I’m going to curse a bit, so, if you mind, you might want to skip this one.
What the FUCK?
First, why is this man speaking, let alone speaking on behalf of one of the most populous organizations in the world? Second, why is anyone listening to him? Why are we giving him the attention and quite often the deference he so craves?
This is a follow-up to my post on If the Pope Changes His Mind…
Here are some updates regarding how the Pope is an idiot, and how, despite that fact, he’s still “in charge,” and the media keeps giving him attention and, indirectly, credence:
UPDATE: More evidence and support of my notion that people rely way too heavily (which is any at all) on what the Vatican has to say has been cited by PZ Myers on Pharyngula:
Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 17 years, and her family has finally won the battle to take her off life support. Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi consulted with the Vatican to impose an emergency decree blocking the suspension of life support, based on the excuse that she is “in the condition to have babies.”
This is a great example of why religion should not be respected by law, and how people still view the Vatican and Pope as some supreme authority on morality and other issues.
UPDATE 2: Pope declares that condom use increases AIDS problem.
“You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”
That’s a classic Pope line. Even John Paul II thought similarly about sex. But what really pisses me off is that the richest church in the world, to which its members tithe 10% of their income, has this to say about the economic difficulties facing those members:
The pope also said Tuesday that he intends to make an appeal for “international solidarity” for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.
He said that while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give “spiritual and moral” suggestions.
Describing the current crisis as the consequence of “a deficit of ethics in economic structures,” the pope said: “It is here that the church can make a contribution.”
Fucking bullshit.
Common Sense Catholics need to get off their duffs and boycott this angry little man, and, in turn, perhaps the media will start ignoring him.
UPDATE 3: Vatican edits the Pope.
But yesterday the Vatican website published an edited text changing his words to say that the use of condoms “risks” aggravating the problem.
Reporters who taped the Italian-language interview said the Pope, who speaks fluent Italian, did not say the word “risks” on Tuesday and he was unequivocal in saying that condoms aggravate the epidemic.
Hell, in my previous article, I asked What if the Pope changes his mind? Today, I have to ask, What if the Vatican changes it for him?
Oh, how I would love to see the Catholic church dissolve in my lifetime.
Tags: Africa, AIDS, boycott, bullshit, Catholic, church, Eden, ethics, family, fuck, Law, minister, moral, Morality, plane, Pope, Religion, Science, sex, spirit, Vatican
Who gives a flying fuck about a cult that sacrifices its children for some imaginary nonsense about never really dying? Why don't Catholics just throw their children into volcanoes like the Mayans did? At least they'd be spared the sexual abuse….
Stupid fucking idiots, ALL of them…
This kind of throws all their pro-life views out the window, huh? I have never understood why they are so ignorant on this issue. I get their whole "let's not promote promiscuity" argument, but let's be
fucking realistic here!
It's a pro-my-definition-of-life view, as long as, in the end, I get all the money and make everyone do what I want.
It's a pro-my-definition-of-life view, as long as, in the end, I get all the money and make everyone do what I want.
With exploding populations stressing out the environment, bringing resource wars, and lethal health care issues – how in the world is a piece of latex the problem. Archaic and barbaric – completely unsympathetic organized religion strikes again. Keeping a population vulnerable keeps it susceptible to manipulation. Organized money grabbing, power seeking religious sects are the root cause of evil – worse than greed – they manipulate people once they get them to swallow the kool-aid. Spirituality requires compassion not inflexible rules. How out of touch can you get?
Paul Burke
Author-Journey Home
Well, since God made everything here for our consumption, as long as we don't insult God by killing our little unborn children, overpopulation, starvation, HIV, tornadoes, and other forms of God's loving wrath are A-OK, since we'll all be laughing in Heaven when it's all over.
