Marvin X on the Pope’s Interview or Papa’s Got a brand new bag!
The recent interview with Pope Francis, not only reveals a man attempting to escape the box of narrow minded religiosity and primitive mythology and ritual, but his exercise must be attempted by all those suffering from reactionary and conservative religiosity, no matter what religion and ideology that cannot escape the coming of radical spirituality that forces us to deal with present reality and cast much of what we hold true into the dustbin of history.
The Pope tried by every linguistic trick available to make that great leap forward into the now and the future, to downplay the superficial held sacred by those professing religiosity, those steeped in tradition and prepared for martyrdom to maintain what for them is reality but, in truth, is simple mythology.
For his attempt to escape the box, he is called liberal and/or radical, and for sure when one attempts to transcend tradition, by definition his conservative nature becomes highly questionable and he therefore must tip through the tulips because the conservatives see him coming and smell something afoul, something is very very wrong when one struggles to transcend tradition yet is duty bound to maintain traditional canons and values. Again, his attempt must now be attempted by all those seeking to go Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality (Marvin X, 2007), no matter what faith, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Yoruba, et al.
Pope Francis tells us not to be overly concerned about things that are in flux, for things must change. The church had to change its views on science, on slavery, and now must confront the issues of the day. The question is the same for the people as for the Pope, to jump or not jump out of the box, whether to cast the superficial into the dustbin of history and move history forward into the now and the future.
There was some mention of him supporting the persecution of liberation theologists, yet it is clear their support of the poor does not escape him. For sure some may find his comments closer to liberation theology than conservatism. He stated the essence of the spiritual man/woman is not gender specific but a matter of one’s spiritual essence, and who can know this but God Himself/Herself.
Not only must Pope Francis change, but we all must remove that superficial persona and get to the deep structure of the soul in attempting to follow our bliss Joseph Campbell told us about.
--Marvin X
9/21/13