We are not the members of a democracy, Father. We are the members of an order.

I've mentioned many times that I don't like pope Ratzinger.

As a fallen catholic I've sort of decided that in most cases it doesn't matter what the catholic church does as long as they stay out of the rest of the world's business. Live and let live.

But condoms and AIDS prevention in Africa are very much the world's business. The pope is once again asserting a morally indefensible position and shaming the entire catholic church in the process.

I know individual catholics have nothing to do with that man assuming the throne of St. Peter. There are many, many catholics who disagree with the pope who've decided to keep their heads down and focus instead on making their communities better. I admire those people.

Nevertheless; I will not set foot in a catholic church until there's a different, less morally compromised man leading the church.

But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals.

If you could help me out here I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm trying to decide which of these nasty Delta House dweebs I should put on Triple Secret Probation. Which of them do you think is most deserving of my Foot of Rghteousness?

A) Pope "Ratzy" Benedict who decided this week that it would be a good idea to un-excommunicate ("recommunicate?") the clergy of a right wing sect famous for holocaust denial. It occurs to me that when you've faced criticism for dabbling in the Hitler Youth as boy this might not be the best decision to make. What's next? Jackboots for the Swiss Guard?

B) J.J. "Mugato" Abrams who opted to ruin one of the suprises of his new "Star Trek" movie in spoiling the fact there will be a cameo by one of our little, furry buddies from the original show. He also chose to prove that he not only doesn't get Star Trek, but seems lost when it comes to the great movie "Galaxy Quest" as well when he told an interviewer that GQ "...completely mocks the paradigm in its entirety." Not exactly, J.J.

C) Barack "Hoops" Obama who called Wall Street bonuses "shameful" but to this point has acted as if he has no power to do anything about it. Tie any additonal TARP funds to the condition those executive bonuses are returned and for God's sakes nationalize those financial institutions. Their executives are morons. It's not like we couldn't put chimpanzees in those boardrooms with the same results.

I hate those guys.

These dances and this kind of music can be destructive.

While I'm on the subject of religion-gone-wacky I'd point you towards Ratzinger's latest example of stupidity.

Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized modern-day atheism in a major document released today, saying it had led to some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" ever known to mankind.

Uh-huh. Because it was atheists who flew those buildings into the Twin Towers. It was an atheist President who saw it as his moral duty, ordained by God, to invade Iraq leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. It's atheists who deny the importance of stem-cell research or the human contributions of global warming or the dignity of women or who refuse to acknowledge that the advancement of science can indeed ease human suffering.

Jackass.

Benedict sharply criticizes Marx and the 19th and 20th century atheism spawned by his revolution, although he acknowledges that both were responding to the deep injustices of the time.

This is going to sound trite but it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that a former Hitler Youth has a problem with Marxism. I write this only to point out that maybe, just maybe, his moral objections to Marxism have a longer, more personal history than Ratzinger's ordination so many years ago.

As for lumping Nazism in with Marxism I have no doubt that Hitler was an atheist but I would like to point once again how much he co-opted Christianity into the Nazi state. (See here.)

Update- More religious craziness. Whether it's a blasphemous book, movie or name for a teddy-bear the faithful certainly do a good job of getting in every one's face when they don't fall into line.

Wooorse? Or better?

I'm not sure I see the point to this unless it's the Pope's goal to drive even more of us away from the Catholic church.

ROME, July 7 — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday authorized a wider use of the old Latin Mass, dismissing fears that its revival could divide the church or dilute the reforms of the Second Vatican Council that made standard worship in the languages of Catholics around the world.

In gentle but firm language, the pope acknowledged in an accompanying letter to bishops the depth of opposition to the change, voiced in recent months by European bishops and Jewish groups. He proposed, in fact, a review after three years to determine “if truly serious difficulties come to light.”

He's not diluting the Second Vatican Council. He's making it "better."

But the pope said that the change could both heal rifts with traditionalist groups that favor the Latin Mass as well as reconnect the church with a 1,500-year-old form of worship that faded since the Second Vatican Council, which ended in 1965.

Rigggghhht. Because the Catholics that have fallen away that the church needs to bring back into the fold are the Mel Gibson/ Opus Dei/ Traditionalist nutjob variety and not the millions of other Catholics worldwide who've been dispossessed by a church increasingly more concerned with tradition rather than living the gospel.

Jackass.


**For those of you unfamiliar with the quote it's from one of the greatest, most subversive cartoons ever - "Invader Zim." Here's the context - Zim, who is entirely insane, has just un-banished himself from the planet "Foodcourtia" to join his fellow alien invaders in Operation Impending Doom 2. Operation Impending Doom 1 met utter failure when Zim went crazy on the invader's own planet and set most of the capitol on fire.

Zim- "I put the fires out.."
Red Tallest- "You made them worse!"
Zim- "Wooorse? Or better?"