The pope

[aumentou]

I don't know how catholics feel about the pope, but if I were them I'd probably feel the same as I currently feel about prince phillip. As in, he's not one of us and I'd like it if he'd fuck off. Or at least stop saying really stupid things.

Anyway, here's the pope, visiting the UK. So he's suggested atheism is linked to nazism. He also met the queen, and offered the hand of friendship to the whole of the UK. Well, except for all the atheists obviously. Meanwhile, it seems a little odd to me that the queen, the head of the church of england, should invite the head of the catholic church over. It seems to me that there have been a few wars between England and other countries because earlier popes called for them, so I'm thinking we're owed an apology.

And then he was given an assembly of children to celebrate catholic education. It could just be me, but the idea of putting a bunch of children in the same place as a guy who covers up for paedophile priests in order to celebrate the education that puts priests in a position to abuse seems... what's the word? Stupid? Sick? An invocation of Poe's law?

Two quotes:

(the pope knows "rather well what the Nazi ideology is about")

Well he would, being a nazi sympathiser.

(She [the queen] also praised the Catholic Church's "special contribution" to helping the poorest and most vulnerable around the world.)

The queen, being a staunch imperialist, does love it when catholic charities help spread AIDS amongst non-british people with their "no condoms" message. She's plotting the day we take over africa again. Either that or she's being sarcastic.

Comments

[grok-mctanys.livejournal.com]

Uh, which "Poole's Law" are you talking about? (This is the top hit for Google.)

[mr-s-face.livejournal.com]

Two letters out. Fixed now.

[rhino-neil.livejournal.com]

I think that having unprotected sex with multiple partners spreads Aids. I'm fairly sure the Catholic church's stance on this is monogamy, fidelity and for the unmarried abstinence. While you may disagree with their stance the church is in these countries with education and health care.

[mr-s-face.livejournal.com]

"No condoms, use abstinence!" is a wonderfully principled system and should work beautifully except for one little thing: Abstinence doesn't work because people don't abstain. And as long as catholics go preaching abstinence and tying their "assistance" to abstinence-only education, they're not really helping the problem.

[grok-mctanys.livejournal.com]

the Catholic church's stance on this is monogamy, fidelity and for the unmarried abstinence

And that's been working out so well for their priests, who you'd imagine to be more pious than average...

[delanthear.livejournal.com]

"Well he would, being a nazi sympathiser."

Er.. he is? Why do you say that?

[mr-s-face.livejournal.com]

Okay, it's fair to say that "sympathiser" isn't proved. Guy was in germany when he turned 14, and was conscripted into the hitler youth. His biographer says he was never very enthusiastic and ran away, but then, he wouldn't have an unsympathetic biographer. At 16 he was drafted into a luftwaffe anit-aircraft unit. His spin on this is that resistance was futile. But other people and in particular other christians did resist actively. So at best he's a coward who played along because he was too scared not to, and at worst he was a sympathiser.

[delanthear.livejournal.com]

I think you're stretching with sympathiser somewhat.

[narcisse-dei.livejournal.com]

Not having lived through Nazi Germany as a child whose family might be seriously affected by my actions, I personally wouldn't feel I have the right to call someone who did so a coward.

I'm inclined to judge the Catholic hierarchy on the way they behave now, not on the decisions that they made as children. Otherwise there's the risk of just looking petty.

[mr-s-face.livejournal.com]

It's a point I'd agree with if he were a private citizen. But he isn't. He's the head of (and hence moral guardian of) what's claimed to be the largest church in the world. He's also, by his own dogma, the self-appointed moral guardian of the entire planet (as gods representative on earth). That being the case, I'm inclined to be picky.