In September of 1862 the Southern slaves were freed by proclamation. One could say, and some still do say, that on that day President Lincoln destroyed the fabric of the established order. What Lincoln actually did is declare officially that slaves, in this case black people, are indeed “people”, not “chattel” as had been believed for thousands of years before. Yes, he destroyed that thousand year old established order of slaves and free men. Cost him his life, but we have learned to live with that truth since then, or at least 8 in 10 of us have.
Now the good Pope Francis in Rome has managed, some say, to shatter the fabric of the Catholic world order by saying or implying that a lot of what we assumed to be divinely revealed unchangeable truth was actually no more than human tradition subject to adjustments as new knowledge surfaces. If I heard it right, traditional creation stories now belong to the realm of human imagination. No god created “the heavens”, let alone earth. Even Adam and Eve are gone, replaced by the Big Bang. Too much for some to take. Good thing we are out of the Middle Ages. This would be heresy, time for a jolly good bonfire.
Something else was shattered in the process. When somebody questions something that is obvious, can I still ask “Is the Pope catholic” and be understood? It is going to be difficult now that some conservative theologians have brought up the question if the Pope is really Catholic. What turns this into humor is the fact that these theologians are serious. The implication is that if you speak the truth to the best of your knowledge you cannot be Catholic. In other words, if you want to be Catholic you must fake it. This turns it into an example of humor of the kind that doesn’t cause one to laugh. Takes the fun out of it. Pity.
(c)2017 by Herbert H. Hoffman. Picture credit vecteezy.com