Posted by
KsReaganite on Monday, January 15, 2007 2:09:31 AM
Far be it from me to criticize the Pope. Nonetheless his call for migrants to ‘respect’ the norms of their hosts is rather puzzling. I certainly hope that he means respecting the laws and regulations of host societies rather than cultural norms. Immigrants, like all others in a society, are honor bound to protect that society and obey its duly promulgated laws. Societal customs, however, are a different matter and the Holy Father is arguably the most cognizant individual about this phenomena. For if the migrants in Western Europe coming from Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and North Africa were to follow the cultural norms of their hosts, whatever is left of faith and family in France and Britain and Germany and Denmark would be long gone.
Does the Pope want migrants to adopt the Western European cultural norms of rampant tax-payer funded infanticide, subsidized drugs and prostitution, celebratory homosexuality, and widespread promiscuity? Does he want Latino immigrants in the US and Canada to pick up the prevailing culture of North America which holds adultery and destruction of families is something to be not only tolerated but considered an ‘alternative lifestyle choice’?
I would have much rather wished that the Bishop of Rome had clarified his point and insisted that migrants to formerly Christian countries of Europe and America put their values and faith to work towards renewing the embattled Judeao-Christian heritage of their new homes. Frankly I am much more comfortable in the culture of an El Paso barrio than the hedonistic pagan atmosphere of Boston where a Catholic has to check with the ACLU and NOW before admitting to being a Catholic.