By
Dylan Hock
To live for nothing but the pursuit of riches is devil’s shit.
That’s what Pope Francis thinks,
only he puts it a little more… pope-ly. He calls it the “dung of the devil.”
Directly on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND9SjDPji9c
The American poet Ezra Pound used to call such folks “usurers” and wished “a condom full of black-beetles” upon them in his epic Cantos. Though the voice in any poem is not necessarily that of the poet’s, Pound’s radio broadcasts from Italy during WWII, alone, indicate a strong streak of agreement between the poet and the voice present in such segments of his cantos. It’s safe to say that Pound wouldn’t have minded a banker or two’s condoms filling with black-beetles from time to time.
But the pope calling all those Gordon Gekko’s of the world “devil’s poo” is still
good news. It’s still, at minimum, the theater of a gesture in the right
direction, right? Even Plato’s shadow on the cave wall is better than nothing when you’ve
never heard of the sun.
Papa Pope said:
“I would also say, and here I wish to be quite clear, as was St. John Paul II: I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.”
Now, here’s where the “theater of a gesture” becomes clear.
Notice – shockingly — despite the apology and begging of forgiveness, not one
gesture to restore what was stolen so long ago was offered.
Just, “We’re super sorry, and we hope you forgive us, that was a bad thing, but we’ll keep all your shit, still, thanks.” Forget the enormous irony that the church committed some of the most vile acts in history to get the wealth it has today. They’ve learned their lesson, and that was “Bad! Bad!”
Just, “We’re super sorry, and we hope you forgive us, that was a bad thing, but we’ll keep all your shit, still, thanks.” Forget the enormous irony that the church committed some of the most vile acts in history to get the wealth it has today. They’ve learned their lesson, and that was “Bad! Bad!”
Sadly, a pope offering even the theater of a gesture is an
improvement from any we’ve had in quite some time. So, there’s the sunny side
of your silver lining. And from the reception the pope seems to be receiving
worldwide, it appears we’ll still take it. Even pretending to make a solid
gesture can win you the hearts and adulation of the world, which in turn may
still yield some good yet.
Right?
Let’s hope so.
So far, it’s the best we’ve got.
Author Dylan Hock is a writer, former English professor and social activist. He is published
in a number of little magazines and has an essay on the muzzling of Ezra Pound
included in the anthology Star Power: The
Impact of Branded Celebrity. He is a contributing writer/editor for Addicting Info, If You Only News and Liberal America. He is also a
board member of The
James Jackson Museum of African American History and tech manager for the Ezra Pound Society. Follow him on Ello, Google+ and Twitter! You can also find
him on Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Instagram, Minds, YouTube, Goodreads, RebelMouse, and you can
Snapchat him your love and hate mail at dylanhock. To stay connected to a savvy
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