Pope offers indulgences for following him on Twitter

person

In its latest attempt to keep up with the times the Vatican has married one of its oldest traditions to the world of social media by offering "indulgences" to followers of Pope Francis' tweets.

The church's granted indulgences reduce the time Catholics believe they will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/16/vatican-indulgences-pope-francis-tweets

In an effort to keep up the Dalai Lama has offered people who follow him on Twitter their next life as Richard Gere.

lamaramadingdong

I'm selling "Get out of Hell" cards for $25. Contact me here.

Shigo

......

Thats about all I have to say

SillyPutty

I'm holding out for an offer of being canonized if I'm the 3rd millionth follower.

riverflow

Meanwhile, Martin Luther hacks into the Vatican's blog and posts his 95 Theses.

genkaku

I'm selling "Get out of Hell" cards for $25. Contact me here.

@lamaramadingdong -- Are those the same cards being discounted at Amazon?

person

riverflow said:

Meanwhile, Martin Luther hacks into the Vatican's blog and posts his 95 Theses.

All those years of Lutheran catechism have finally paid off, I got that joke.

lobster

Be kind guys, you could be reborn in the hell realms or worse . . . Pontiff! :rarr:

Metta to all twitterati . . .

vinlyn

Yes, it's very easy to criticize the indulgence things being advocated by the Catholic Church right now.

So, shall we all go down to the local Theravadan temple and have a monk tie a string around our wrist to protect us?

betaboy

riverflow said:

Meanwhile, Martin Luther hacks into the Vatican's blog and posts his 95 Theses.

That, my reprobate, was predestined.
-Calvin

Shigo

vinlyn said:

Yes, it's very easy to criticize the indulgence things being advocated by the Catholic Church right now.

So, shall we all go down to the local Theravadan temple and have a monk tie a string around our wrist to protect us?

I think there's a big difference between "protection " and "saving". At the same time it's almost as silly to think one can eliminate bad karma with saying mantras like the mahayana.

Florian

Good grief. It's hard to know what to say in the face of such madness. Sometimes Papal Catholicism seems like a perfect example of 'group-think'.

karmablues

Shigo said:

At the same time it's almost as silly to think one can eliminate bad karma with saying mantras like the mahayana.

My understanding is that according to Mahayana sutras, the essence of eliminating bad karma lies in the act of repentance as well as (in some cases) performing good deeds. I think practices such as chanting sutras or mantras are supposed to be seen as supplementary remedial actions which serve to produce good karma in order to dilute negative karma. But the essence is in repentance. This was discussed here a few weeks ago in a previous thread you'll find at this link.

Shigo

karmablues said:

Shigo said:

At the same time it's almost as silly to think one can eliminate bad karma with saying mantras like the mahayana.

My understanding is that according to Mahayana sutras, the essence of eliminating bad karma lies in the act of repentance as well as (in some cases) performing good deeds. I think practices such as chanting sutras or mantras are supposed to be seen as supplementary remedial actions which serve to produce good karma in order to dilute negative karma. But the essence is in repentance. This was discussed here a few weeks ago in a previous thread you'll find at this link.

Much like the Buddha asking if you put a cube of salt in the river will you taste salty water? If Im making a good connection here then I now understand. Oddly enough I say mantras, I just wasn't sure how they could affect bad karma, for lack of better words.
Thanks for the information.

genkaku

Roman Catholic indulgences on Twitter was my favorite Vatican gob-stopper until I received this in the mail recently. Talk about mind-boggling!

riverflow

genkaku said:

Roman Catholic indulgences on Twitter was my favorite Vatican gob-stopper until I received this in the mail recently. Talk about mind-boggling!

Wow, what a Catch-22. Disappointing, but sadly not surprising.

riverflow

The Yahoo story: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-criminalizes-leaks-sex-abuse-first-laws-122255811.html

(not sure what to think of the "Damaso Times"-- it appears they have an axe to grind)

genkaku

I agree with you, @riverflow ... AP's ax is less in evidence. But the substance seems pretty much the same.

adventuress

riverflow said:

Meanwhile, Martin Luther hacks into the Vatican's blog and posts his 95 Theses.

Heh.

footiam

Next, people could confess their sins online.

person

footiam said:

Next, people could confess their sins online.

Ask and ye shall receive.

http://www.absolution-online.com/confessional/

http://www.theconfessor.co.uk/

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/13/online.confessions/

riverflow

person said:

footiam said:

Next, people could confess their sins online.

Ask and ye shall receive.

http://www.absolution-online.com/confessional/

THX1138 immediately came to my mind:



[LINK]

Jainarayan

person said:

In an effort to keep up the Dalai Lama has offered people who follow him on Twitter their next life as Richard Gere.

I'd rather be Chris Evans. But not Steven Segal... oh gods! not Steven Segal! :eek: