Pope Francis: Free expression doesn't mean right to insult others' faith

Well I can't say I'm surprised by his comment, but I still disagree. Ideologies cannot be exempt from criticism.

Completely agree with the Pope on this, I think he's possibly the best thing to happen to the modern Catholic Church. No-one in their right mind will justify the attacks on Charlie Hebdo or any terrorist attacks but the point does still stand, insulting and provoking entire religions is dangerous, not to mention hurtful to a lot of people.

Criticism is healthy to the development of beliefs within Humanity as a whole, creating resentment and hate through provocation is not.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/14/asia/philippines-pope-francis-visit/

Weighing in on last week's terror in France and the debate over freedom of expression it stirred, Pope Francis said en route to the Philippines that killing "in the name of God" is wrong, but it is also wrong to "provoke" people by belittling their religion.

...

If a friend "says a swear word against my mother, then a punch awaits him," Francis said. Vatican Radio reported that he then "gestured with a pretend punch" directed at the friend, Alberto Gasbarri -- an action that many journalists interpreted as a joke. Vatican spokesman Thomas Rosica later told CNN the remark was "spoken colloquially," adding the Pope wasn't advocating violence or in any way justifying the terror attacks.

Right after the punch gesture, Francis said, "It's normal, it's normal.

"One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith."

Muhammad PBUH was not an ideology, he was a human being that is adored by x billion people. If Charlie drew pictures of somebody you love as a monkey (as he depicted black people), would you applaud it in celebration of freedom of speech, knowing that millions of people can see it? And every time that person disagreed with you with a broken heart, would you reassure them saying ''hey, its freedom of speech, not racist at all'' ?

Freedom of speech has limits, for good reasons.

He has some nerve, I'll give him that. The Catholic church is depraved in so many ways; for it to have the audacity to talk about free speech after spending most of its existence persecuting people for their ideas and probably holding back the enlightenment by several centuries, is beyond belief.

Freedom of speech is one of the most important things we've ever discovered. The Poor has a right to say what he wants but are we really expected to believe he's infallible?

I did think he was an improvement on the old one but Catholic dogma does not die apparently. Maybe I was naive for thinking otherwise.

Historical Catholic abuse cases to the contrary because doubtless it still goes on and proportion is important in everything but did you hear about the Pastor who punched a child? No really! His justification was a religious one too...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/01/12/pastor-who-bragged-about-punching-a-kid-in-the-chest-apologizes-after-removing-all-sermon-videos-from-vimeo

Every organisation in the world is decided by its present, not its past. The Holy See, like Japan, is no exception

I'm not Christian, but I agree with him.

I agree with him.

He has done a lot of very cool things.

I'd agree with him if it were worded slightly differently. Free expression guarantees you the right to criticise and to mock whatever you wish, but just because you have the right to do this, it doesn't mean it's always the right thing to do, and it doesn't mean it's always the wise thing to do.