Is flying the Ameican Flag at half-staff for the Pope offensive to you?

[Clarkie1]

Poll question: Is flying the Ameican Flag at half-staff for the Pope offensive to you?

The Pope was a great man deserving of respect, but with all due respect to the Pope, I find flying the American Flag at half-staff for the Pope offensive (unless it is someone's personal flag, of course).

The flag has not been flying at half-staff every time one of our soldiers dies in Iraq. That flag stands for the principles of the American Constitution our fallen soldiers swore to protect and defend. Flying the flag at half-staff from government and public buildings for the Pope is blatent disrepect for those principles, in my opinion.

[enlightenment]

1. Yes, it should (for a limited time),

because he was a head-of-state as well as a religious leader. We've done it in the past for other heads-of-state (that we like). I don't necessarily disagree with your opinion, but I think we should try to be consistent.

[Clarkie1]

4. What other religious leaders have we done this for?

[mcscajun]

7. What other heads of state have we done this for?

I can't recall...

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. the exec order should have emphasized the HEAD OF STATE

bit, and it did not.

[Clarkie1]

18. For what heads of state have we flown the flag at half-staff

for this long a time?

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. None really

but we did for Churchill, a war time ally... but not for this long

As I said, they should have kept this as HEAD OF STATE, but quite on purpose they did not

[Clarkie1]

22. The Pope is a "head of state" in name only.

I mean really, technically the Vatican might be a "country," but let's look at this realistically.

[Radio_Lady]

2. Who was the last foreign religious leader for whom we did this??

I really don't remember.

[saracat]

26. Rabin ,Princess Di.

I seem to remember.

[oldcoot]

57. Princess Di?

She was not even a leader of a foreign country.

[saracat]

63. No, but I think the flag was at half mast.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Is it flying the flag at half nast

or is it Bush's proclaiming we should do such that offends you?

I get the impression it's the latter.

[Clarkie1]

9. It's the government proclaiming we should do such that offends me.

I'm not anti-catholic or anything. I think the Pope was a great man and religious leader. That's not the issue.

Flying the flag at half-staff should be reserved for the fallen and political leaders who serve the people, as well as national and world tragedies that affect great numbers of people. Not one man who is neither an American or a defender of our constitution.

[dogman]

5. I don't care one way or the other. What I have a problem with is

24/7, the Pope is dead, when 44 American soldiers died last week.

[Clarkie1]

13. And where were the flags at half-mast for them? n/t

[MrSlayer]

6. I'm not offended nor do I support it.

I'm indifferent.

[sendero]

35. Same here..

... I can think of some pretty good arguments for either side of the issue. I hate when that happens :)

[queeg]

8. As an athiest---no problem

I, as an Atheist, have no problem flying the flag at half staff for the (this) pope.

I would imagine the flags of many nations are at half staff as a secular sign of respect. --- It must be remembered that although he was a leader of a faith of 1/6th of the population of the planet, he was also an individual who through actions demonstrated an ideal that perhaps more people should understand and or emulate. He understood not only the dispair of national-socialism, but the grayness of communism and the crushing weight that unrestrained capitalism can place upon the poorest and weakest in society.

I wish only that some of the far right revelationists of this country understood that morals are everything you do and say rather than just picking and choosing what morals they will follow. I imagine that most of them will want to use this somehow to make money for themselves. They somehow believe that this man was one of them, and they are fools for it.

[Leilani]

10. Quite frankly, so much is offensive to me

about this administration, that's probably at the bottom of my list.

I'm more concerned with the war, the economy, the shrinking middle class, the poor getting poorer, etc. etc.

And I'm most concerned about our troops dying for a lie.

[MuseRider]

11. When did this happen?

I missed it. Our flags are already at half staff because a long time state supreme court justice died this week.

[yurbud]

12. It's like "In God we trust" on money

It's not going to make anyone more or less religious.

I was more offended by seeing pics of his corpse. He was in pretty bad shape before he died, so it wasn't doing him any favors to display him after.

I only care about the pope picking to see if they pick the African or Brazilian guy. Like reality TV only with ugly old guys in dresses.

[Clarkie1]

14. Something else about this bothers me.

Every human life is equally valuable, and this is too much for one human being.

Way too much.

In my eyes, it's saying other lives are of lesser value. And that is offensive.

[Leilani]

56. I read somewhere that TV News has been receiving

nasty mail regarding the "coverage" of the Pope...CNN & FOX were hearing plenty from disgruntled viewers.

I thought FOX fans would be in hog heaven.

[saskatoon]

61. lelaine---Hog heaven re the coverage of the pope

Silly person, they are all Fundamentalists no Catholic!

[NAO]

16. It's not offensive, but it is disturbing

I'm not all huffy and angry about it, like some x-tian fuming about x-mas.

But it does sort of disturb me.

It seems to be a dark foreboding of a theocracy on the horizon. The US Flag is a national symbol, it belongs in the political area; the Pope is a religious figure, he belongs in the spiritual arena.

I am not anti-religion per se, but I think it's been shown over and over again that when either politics or religion enters the others' sphere, the result is disastrous.

