Ever hear of a Marathon Write? In a marathon write, you never stop writing. It is total stream of consciousness writing. So, if I’m writing about something and start thinking about cookies, I write about cookies, though I do try to get back to the topic. Similarly, if I’m stuck, I simply write, “I’m stuck”
Edward Albee once said, “I write to find out what I’m thinking about.” That’s the point of a marathon write, to find out what you’re thinking about. I’m going to have you write your thoughts on what you’ve read and the online TodaysMeet discussion for the last 10 minutes of class. Just write what you are thinking. Don’t worry about how it sounds. If it is really ridiculous, I won’t publish it to the blog.
Here is the transcript of our conversation. https://todaysmeet.com/room/1955738/transcript
or
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwJtGlkVK5mkX0NJcm1wZXhTc3U3T0w1MEVma2xUa2FMRWtR/view?usp=sharing
Marathon writing
Jacob Sklar
I think it’s really important that the new pope is able to talk about topics like, abortion and same sex marriage in an open way. As the leader of a religion that says homosexual intercourse is a sin he has had a very open view, while he prefers traditional households he said “who am I to Judge?” He is making a new image for modern Catholicism focusing less on personal sin and more on goodness of people and the world. I think this is a good direction to take after the huge pedophilia scandal, and years of homophobia. I think it will attract a new broader audience of Catholics, and bring back ones that left the church during its darker times. I also like that Pope Francis more resembles the actual teachings of Jesus Christ; Helping the poor, loving all, telling that god loves all, not focusing on guilt or things people have done wrong but how to be good. This Pope is more in touch with the real world. He lives in a small apartment and doesn’t live like royalty the way other Popes did. Instead he focuses on helping the poor by doing outreach, and helps with the environment. Another thing he did was get rid of many of the corrupted American and European cardinals and diversified with many new South American ones. We need more world leaders to be like this. A concern of mine is his safety; while many love his new reforms there are a lot of hateful people in the world who may want him dead. I hope in his time as pope he will have a permanent impact on the thinking of millions so we can stay in this mindset come the next pope.
Those are my thoughts.
I certainly don’t want to downplay his importance to Catholics. But Catholics also believe that Jesus is the head of the church. I take your broader point that Protestants feel we all stand equal before the eyes of God. And Catholics clearly have a hierarchy that most protestants (except Episcopalians) do not have. But Catholics do not worship the pope. Jesus is still the boss. One might say he is the head of the church- but that is not any of the pope’s many official titles. It is just a shorthand way of saying he is the boss.
very thoughtful post btw
I find it very interesting that there are many similarities in worshiping god and worshiping football. During football season my father cares more about if he will miss sunday night football than he woul if he would miss a religious activity. My family isn’t really religious so I don’t have much to compare it to. We worship football more than we worship whatever god/gods may or may not be out there. We also dont do many things together as a family. Both my parents work so we usually dont have dinner all of us at the same time, but every Sunday you’ll hear us yelling at the refs for making a bad call. Many people will wear a garment that has a religious symbol on it (i.e. a necklace written in hebrew) so they feel more connected to their religion or to start a conversation. Same goes with sports apparel.
The thing that most interested me from the reading was the idea that pope Francis is not only a pope, but a world leader. He makes a difference beyond Catholicism. He makes an impact on things like gay marriage, and the controversy of abortion. He shows more than kindness to whoever he can. I heard he went to a prison, and washed the prisoners feet. It’s amazing, and kind of a miracle. The world is not in a great place right now, and a world leader like that can make a huge difference. I really hope he can help turn stuff around so the world can be in a better state.
When I first started reading my articles for Pope Francis, I was in disbelief that people were mad at him for telling them to practically save the earth.I was like “why in the world would anybody not want to save the world practically, by just putting a bottle in a different trashbin”. It just made no sense that people were upset at him. When I heard that the pope doesn’t like judging people like when he said who am I to judge, I thought that that was a really big change in the Catholic Church. I think it was a big change because originally when people would go on March is to stop gay marriage say God says that gay marriage is unorthodox or something like that. What is the marriage going to do to you, what has it done to you that hurt you so badly.
Having a pope that is able to be sensitive to wordly topics like same sex marriage and abortions is wonder. I really love chocolate cookies, especially the huge ones. Pope Francis making an impact could change the lives of millions of Catholics who are shut out because of their sexuality. It’s history in the making. Pope Francis has given hope to hundreds of thousands who felt like they were shut out because of their sexuality and sort of “let them back in” after they’ve been shunned for so long. Besides making people feel welomed, he’s also erased the stereotype that Christians and Catholics are homophobic and don’t tolerate abortion.
I love chocolate cookies too! I like following your train of thought.
Personally, I like most of the things Pope Francis has done, but there are a few things I disagree with. I really like his humility, which almost all popes in the past lacked. According to the Bible, people are supposed to be humble. This pope does a better job of following the Bible than many other popes. When he said “Who am I to judge,” that was reflecting the passage from the Bible you mentioned in class, but he is the head of the Catholic Church. His job is to judge whether or not things like same sex marriage or abortion should be allowed or not. I’m protestant, so I believe that Jesus is the head of the Church, not the pope, and Christians should use the Bible to determine our opinion of those issues. Overall, I like this pope much more than previous ones, but I think he should be more involved with all of the issues the world is facing.
One other reply… I think his point of “Who am I to judge,” speaks to his different view on what is important. He doesn’t want to single out being gay as the worst thing ever as seemingly most other popes have. He has come out very strongly against same sex marriage, however. But that’s different than saying he isn’t going to judge gays. Super post by, the way!
Pope Francis is a very innovative pope of our generation. His views differ from previous popes and gives the Catholic Church and religion a more welcoming aura. His teachings are very similar to Jesus Christ’s teachings. He teaches people to love one another, help the weak, and he doesn’t condemn individuals for their personal sins. Pope Francis does not forsake people who’s lifestyles go against Catholicism, instead he excepts and helps them. The popes visit in Philadelphia was a city wide phenomenon. Honestly, Pope Francis is not only looked upon as a religious leader but also as a world leader.
The thing that is interesting about the pope is how he is very involved in todays community. Like, knowing about gay marriage, being gay exc. He is also a very inspiring person because he also cares about children, he plays with them and he also has showed much love toward them. Pope Francis to me is both a religious leader and a world wide leader because him to is very openminded and aware of the situations going on in our world.
I think it’s interesting how compassionate he is. I think we have a tendency to see public and important figures as something other than human, and I think there is a lot about him that makes him much more humble. I think people see him as understanding both sides of many controversial issues. As we know, he responded to a question about gay marriage by saying, “Who am I to judge?”, which I think is really special because I think he is showing although the Catholic church has one opinion, he can still have his own and represent himself as an indiviual as well. This is also a great example for young people who are Catholic but may not believe in all parts of the religion. By still representing what he believes, it shows people that they can be Catholic and have their own beliefs. I think this was part of why having him in Philadelphia was so exciting to me.
Sorry the last sentence should say “I think this is why having him in Philadelphia was so exciting to many.”
I think that Pope Francis is really changing the ways of being a pope. He has very different views and has said some things that I can certainly agree with. Although I’ve heard that in D.C. Pope Francis gave some mixed vibes on same sex marriage, he still has said in the past about the topic, “Who am I to judge.” This quote is what I mean when I say he is changing the way of “Popeing.” He also is coming to Philly and sleeping about 2 minutes from school which is pretty awesome. I think that his ways of belief and messages that he gives can be related to and well liked. I read somewhere that he is really more focused on the bigger picture. Not about individual people or himself, but more about how we can all respect each other as humans. I think that this is a great message and one that should be seriously thought about by every person on the planet earth.
Before this year I didn’t keep up to date with the last few popes. Something about Pope Francis is different and unique. I admire his open mindedness in some situations where the Catholic church would have disapproved. I think it is especially important that we take time to acknowledge the fact that the pope is trying to genuinely make the world a better place by not judging others by their differences. I definitely agree to the statement in one of the articles that said “I believe he’s a world leader more than a religious leader,”. This stood out to me because Pope Francis is the first pope to ever care about more than just what the catholic church feels is right.
I found that everyone was very engaged in the website discussion and took it seriously. Me being catholic, I feel Pope Francis’s views are very promising and relieving. Originally Catholics are against gay marriage and other subjects but Pope Francis says whom am I to judge , which is a step in the right direction. Francis talked to congress about immigration and environmentally issues , saying that they are immediate issues that have to be addressed. I was glad that my classmates who where not Catholic felt that Pope Francis is a good role model and world leader. Religion is a touchy subject and I recognized that the question of how religious you were would cause controversy. For example if you are a atheist why tell someone who believes in God that religion is a lie. It will only leave someone very upset and hurt. I felt the class needed to respect others views while not contradicting them openly.
Personally, I do not care that much about pope Francis coming to Philadelphia, even though I am Christian, but I understand why it is a big deal. Pope Francis is different from the other popes befor him. He cares about the environment and the views of many Catholics that only agreed on some of the things supported by the pope. He is willing to touch people and does not want much security. People are freaking out over his arrival because he is so popular. Philadelphia is even shutting down over him. People were ready to hear his statement to be made. He even attracts people to catholism who arent religious because of his behavior. Pope Francis is just a special Pope.
I have recently rebeled against the one thing that’s been the mantra of parents around the world. I talked to a stranger, not only did I talk to a stranger, I debated and discussed with a stranger. The pope is not only a hot topic, but a great conversation starter. The dialogue between us started with him asking if the city was back in order after the papal visit, and led to whether a deep discussion of this ‘new, modern’ pope was.
‘What is the pope actually doing for people?’ he asked, turning back towards me.
‘Nothing tangible.’ I replied, and with that he laughed. He seemed to disagree with the pope’s wishy-washy indirect views on things like sexuality. He defended that point with the fact that he’s put in a position where people look to him for spiritual guidance and isn’t actually doing his job in a way. His views, or lack thereof are the way they are to appeal to the majorities. and it’s working. I’m quite indifferent to the pope and his beliefs, but it’s nice to have a religious leader who isn’t going around spreading indirect hate and unacceptance, and is instead focused on bringing people together as opposed to exclusion based on attributes.
Sounds like a very deep conversation with a stranger!