Indulge me

[webofevil]

You know, it’s all too easy for us secular types to be cynical about religion, but it’s time we acknowledged that institutions can change with the times. No longer, for example, is the Catholic Church simply a repository of unbridled wealth and power maintained by peddling ridiculous superstitions to the credulous and vulnerable. Twenty-first-century faith is a sophisticated lifestyle choice, a rational sober decision, an intelligent response to the moral dilemmas and deeper questions posed by a complex world that—oh look, they’re giving away papal indulgences again. It’s a limited offer: get yourself to Lourdes some time in the next year and knock off some of the time you’re due to spend in purgatory. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of a young girl hallucinating an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you have an unrivalled opportunity to triumph over the Catholic Church’s cosmology thanks to the pope’s magic powers! Distance yourself from the horrific sadistic tortures of Hell dreamt up by weird ascetic medieval monks! Only the Church’s special blend of spells and incantations can preserve your eternal soul!

Sorry, where was I?


Remarkably, I have not photoshopped this picture. That is his nibs’s actual hat.

Comments

[lifesizemonkey.livejournal.com]

I think he looks cool, as if he could be a father of of one of "Three Amigos" in "Three Amigos: 2".

[sleeperesque.livejournal.com]

He looks like a 50 year old heroin addict to me. I reckon he pulls the hat off nicely, though.

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

Gosh, it's *years* since I had an indulgence. Or rather, encountered them. I was very amused that the church at the local friary had ancient prayerbooks (pre-Vatican II) which listed how many years off Purgatory you could get for someone there.

Best of all, I first encountered them when we were doing the Reformation in history at school...

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Papal indulgences? What a load of superstitious nonsense! I'm going to get me a hug.

-x-

[monkeyssk8.livejournal.com]

ah ha ha ha classic! I'm so glad I'm going to Rome on Sunday, hopefully we can hang out? Can you arrange that?

[uitlander]

Sounds like a load of Papal Bull to me;-)