Religion is the epitome of selfishness, for everything a religious person does in the name of religion or morality is fundamentally based on the desire to get to heaven, avoid hell, and to do those things in this life they are told will accomplish that goal. It's all one big CYA. They say morality comes only from God, but theirs is a tautological morality that inevitably leads them back to the "why" are they doing it being "To please God" and therefore "To get my arse into heaven." Greedy fucks.
just a continuation of the long held tradition of stupidity in Catholicism and Christianity in general.
I wonder if the pope, deep down, when he's alone in a dark room by himself, knows that he's a fraud and an asshole.
Just suggest via twitter alternative titles : "Pope prefers unprotected sex"
Hey guys, I’m late to the party, and in fact just randomly was linked to this discussion from an unrelated google search (I was actually looking for that Snatch quote where Harry’s telling people that he “can’t be giving him the asshole, can I?” – odd that it would bring up this page).
Anyhow, I’m not sure who would receive updates on a comment made on a blog entry from March, but if anybody sees the comment I’m leaving, I’d be interested in hearing anyone’s response.
What do you think about these comments from Ed Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Center at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5987155.ece
Oh, I pay attention to new comments on old posts!
You know, I did hear about those comments from Ed Green, and what I have to say about it is that if the Pope (an expert, I’m sure, at condom use) were to have quoted from a study in order to make a statement that our reliance on condoms may be potentially dangerous, then I’d have nothing to say in the matter. However, what the Pope did say came not from knowledge, not from scientific discovery, not even from ancient scripture (where does the bible talk about condoms?); he instead spoke from dogmatic blind ignorance backed by a desire to control.
If Hitler (yes, sorry to bring up Hitler) told the Jews to brush their teeth prior to heading to the “showers,” secretly because he wanted to put the Jews at ease, just because it’s a fact that brushing teeth is healthy doesn’t mean Hitler should get acknowledgment, praise, or respect for having said so. Neither should the Pope get any credit whatsoever for happening to be maybe right (when the facts are looked at in a certain light) when his intent was not to protect people from harm, but instead to presumably please his god while in reality just exerting control over the masses that fund the Catholic endeavor.
Thanks for the reply. So before you understood that the Pope was correct in his statement, you were as mad as your post suggests, presumably because you felt like he was idiotically wrong about some big deal worth being upset about. But then presented with information (that you were obviously not familiar with at the time of your post) that corroborates the Pope’s statements, the issue is as trivial as dental hygiene advice from Hitler?
And how do you know the Pope wasn’t speaking from an informed position? In your response you say “if [the pope] were to have quoted from a study… I’d have nothing to say…” Yet I don’t think this is true, because you didn’t take the time to familiarize yourself with available studies referenced by Dr. Green. Which is to say, your response and indignation were asinine and ignorant.
The Pope’s intent is not to improve lives. It is to force people to conform their lives to the Catholic dogma. That’s his job.
If Hitler gave dental hygiene advice, regardless of how good that advice is, it would be irrelevant. Not because he’s Hitler, but because he’s not a dental hygienist. The Pope is no expert on sexuality. Far from it. Probably about as far from it as you can get. The fact that a statement of his designed to promote Catholic doctrine also happened to be corroborated indirectly by a few studies (but not the sexual health field in general) is no reason whatsoever to treat the man as if he is in some way enlightened or correct, or worse, an authority on the matter who should be respected, admired, and more or less worshipped.
It doesn’t matter if I had memorized every study by Dr. Green. Wholly irrelevant. It’s not Dr. Green that I’m criticizing. It’s everyone who gives the Pope any modicum of respect for doing or saying anything, other than the mere fact that he has ascended to the throne of one of the most sexually repressed (and wealthiest) organizations the world has ever known.
I’m saying stop listening to the Pope on such matters. Hell, even if President Obama had said the exact thing the Pope did, I’d be criticizing Obama. Hell, I HAVE criticized Obama for a lot that he’s said and done. Politicians and preachers need to butt out of the realm of science and reason unless they plan on fully adopting science and reason as superior to superstition and pandering. And of course, if they did that, they wouldn’t be politicians or preachers.
I have frequented your blog before. The more I take in, the more I keep coming back!