Selective Ambiguity

Pharisees: "By what authority are you doing these things? Answer us. Because clarity."

Jesus: "First tell me, what was the authority of John's baptism? Because clarity."

Pharisees (after holding a conference): "We do not know. Because purity. Woe betide, we live in times of such confusion and ambiguity!"

Jesus: "Well then, I won't answer your dubia."

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Neo-Pharisees: "By what authority are you saying these things? Answer our questions, which preemptively reject and implicitly skew your teachings. Because clarity."

Pope Francis: "First tell me, what's the authority of the teachings of my predecessors and the last council? Because clarity."

Neo-Pharisees (after holding a conference): "We do not know. Because restoration. Woe betide, we live in times of such confusion and ambiguity! Oh why won't you respect your office as much as we respect it!? Because trad!"

Pope Francis: "Well then, I've the peripheries to attend to. Because the Church. I can see you have your own answers (which are sadly erroneous, schismatic and fundamentalist) and I won't sit around watching you feast on your own dubia. That would be enabling. I give you over to the Lord's great mercy, and time to get a move on! Ah, look there, that young lady Greta is giving great witness to the church's ecological teachings!..."