Pope Francis gave his usual rant yesterday about the evils of capitalism, advanced civilization and material well-being.
“For many people, life’s meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive,” the Pope said.
Hey Pope Francis: Why don’t you go live in a hut, without heat, air conditioning or comfortable clothes, cars and planes? You hypocritical Communist.
Oh, and by the way: Merry Christmas! 🙂
The Pope appeals to the worst within people — the frightened part. The part that feels like, “I’m not good enough to cope and survive. I’m not deserving of happiness.”
You have to wonder: Does somebody who WANTS or NEEDS you to feel that way have your best interests at heart? Or is he more of a psychological sadist?
In the spirit of the opposite of what the Pope has to say, I’d like to wish all decent, well-meaning, self-responsible and productive people Happy Unearned Guilt Day.
Don’t feel regret or remorse for your achievements. Don’t lose sight of what you may yet achieve. Don’t succumb to envy, as the Pope encourages, because envy means hatred of success and achievement. If you train yourself to hate another’s capacity for success, you will ultimately hate your own.
If you respond to the best within yourself, then you’re worthy enough to embrace life fully, experience and accomplish whatever you wish, so long as you respect and honor the equal right of others to do the same. Your property belongs to yourself, you did earn it, you did build it, and nobody has a right to moralize or condemn you for taking pride and ownership of that fact.
People who wish to bring you down psychologically, like Pope Francis, will tell you: “Who are YOU to be happy? Who are YOU to treat your life as the sovereign possession that it is? Self-interest is selfishness, and therefore bad. Don’t be happy; suffer. Go with what I demand of you, not yourself.”
If there’s such a thing as emotional abuse, this is surely it.
Rationally speaking: Your most sacred responsibility is to yourself. After all, you’re all you’ve got. Without you, your life is meaningless and off course. Even if you opt to live for significant others such as your children, or even for society in general, without self-care and self-responsibility nobody will enjoy what you have to offer. It’s totally up to you to make your life purposeful, happy and productive. Nobody else can or will do it for you.
Don’t listen to the Pope or his petty equivalents in your families, local communities, governments or anywhere else. You DO build what’s important in your life — materially and non-materially — and it’s truly yours to celebrate, embrace and enjoy.
Merry Christmas!
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