Spoing! Pope destroys irony meters wordlwide.

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/11/pope-francis-the-choice-to-not-have-children-is-selfish?CMP=fb_gu

A 78 year old celibate, whose church maintains a priesthood of celibates, as well as celibate monks and celibate nuns, thinks choosing not to have children is "selfish". This comes days after he said it's alright to smack children. Really, should anybody be taking advice on children from someone who has never and will never experience bringing one up? Meanwhile, over-population is still a huge problem in many parts of the world, including places with majority RC populations. This makes his statement not only ironic, but potentially the cause of much misery for children born into families who can't really afford to have them.

 

[Perspicuo]

He also said, previously, that it wasn't good to reproduce like bunnies either.

I'm glad he said that, we surely needed an annointed and spirit-driven pontifex maximus to inform us of such arcane fact.

 

[PyramidHead]

Ugh, just when I start to kinda like the guy for other things he says. No, Francis, not having children is not selfish. It is perhaps the most humane act of omission a human being can perform, and procreation among the most selfish (in that it cannot possibly be done for the benefit of the child being born).

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

When it came to whether to have children, what some old celibate guy in Italy thought really never entered into my calculus.

Besides, how can not having children be selfish anyway. Having a child and then not spending the time to raise them would be selfish. What a stupid thing to say.

 

[PyramidHead]

When it came to whether to have children, what some old celibate guy in Italy thought really never entered into my calculus.

Besides, how can not having children be selfish anyway. Having a child and then not spending the time to raise them would be selfish. What a stupid thing to say.

I think the point is that we should be ashamed of enjoying our free time and extra money, when we could be using it on people who do not yet exist (and will never exist if we go on enjoying our free time and extra money).

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

When it came to whether to have children, what some old celibate guy in Italy thought really never entered into my calculus.

Besides, how can not having children be selfish anyway. Having a child and then not spending the time to raise them would be selfish. What a stupid thing to say.

I think the point is that we should be ashamed of enjoying our free time and extra money, when we could be using it on people who do not yet exist (and will never exist if we go on enjoying our free time and extra money).

Because you're supposed to give your free time and money to the church.

 

[Underseer]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/11/pope-francis-the-choice-to-not-have-children-is-selfish?CMP=fb_gu

A 78 year old celibate, whose church maintains a priesthood of celibates, as well as celibate monks and celibate nuns, thinks choosing not to have children is "selfish". This comes days after he said it's alright to smack children. Really, should anybody be taking advice on children from someone who has never and will never experience bringing one up? Meanwhile, over-population is still a huge problem in many parts of the world, including places with majority RC populations. This makes his statement not only ironic, but potentially the cause of much misery for children born into families who can't really afford to have them.

The world's major religions are in a baby race, and since religion is the source of all morality in the world, anything that increases the number of babies in your religion is automatically a good thing no matter the consequences.

 

[thebeave]

When it came to whether to have children, what some old celibate guy in Italy thought really never entered into my calculus.

Besides, how can not having children be selfish anyway. Having a child and then not spending the time to raise them would be selfish. What a stupid thing to say.

I think he's saying its selfish to not let those sperm join with the eggs and become a human. In essence, you have denied sperm a chance to live, albeit in a different form. Of course, there are about a hundred million sperm per load so you can't possibly give them all the gift of life, but at least you could help out a couple. That's something.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Well, to be fair his predecessor did the same thing. Frankie ought to have a couple kids to show us he's serious. There's got to be some horny young nuns around ready to do god's work.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

It's not selfish if you indoctrinate children in the religion!

 

[Keith&Co.]

But according to Jürgen Prochnow in the Demi Moore movie, there's a finite number of souls available for new babies and when they're gone, it'll be the apocalypse.
It's beyond selfish to have a kid if having that kid hastens the end of the world! It's like a suicide pact.

 

[PyramidHead]

He also missed a really good opportunity to endorse adoption. To actually improve the life of someone who is currently alive and in need of a family, instead of creating an additional mouth to feed. The argument would be a lot easier to make, since if you don't adopt, there exists a child somewhere who is conceivably worse off as a result. If you don't procreate, there is no child to begin with. In this way, procreation is akin to spilling a glass of orange juice. Somebody will need to clean it up, and if you're happy to do so, why not help clean up one of the millions of glasses of orange juice that have already been spilled, instead of deliberately spilling a new glass and adding to the mess?

 

[Underseer]

But according to Jürgen Prochnow in the Demi Moore movie, there's a finite number of souls available for new babies and when they're gone, it'll be the apocalypse.
It's beyond selfish to have a kid if having that kid hastens the end of the world! It's like a suicide pact.

You forget that ending the world and everyone in it is a good thing to Christians.

 

[Keith&Co.]

But the Christains in the movie were working really hard to avoid Ragnarok...

 

[Underseer]

But the Christains in the movie were working really hard to avoid Ragnarok...

Oh, well if it was an end of the world from the wrong religion, then it is reasonable that Christians would try to avoid ending the world. That movie sounds pretty realistic.

 

[Achwienichtig]

He also missed a really good opportunity to endorse adoption. To actually improve the life of someone who is currently alive and in need of a family, instead of creating an additional mouth to feed. The argument would be a lot easier to make, since if you don't adopt, there exists a child somewhere who is conceivably worse off as a result. If you don't procreate, there is no child to begin with. In this way, procreation is akin to spilling a glass of orange juice. Somebody will need to clean it up, and if you're happy to do so, why not help clean up one of the millions of glasses of orange juice that have already been spilled, instead of deliberately spilling a new glass and adding to the mess?

^^^This^^^

This is perhaps the one area in life where I actually think like a utilitarian. I have a hard time justifying having more children when there are plenty of children who need rescuing.

 

[Draconis]

If there's insufficient resources locally to support an extra child, then it is selfish. You'll have to pick someone else nearby to go without.