moral and 100% effective way of making sure you don’t produce a republican.
Oh, wait, wait I have another argument for why we shouldn’t have kids:
What if I had a kid and it grew up to be pope?!!?
@15: The children you aren’t giving the gift of life to, of course (because people who never existed can be injured, apparently). God (or maybe the universe-in-general), for keeping resources for yourself that you could give to someone else.
Seriously, from things I’ve picked up over the years, I gather that Catholic moral teaching lays great emphasis on inner attitudes — you have to do the right thing AND for the right reason. So you can limit the number of children you have because you can’t afford any more (providing you use only NFP methods), but not because, well, you just don’t like kids causing chaos in your life (trust me: they do that), or you’d prefer fewer (including zero) kids and more room to pursue other goals. And having zero children is, apparently, de facto evidence of a selfish attitude.
So you can limit the number of children you have because you can’t afford any more (providing you use only NFP methods), but not because, well, you just don’t like kids causing chaos in your life
I can haz religious reasoning plz? I don’t have kids for moral reasons: I hate children and by not having children I am protecting my un-had children from being abused and told “I wish I had never had you evil little rugrats, can’t I chain you out in the yard?!” on a regular basis.
@19: Yes, well: hating kids is a moral defect in you (ie. in Catholic thought, and I think in Christian thought in general). Personally, I liked my kids well enough (though I have limited tolerance for other people’s kids), and I’m proud of the adults they’ve become, but I’m glad there were only two of them, and I’m glad they’re no longer demanding oodles of time and attention, while we’re still young and healthy enough to enjoy embarking on other projects*.
Which makes us less “selfish” than you, though still pretty “selfish”, I think.
*This is as opposed to some Catholic friends who had seven kids over a spread of almost 20 years (basically, lackadaisical application of NFP), and so still have a couple at home as they approach 60. The last time we saw them (a couple of years ago), the mother was actually beginning to question the wisdom of the course she had chosen….
And in case it’s not clear: Kids are a pain (as any honest parent will admit), and deciding that one’s own temperament just can’t handle that kind of stressor for 20 years is not a defect, it’s just a prudent self-assessment.
yes, because the large percentage of people who are badly underfed, if not starving, from not knowing when to STOP crapping out children is not selfish.
Besides, by us not having children, we just technically saved one or two from possibly being victims of sexual abuse from your organization. See? that’s a good thing!
So a teenage girl who chooses to avoid unwanted kids by not having sex is being “selfish” and “greedy?” Oh well, I guess that’s a little bit better than accusing her of “racism” or “eugenics.”
The pope and anyone else who thinks not having children is simply greed can go fuck themselves.
Without contraception, of course, because that would be greedy.
Pope opens mouth, inserts scarlet slipper
Sounds like the making of a really bad “Fifty Shades” sequel. Or the Vatican version of “Red Shoe Diaries.”
I knew from my early teens that I would be a bad parent.
So this celibate (theoretically) man tells me it doesn’t matter? Better for me to be miserable and the children to be miserable?
Fortunately I’ve never been Catholic or Christian so I can tell him FU. You don’t tell me what to do.
Yes. Suffering is the highest Catholic value.
I hope he will be taking immediate action to remedy the situation by changing the rules that forbid priests to marry. Otherwise we might think he just blurts out whatever crap comes into his head.
Having changed the rules he must also remind his priests that they mustn’t breed like rabbits but must also not use contraception because there’s nothing God likes more than making people’s lives difficult.