Hitch Reax

Christopher Hitchens on Pope Benedict's decision to lift the excommunication of Holocaust denier Wykehamist Bishop Richard Williamson.

From Newsweek:

Ask yourself, first, why it was that the church took until 1965 to repudiate the charge of deicide against the Jews. After all, it is only in one verse of one Gospel (Matthew 27:24–25), and in the climactic scene of Mel Gibson's movie, that the Jewish Sanhedrin demands to be held responsible for the coming crucifixion for all time and through all generations. Then there is the question, even if the rabbis did make such a demand, of whether they could claim to speak for all Jews then, let alone all those who have been born since. So why did it take until 20 years after the Nuremburg trials for the church to admit the obvious?

...When excesses are committed by the religious (something which does indeed seem to happen from time to time), you often hear it argued that these are only perversions of the "true" or "real" or authentic teachings. What makes the present case so alarming is that concessions are being made to Holocaust-deniers and anti-Semites, and that this is not a departure from "original intent" Catholicism but rather part of a return to traditional and old-established preachments. For decades, it has seemed to many incurious outsiders that the Roman Catholic Church had at the very least made a good-faith attempt to acknowledge its historic responsibility for defaming the Jewish people. Suddenly, this achievement doesn't look so solid.

This Was Cute

From IHT:

Pope Benedict said Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

The Church "should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.

"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."

The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound."

Today's Paultard Video

Yes, they still exist. And this one is pretty pissed.

She's mad at the sheeple and the Pope for hoarding his Nazi gold and a bunch of other typical Paultardian complaints about stuff that does not affect those of us who do not live in Second Life.

The Pope Is Here

Beloved Nazi-Pope Benadryl the XVI has arrived in America!

Today is his birthday so, like anyone else would dream of doing, he spent it with our W.

He also gave a speech at the White House:

Pope Benedict XVI became only the second Pope to visit the White House, and he gave a speech about the purpose of his trip and the importance of democracy being informed by moral values. In attendance was, of course, Bush. The President must have been extremely impressed by the Pope's words because right after Pope Benedict concluded his remarks, Bush leaned over and said, "Thank you, your holiness. Awesome speech."

You can watch the video here.

What Happens If You Think They're Both Douchebags?

Osama bin Laden dropped his new single yesterday. I'll save you some time: "Death to America...blah blah blah...cartoons hurt my feelings....boohoo...Europe is sooooo on my shitlist."

The interesting part of the tape was when he calls out def-not-a-nazi-Pope:

Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned of a "severe" reaction to European publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that insulted many Muslims.Bin Laden's audiotape message Wednesday raised concerns al-Qaida was plotting new attacks in Europe.

...The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said bin Laden's accusation that the pope has played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam is "baseless." Lombardi said the pope has repeatedly criticized the cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.

...Benedict angered many in the Muslim world in 2006, when he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" and stressed the remarks did not reflect his own opinions. He has since led a public campaign for dialogue with Muslims.

Nazi Pope responded by calling OBL an unkempt slut and then returned to a long day's work of covering up for his kid-fucking friends.

via AP

12/25 Truce with Nazi Pope

photo via AP

At tonight's Xmas mass, Pope Benedict XVI said something I found profound:

Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such urgent need of all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others, for his neighbor, for the poor, for God

AP