Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408270033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cody Lowe
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"All I ask is that you treat me no differently than you would treat the pope."
It's a great line, attributed (we think) to Madonna. Not the virgin. The singer/songwriter/actress.
It is one of those pithy aphorisms whose truths tousle your hair, rather than bashing your skull.
At some levels of understanding the statement is absurd, particularly if you venerate the pope as full apostolic successor to St. Peter.
For instance, most of us probably don't really want others to believe - even occasionally - that we're infallible. Far too much of a burden.
We also probably would prefer to be able to quaff a beer in anonymity at a local restaurant without adoring crowds prostrate at our feet and slobbering over our ringed fingers.
We might get tired of the exclusive company of men all the time. (I'm not sure about Madonna's position on that, but I take it from her writings and videos that she would.)
At other levels, we WOULD like to be treated papally.
We all like a little deference now and then. Courtesy. Respect. Attention.
We'd like to be treated as if we were special, even - perhaps particularly - when we don't feel very special.
Some of us think we want a sort of reversed "Golden Rule" - "Do unto me as you would have me do unto you."
I'm not sure I'd really mean that, though, since I might not be able to live up to it. That's one of the secrets about the "treat me like the pope" line. If we think about it, we notice that the pope doesn't have the same obligations we do in terms of reciprocal behavior.
If we stand before a pope, any pope, we are expected to be respectful, meek, humbled. He, on the other hand, is NOT expected to meet the full range of normal courtesies in return.
Oh, a pope cannot in these days be overtly vicious or mean, but like any person in a regal position, he may refuse to speak with me because he is so busy or simply because he doesn't associate with my kind. He is free to chastise a supplicant for whatever he defines as moral failure. He will not be expected to make polite chitchat just because someone is in the same room. If you are a Roman Catholic, he might demand your presence at audience - even if he couldn't actually enforce your attendance.
Most of us wouldn't be able to get away with that. We pretty much have to follow the "Golden Rule" as originally written: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
What's really at the heart of the "treat me as you would the pope" sentiment is a desire for ethical treatment by our neighbors. It's funny because it twists the "Golden Rule" a bit. But when it is stripped of other nuance, we know that most people would be nice, or at the very least polite, to the pope.
And we all believe we deserve that, too.
|n n| Final reminder, if you are thinking about sending in a response to last week's column about positive trends in our culture, you need to get them to me by Tuesday morning, c/o The Back Pew, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
by CNB