Just in time for Portugal’s lawmakers approving same-sex marriage, and today’s launch of the federal trial that puts on trial the ban on California’s gay marriage, comes new words from Pope Benedict XVI — who’s campaigned to make failed Nazi intervenor Pope Pius XII a saint — about how gay marriage is an attack on creation. Somebody needs to put these words to music.
In his annual diplomatic address on the state of world events (because popes deliver States of the Worlds, while presidents deliver State of the Unions), Benedict decried: “To carry our reflection further, we must remember that the problem of the environment is complex; one might compare it to a multifaceted prism. Creatures differ from one another and can be protected, or endangered, in different ways, as we know from daily experience. One such attack comes from laws or proposals which, in the name of fighting discrimination, strike at the biological basis of the difference between the sexes. I am thinking, for example, of certain countries in Europe or North and South America. … Yet freedom cannot be absolute, since man is not God, but the image of God, God’s creation. For man, the path to be taken cannot be determined by caprice or willfulness, but must rather correspond to the structure willed by the Creator.”
Entirely predictable? Certainly. But c’mon everyone, don’t you know what a difficult position the pope is in? He’s got to keep balanced the delicate power struggle between man, who wants to destroy the earth, and God, who created it — or we’re all doomed. So far, man is winning, yahoo!
terrwill
No. 1 · Jonathon: FYI: a site like this costs tens of
thousands of dollars to design and create. And there are substantialmonthly fees to the ISP which to the company which hosts it. Those banner ads are which keeps this site free to
those who view and post on the site. I actually consider it
a sign of progress that so many mainstream companies are
more than willing to have their products and services
associated with a site in which there is absolutley no
disputing as to the community it is target to. And you know
what? I actually got an excellent rate on a car rental
thru one of those ads………………..
Travis
The best thing the Pope could do it sell the Vatican and do something that would actually help instead of wasting his time spewing hate toward gay people.
Mike4102
They could sure give us our margins back, though.
bossito
Talking about Portugal, for those of you with twitter accounts, please sign this petition to press the president to sign the bill: http://act.ly/1ku thanks 😉
Cam
So i’d imagine that back a while ago this Pope would have been the type to have NOT wanted to apologize for the church arrest of Galileo because his theories went against church doctrine…well….they were wrong then, but of course this former Nazi can’t help repeating past mistakes can he?
Wen
Funny how the Pope says freedom is not absolute. If he would apply that to himself, then he’d understand his freedom isn’t absolute either. But were talking about religion which freedom is ofcourse absolute, silly me.
hyhybt
Wait, Yahoo! wants to destroy the world?
romeo
We’re part of the structure as created, so that old Nazi (literally) can just sit on it. He knows the tragic, unChristian consequences of his pronouncements. There is no excuse for what he is doing.
Fortunately, the Europeans saw enough of the ghastly hypocrisy of the Church during WWII not to be much impressed with anything coming out of the Vatican, or any other Church, these days. Catholic priests and nuns fought actively on the fascist side in their respective countries, and the Vatican helped many of the killers, both religious and civilian, avoid justice after the war. This old guy, with his own Nazi past, should never have been allowed to ascend to the papacy. What a disfunctional tragedy the Church has become.
Jeff K.
Someone should tell him about how man created God in his own image, not the other way around.
romeo
Also, the Vatican has tried to hype the story that the Pope was somehow “drafted” into the Hitler Youth when he was a teen-ager, but that’s crap. Membership was voluntary and considered an honor. Plenty of boys resisted on principle and did not join, and nothing happened to them. Read some of the history of that period. It’s not what you think it was. Disgusting and alarming, and proof that we must remain vigilant.
gay-kinda-sorta
Bah fuck! Cam, now you’ve gone and Godwin’d this all to shit…
JR
Everyone should throw on a red hoodie and file into St. Peter’s and freak this Nazi son of a bitch the fuck out! LOL!!! What a remnant of evil and a worthless piece of crap! There IS so much that needs to be corrected in this world and that IS an absolute truth, Mr. Bendmydick XVI… but no good can be done when you are continually infecting people with you poison and calling them to commit ugliness in ‘gods’ name! This crap fiesta needs to be in prison!
terrwill
At least when you looked at Previous Popes you could pretend there was some kindness and goodness somewhere inside them.
This guy from day one is the incarnation of pure evil. He
is nothing more than a bitter old nazi who still stews that
the final solution was not fully achieved. As a consolation
prize he figures he can direct his repressed hate towards the
Gays, wouldn’t suprise me in the least if it is discovered his minions have not been consultants in uganda……………………..
Robert, in NYC
If this idiot really believed in Jesus Christ, why hasn’t he done as he instructed? “Sell all you have and give to the poor if you want to follow me”. They’re all for banning contraception, yet don’t take any responsibility for the poverty caused by having too many children. A sick man in a sick cult. He has NO MORAL AUTHORITY judging others and needs to get his own filthy house in order after the recent molestation scandal that’s been going on for millenia. He and his cult are morally bankrupt.
