posted
I am Jewish by ethnicity and Agnostic by practice (That would be <a href="http://www.answers.com/agnostic&r=67">Agnostic</a> in the true sense of the word, not the typical misuse), so I would say that even more so than OSC, I had no ingrained reason to respect or honor Pope John Paul. Nevertheless, I was grieved by his death for some of the same reasons, and found his essay moving and powerful. Thanks to OSC for cutting through, to a degree, the journalistic nonsense surrounding his legacy and writing a hearfelt tribute from a man nominally on the outside of the Pope's constituancy.
The Pope never tried to speak for me, a member of the Church of the Unbeliever (in my defence Mr. Card, as the son of a contemporary composer, I have nothing but respect and awe for the most beautiful works of religious music...but "Mass for the Faithless,"...I'll have to talk to my father about it, and see what he can do. ). Nevertheless, I felt he was a champion of decency in a religion whose past is marred by dark deeds. He adeptly brought the Church in to the new century, and I hope that the next Pope will continue to build on his legacy.
Thank you Mr. Card for saying, more eloquently, what I have been longing to express.
Posts: 61 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
I'm glad to know that he meant something to a member of the Church of the Faithless, too <grin>. And see if your father will write that piece - I want to hear it!
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Okay, I'll let you know! I've got to go check you esssay to see if it was the Church of the Unbeliever and the Mass for the Faithless or the Church of the Faithless and the Mass for the Unbeliever. Anyway, that'll be the title.
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Found it! "Mass for the Faithless". Any way we can get a commission going here? Pass arount a collection plate?
Posts: 61 | Registered: Jan 2005
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He's a student of Olivier Messiaen (La Nativité, Quartet for the End of Time), so he thought it would be particularly ironic.
Hmmm..."Mass for the Unthanked Volunteer"...I guess that's why Mahler never wrote anything for the Mormons. (I know, I wouldn't want that guy writing anything for MY religion either!)
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posted
Whoops! I suggested the concept to my Dad, and he told me that it had already been taken: A Mass of Life by Frederick Delius fits the bill almost exactly.
posted
I also want to extend my thanks to OSC, I am not a Catholic, but rather just your basic southern Protestant (at least for me I'm standard- I'm a fifth generation Nazarene on both sides of my family- so everyone else in my family is too. Naz's are like a more conservative Methodist.) However, I truly do think we lost a great person on that day, and I mourned for him- mostly in the fact that who will be a better fighter for the faith who has to take his place?
Posts: 30 | Registered: Feb 2005
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The idea had already been "taken"? You mean, the unbelievers are such a limited group that they can have only ONE mass? While Catholics get literally thousands? It seems a cheat to me. Discrimination, surely.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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As for the "fighter for the faith" to take his place ... he wasn't the only one, just the most prominent. Maybe some of the rest of us, in his absence, will have to stop coasting and speak up for ourselves.
It's sad - the Establishment PC Left, who already dominate the media and the universities, are still crying about the dangers of the "religious right"; but the religious right is actually in full retreat, with few people being willing to raise their heads and speak up, because they are instantly branded as homophobic or misogynist or some other kind of bigot, and their views are dismissed as "trying to force your religion on others," while the PC Left never sees that they are, of course, trying to force THEIR religion on everybody.
You have to be willing to take a lot of heat, and in a way the Pope was insulated from that - he was always surrounded by people who pretty much agreed with him or at least recognized his right to say whatever he said.
But if you believed in his message to the world, or any part of it, then isn't it your obligation, now that he's not here as point man, to pick up the banner off the battlefield and move forward into the fray? Even knowing that you will instantly become a target for the enemy's barbs?
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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quote: There is no Mass for the Faithless to be set to music.
Because of my typically contrarian nature, I just wanted to make sure that that wasn't the literal truth. As long as there is at least one "Mass for the Faithless," it doens't seem like Atheists are so drastically underrepresented. If it had turned out that your comment had been correct, then it would have been important that somebody write one.
Mr. Card, you have to understand that, to someone who considers himself a member of "The Left" (although anything but PC), it seems like nothing is farther from the truth than the idea that The Left is in control and the Right is in retreat. It seems to me that people on both sides feel that their parties are being too cautious. Nevertheless, the Right has taken control of the executive branch and the legislature, and through judicial appointments may eventually control the courts as well. For that reason, I think there is more reason to believe that The Left is "in retreat," or has at least failed in their advance. With "The O'Riley" factor being the single highest rated show on cable TV, I have to doubt your assertion that "The Left" controls the media. I certainly don't feel that way reading the news or watching TV. If there is a massive Pinko Liberal Commie Wacko conspiracy, I think it's a massive failure. Posts: 61 | Registered: Jan 2005
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). Nevertheless, I felt he was a champion of decency in a religion whose past is marred by dark deeds. He adeptly brought the Church in to the new century, and I hope that the next Pope will continue to build on his legacy. 
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