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. I was actually offended more by the display for Reagan....

...but only because it went on way too long.

[Clarkie1]

20. I agree that went on too long; but at least Reagan was a political leader.

The flag is a POLITICAL symbol.

The Pope is "head of state" in name only. He is a RELIGIOUS leader.

This is just too much for the religious leader of one religion. It makes it seem like that religion is the favored one, and diminishes the others. What about the separation of church and state?

[saracat]

27. The Pope is a political leader. He has a seat at the UN and has done more

for ME Peace than the Chimp. Popes have always been diplomats as well as religious leaders. And he is a world leader. like it or not. That is why all the other world leaders came to his funeral. They don't go to the funeral of anyone who "isn't" a world leader.

[Clarkie1]

66. He's a religious leader who parades as a political leader.

I realize the Pope has done great things for a lot of people in the world, but he is a religious leader primarily, not a political one.

[saracat]

69. Actually , as far as parading" goes, the Pope is a far

more legitimate"political leader" than the Chimp!:)

[Clarkie1]

70. Well, if you are going to use the Chimp as a basis of comparison.

I can't disagree!

[ellenfl]

53. my understanding is that each president choses his

funeral so you can blame that long drawn out waste of time on ronnie raygun himself . . . or more probably, mrs. raygun. i could have done without the revisionist history that whole week too.

ellen fl

[loveable liberal]

19. live and let live I always say n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

23. The Pope wasn't just a religious leader...He was Head of State...

...lest we forget.

The Vatican is a sovereign country, and the Pope it's leader in addition to millions of people around the world--including American-- who are Catholic.

I'm not a Catholic. I don't agree with even half of what they teach, but I believe it's just a sign of respect for a highly regarded, and respected man as the Pope, that the flag should hang half-staff.

[leesa]

48. There are very specific rules for flying the flag at half-staff and this

is not one of them. Did we fly it for the Lebanese PM killed recently?

[buckup]

24. uh...

Why would anybody be OFFENDED by that? I don't understand.

[leesa]

49. THINK about it a little bit. It won't hurt, I promise.

[lostinacause]

25. Yes, he was a head of state.

[Up2Late]

30. He's NOT flying it at half staff because he was head of state...

..."You know it, I know it, the American People know it..." Bob Dole

I'll agree with you as soon as I hear the Chimp make the announcement that we are going to be flying the Flag at half staff for the Prince of Monaco, who just died too. He WAS the head of State of a European Country almost the same size as the Vatican, until then, it just another lie.:grr:

[BlueManDude]

34. The flag flies at half staff to help W destroy social security

that's what it's all about.

[lostinacause]

42. Monaco???

Ok, a head of state of a relevant "country" that is a friendly “nation”.

[Up2Late]

43. What about the comparison do you NOT understand?

Monaco and Vatican City are nearly identical in all regards except for two things, the Prince of Monaco was the ruling Monarch of a small, very rich Country, and the Pope was the head of a very wealthy Church, who was also, technically the head of a tiny section of Rome referred to as the "City State of Vatican City".

Monaco IS an actual country, just like Liechtenstein, just like Andorra, and San Marino, as much as, if not more so that the "City State" of Vatican City.

I guess they haven't covered that subject on Fox "news" or Rush Limpbauh.

Get a clue Troll.:grr:

[lostinacause]

44. The political relevance of Monaco and the people who live

there is far less then that of the Vatican. I bet most people can't even point Monaco out on a map.

(Rush could hardly be defined as a talk show let alone news.

And regarding the troll comment: two major characteristics of a troll are name calling, rhetoric (such a comment on what type of news someone watches). In my short time on here I have not called anyone a name and have not posted rhetorical posts. I have put up with a major poster calling me stupid for "being wrong" when he/she was mistaken.

[leesa]

51. This is really a sick rationalization. So we only do friendly countries

and significant countries.

[lostinacause]

52. Why?

You wouldn't go to every furneral there is. Why should nations behave any differently?

[MollyStark]

28. Have we solved all the worlds problems then?

Who cares? Life is short and there are real problems to worry about.

[burrowowl]

29. As head of state

maybe (I was raised RC) but why not for Arafat?
It makes me nervous re separation of churh and state, it is hypocritical to me.
Fly it half-mast for the death of the republic!

[Poppyseedman]

37. but why not for Arafat?

You can't be serious?

[Eric Chamberlain]

31. If directed by the the US President

The flag can be half staff for individuals other than US citizens. In this case we are showing respect for a man who was dear and influential across the globe and, although I am not a Christian, myself, I feel it is appropriate and honorable.

[Skittles]

33. we don't consider that thieving, incompetent piece of SHIT

to be a real president

[borg5575]

58. Who is we?

Our Democrat Former President Clinton sure doesn't seem to mind going around with Bush. And now we hear that Clinton is giving Bush foreign policy advice. And BTW, "we" might not consider him president but try telling that to a judge if you break one of the laws that he signed into law.