Brian NJ
Wait until God puts him in hell for his bigotry.
1EqualityUSA
Operating from a different mindset. This is where phrases such as his come. For instance, from John 6:27 comes the verse,”Our Lord then told them: You should not work to earn food which perishes In the using, Work to earn food which affords, Continually, eternal life, Such food as the Son of Man will give you; God, the Father, has authorized Him.
Fulton Sheen wrote, in “Life of Christ”, “He was setting two kinds of bread before them: the bread that could perish, and the bread that could endure unto life everlasting. He cautioned them against following Him as a donkey following the master who holds a carrot. To lift their carnal minds to Eternal Food, He suggested that they seek the Heavenly Bread the Father authorized or sealed.”
If the Pope taught instead of ‘plotting’ around in political fields, he would not be so criticized. Transformation and recognition of spirit are purely volunteer. To force this mindset onto those choosing not to explore these concepts is coercive and less rewarding. Laws and the forces bringing them into being are of lesser value of the two kinds of rule. If one had faith in the Word, then the Word would be on the tongue relentlessly and singly. When concepts are understood by all, then all can participate in the discussion. Transformation has a greater chance of occurring if everyone is told in a way that sets itself apart from fairy tales. It’s possible to teach like this, if the will to do so is pulled by eternity. Break open the libraries and put those clusters of words out for all to read, even if it convicts the Church.
Erico
“While conservative churches are busy trying to whip up another round of culture wars over same-sex marriage, Rodriguez says the real reason for their panic lies elsewhere: the breakdown of the traditional heterosexual family and the shifting role of women in society and the church itself. As the American family fractures and the majority of women choose to live without men, churches are losing their grip on power and scapegoating gays and lesbians for their failures.”
“Churches are going after homosexuals as a way of insisting on their own propriety. They are insisting that they have a role to play in the general society as moral guardians, when what we have seen in the recent past is just the opposite. I mean, it’s one thing for the churches to insist on their right to define the sacrament of marriage for their own members. But it’s quite another for them to insist that they have a right to define the relationships of people outside their communities. That’s really what’s most troubling about Proposition 8. It was a deliberate civic intrusion by the churches.”
Read the whole article/interview here:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/25/proposition_8_religion/
B
No. 15 · Robert, in NYC wrote, “If this idiot really believed in Jesus Christ, why hasn’t he done as he instructed? ‘Sell all you have and give to the poor if you want to follow me’.”
They got around that one because the church has the money, not the pope. It’s a technicality of course.
Gurlene
Since we are on the subject of Nazi’s, whether still in uniform or out of it and in a robe, check this little gem out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2NqfISm9k Hope you enjoy it.
Gurlene
First off, no that is not me in the gold dress. I wish the hell I did look that good and had the nerve to get up on a stage and sing.
I saw this a while back and thought it would fit perfectly with this article. This little gem proves not much has changed in seven years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JGpDZ16kyU
trickstertara
Sieg heil, Joseph. Take off your ermine cape, gold dress, amethyst rings and tell me again about how my marriage is an attack on creation and the things you and your Hitler Youth buddies were doing wasn’t.
Ho Hum
It never ceases to amaze me, when I am accused of eroding family values, given that all my siblings are divorced and I have been with my current partner for 20 years.
Also, it was I, the great menace to decency, truth and society who not only cared for ailing parents for many years at home, with my partner by the way, but in addition, was the one to shoulder the cost of their burial.
Oh, well, I guess it’s the least a reprobate like me could have done.
glasshouses
Oh Benie, Benie, Benie. It’s days like this that your increasingly less relevant self make me so happy to be getting excommunicated.
And, um, no disrespect and all but that frock is a really crap look for you. Accentuates your wrinkles and it makes you look kind of pastey. You might want to work on that balance a little.
B
No. 20 · Gurlene wrote, “Since we are on the subject of Nazi’s, whether still in uniform or out of it and in a robe, check this little gem out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2NqfISm9k Hope you enjoy it.”
For the start of the original “To be or not to be”, check out the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9oDa-aOkn0 and this one is really funny. Unfortunately, it ends a bit too soon, so you’ll have to find the rest elsewhere or see the full film (a story about some ham actors in Poland during WW-II, with classic lines like a guy in the Gestapo saying, “What he did to Hamlet we are doing to Poland.”) Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zpgjyn7dgk&feature=related for somewhat later in the film (Jack Benny playing a ham actor masquerading as a German agent reporting to “Col Ehrhart.”)
christopher di spirito
Pope RatNAZI needs clean up his own house and that house is informed by a culture of priest pedophilia. Each month, there’s a fresh news article detailing yet another Catholic priest who was busted for molesting underage boys.
No wonder this Pope uses the airy at Il Citta del Vaticano to diss gay marriage.
It’s an effort to distract and confuse. Sorry, Pope RatNAZI but the world is on to you.
Ritorna
The Pope finally admits that man can not be God. So he should stop playing God.
1EqualityUSA
Ritorna, beautiful post #26 so simple. Idolatry is a symptom of it.
Wen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_en_mo/eu_vatican_avatar
Vatican thinks Avatar is not a good movie.
‘The Vatican newspaper and radio station are criticizing James Cameron’s 3-D blockbuster for flirting with the idea that worship of nature can replace religion — a notion the pope has warned against’.
Now nature has become a threat to religion as well. The guy is really insane.
Cheeky
The Pope is a stupid cunt. Who really cares what the Vatican of thinks, muses, or pontificates about? They are irksome and irrelevant. Sell your artwork and feed the world’s poor. Until then, keep your altar boy sucking mouth away from the microphone.
hephaestion
What do you expect from a Pope who likely was involved in the murder of pro-gay Pope John Paul I? Read “Murder in the Vatican” by Lucien Gregoire.
hephaestion
If every closeted gay person in the Vatican turned blue tomorrow, it would be a very VERY blue city indeed. Including the Swiss Guard.
TL
Honestly, your insults make you sound like a very bitter and jaded bunch. Congrats, you can call the Pope a “cunt.” I hope you feel like you’ve really STUCK it to the Pope now. You sound just as ignorant as the Pope when he talks about gay marriage.
Personally, I am able to reconcile my Catholic faith with my homosexuality because I can look to the BEST parts of each rather than their worst. Yes, the Catholic Church remains very socially conservative. Yes, gay men remain very snarky, bitter, and jaded (and the priests who molest little boys, by the way, are GAY — another negative for BOTH sides). But does that make me hate either group? Not at all. At the same time, and in a more powerful and profound way, the Catholic Church runs some of the best charities in the world (research the Catholic Worker movement). Moreover, some of the most powerful, successful, and determined men in this country are gay, and they are incredible models of hard work and resiliency. So PLEASE stop bashing the Catholic Church. You don’t agree with its position on gay marriage? Then go do something about it. I’ll tell you right now that a conservative Catholic is not going to accept you because you call the Pope a “cunt.” They’ll accept you because you slowly chip away at their prejudices and help them remember the true message of love, peace, and acceptance at the heart of their Bible.
Anyway, I guess that’s enough. Sorry, everyone. I’m just so tired of seeing the church reject gay men and women and gay men and women reject the church. I promise you, it possible to be gay AND Catholic.
rudy
No. 32 · TL
How dare you?
This is not “bashing” – it’s self-defense against an organization that spreads lies about us, that ecourages hatred of us, that organizes voters to invaidate our marriages, that calls us “unnatural.”
Again, WE are the victims here.
You don’t want to hear anger toward the Vatican?
Then STOP THEM!
Bitter and jaded?
No.
We will NOT give respect to an organization that gives none to us.
SHAME!!!!
Robert, NYC
TL, You’re burying your head in the sand. For your information, there are many straight catholic abuser priests some of whom are also womanizers and have fathered children outside of marriag who were involved and continue to be involved in molestation of underage children. If your cult is not so bad, explain why the pitbull in Rome ordered a directive to all seminaries to weed out gay priests and potential gay seminarians based on certain criteria….. yet did not issue any criteria to weed out the straight molesters. Why? Your cult also issued a statement using its own biased psychiatrists claiming that homosexuality = pedophilia. Have you any idea what that kind of smear can do to LGBT people around the world? This only incites those so inclined to go out and commit violent acts against us. Loving the sinner hating the sin mantra that it uses (he describes our “behavior” as intrinsically evil by the way) doesn’t work any more, its nothing more than veiled homophobia and hatred. They can skew it all they want, that’s what it is. Further, if your cult leader was a real christian, which he isn’t, he would do as Jesus Christ commanded…”sell all you have and give to the poor if you want to be a follower of me”.
There’s a double standard in the roman cult, one for straights and one for gays. The former are not supposed to have sex outside of marriage, yet the majority of women today are not virgins when they walk down the aisle in a white dress signifying purity, yet it allows them the sacrament of marriage. If that’s not hypocrisy, I don’t know what is. The latter (us) are supposed to spend the rest of our lives living in a state of celibacy in order to be acceptable. Do you mean to tell me you accept that as a gay man who is supposed to deny himself the one of the most human qualitites, the physical love of another human being? Its irrational.
Another thing, this is the same moron who claims that condoms do not help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. For that alone, he should be brought before the world court in The Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity. He’s a sick man who has absolutely NO MORAL AUTHORITY to judge others, ever.
romeo
@ TL: In fact, even a celibate gay is considered sinful, and many priests are loathe to give them communion. That’s how bad the witch hunt has become in the Catholic Church. I had a friend who went through this in his parish a few years ago. He was conflicted at the time because of some personal issues and had been celibate for a couple of years. In another instance, a notorious one, a wealthy gay catholic that had been very generous to his parish, was refused burial in a catholic cemetary by an archbishop several years ago in Southern California.
TL, if you’ve got any self-respect, you can’t be gay and be catholic. Sorry kid.
Tom NYC
This is why I’m an atheist.