[Skittles]

71. the word is DEMOCRATIC

but then, you already knew that

[Skittles]

32. how does a homophobe and misogynist deserve"great respect"

???

[borg5575]

59. Ask the millions who flooded the streets of Rome to pay tribute..

to him that question.

[Wabbajack]

36. I don't think the flag should ever been flown at half-mast

[KTM]

38. Not at all.

I'm a non-religious person, usually big on separation... but this doesnt bother me one bit.

[rodeodance]

39. it does not bother me one way or another. It is not a yes/no binary

response as indicted in the poll above.

[Totally Committed]

40. The flag should be at half-mast permanently...

until Bush's war in Iraq is over, and the last American or coalition soldier has died there. He won't attend their funerals, his representitive will not sign the fill-in-the-blanks condolence letters, so maybe a permanent half-mast???

TC

[stray cat]

41. England played our national anthem at the changing of the guard

I was extremely touched after 9-11 when England played the U.S. National Anthem at their changing of the guard. They did it as a sign of unity with our tragedy. There is a place for symbolism and respect for other nations. I think it was proper to pay respect to the passing of a pope.

[lostinacause]

45. I agree.

I hope it will happen more often.

[dhinojosa]

46. You said it better than I would've....

good job

[Clarkie1]

67. Do you realize how crazy the comparison you just made is?

To compare 9/11 to the passing of a 84 year old man who lived a good life is incomprehensible to me.

Was this "tragedy" unexpected? Of course not. A new Pope will be elected, the Church will go on.

Do you propose we do the same for the death of every Islamic Cleric, the Dalai Lama, Native American Shaman, ect?

[leesa]

47. Not offensive, just curious. Certainly he is a head of state, but we never

fly them for most heads of state. Wasn't the PM of Lebanon assasinated just a short while ago? Didn't see any half-mast flags for him.

Just more PR hype.

[HarrietBrown]

50. Yes--completely politically motivated and inappropriate.

[ginnyinWI]

54. The flag should be at half staff until our troops come home! n/t

[RevCheesehead]

55. It doesn't offend me personally; however, I'm a bit uncomfortable...

whenever religion and politics mix. To me, there is no doubt: the Pope is primarily a RELIGIOUS figure. He is also a global leader, but a leader in the Roman Catholic faith around the world.

It just makes be a bit squeamish.

[Blue Moon]

60. I'm more offended by people who burn the flag

than I am by a government decision to use the flag to honor someone deemed by many to have done a lot of good for the world.

[David Ippolito]

62. YES... it is inappropriate

Absolutely.

The Founding Fathers would be picketing in their graves.

[buckup]

64. It is completely appropriate...

Because he is, in a way, an international leader... There are Catholics not just here, but all over. If Pope John Paul II had told Catholics to "kill all the Muslims," then it might be a different story. But this man actually reached out to other religions. His Jewish friend was the Vatican's band director. And he met with leaders of other religions, including the Dali Llama. His leadership actually rises above political leadership, in some ways.

Isn't "offended" a strong word, anyway? Isn't "offended" usually used for more personal attacks, like, "Hey, you're ugly... and dumb.... and you reek of cheese." ?

[NoPasaran]

65. Your topic asks one question but your poll asks another

I don't think we should be flying our flags at half-staff for the Pope of Rome, but am I offended? After the last five years it barely registers on my outrage meter.

[Clarkie1]

68. In retrospect "improper" would have been better word choice perhaps n/t

[amjucsc]

72. If this is the most important thing we have to worry about...

Then, boy, George must have resigned! Why didn't somebody tell me?

If all seriousness, though, I don't find this to be important enough to justify much indignation. JP2 was a man of a magnitude sufficient to justify such a sign a respect, and thus I'll shrug it off.

[Radical Activist]

73. All human life has value.

If they put the flag at half-mast for a penniless bum who died on the street at night I wouldn't be offended.

But yes, the flag should be at half-mast every day because of the war in Iraq.

[Joe Chi Minh]

74. Here's a snippet

from an article I came across recently in the context of the Pope's funeral. I don't know if it was reported over there. I should have kept something of the context of my cutting, as it just mentions what uncle Fidel wrote or an extact from it.

"Rest in peace, indefatigable warrior for friendship between peoples, enemy of war and friend of the poor", he wrote. Your departure pains us and we fervently wish your example is lasting".

It sounds like the RC Church's Social Doctrine was certainly not as much of a secret under his pontificate as I had thought. We know he fought like mad against the war in Iraq. It was great to read such a clear-seeming indication of what seems to have been a genuine "rapprochement" and growing respect between those two great men.

Naaa... Must have been a mistaken. Must have been Jnr wrote it.

[gauguin57]

75. It does bother me, but ...

... when I think about his role in helping bring down the Soviet Empire ... he indirectly helped our country. Because during the eight years of the Clinton administration, we didn't have to be obsessing about the Iron Curtain threat -- and didn't have to be pouring all
the money into it that we used to.

Well, then Bush came along and got us into another war ...

Still, ordering flags at government buildings, etc., to be at half-staff for a specific religious leaders DOES give me the willies.