Tweet
Benedict XVI used the first papal state visit to Britain today to launch a blistering attack on “atheist extremism” and “aggressive secularism”, and to rue the damage that “the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life” had done in the last century.
The leader of the Roman Catholic church concluded a speech, made before the Queen and assembled dignitaries at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, with the argument that the Nazi desire to eradicate God had led to the Holocaust and a plea for 21st-century Britain to respect its Christian foundations.
“Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society,” he said. “In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms; and may that patrimony, which has always served the nation well, constantly inform the example your government and people set before the two billion members of the Commonwealth and the great family of English-speaking nations throughout the world.”
These pious utterings are really absurd given the lack of moral authority the church has these days. Apparently he has yet to understand how statements this ridiculous go over as he commented on the pedophile priests within the church.
“It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly mission was possible,” he said, adding that the church was “at a moment of penitence, humility and renewed sincerity.”
It was possible because you covered it up.
20 Comments
“21st-century Britain to respect its Christian foundations”??Christian foundations?? wtf
oh ya, Stonehenge is evidence of the early British christians. them feks didn’t come near Britain till long after its establishment.
Why any government official(s) would pay any attentionto this poor excuse of a religious leader is beyond me. I can understand it from those Catholics who have been brainwashed since birth to believe that he’s the conduit of God’s word, & only good Catholics can go to Heaven. But it is shameful when the leaders of secular countries give him any acknowledgement whatsoever. His coverup of the church’s policy of “hide the pedophile” & his stance on birth control & AIDS should make him persona non grata in any country whose leaders have a conscience.
I’m sure the British will tell Papa Nazi to go fuck himselfThis overrated a$$hole isn’t going to be able to bully or bullshit the British. They’ve heard it all before. Besides, they kicked out Papa Nazi and his little minions in the 1500′s, and only let them back in after Henry the Eighth died.
The pursuit of extremism is Benedict’s own roleAtheist extremists?
This pope and his hierarchy are apostates to the teachings of Jesus Christ. The appropriate response to Benexict XVI is to read Matthew 23 to him.
for one translation:
http://www.biblegateway.com/pa…
The extremism of the hierarchy’s positions on the treatment of women, gays, trans people, the horrible missteps this pope has taken against the cause of ecumenism and of healing differences with the muslim people and the resurgence of anti-semitism, mark the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church with as much shame as its coverup of its celibacy-driven pedophile problem.
Cafeteria Catholics who do not want to abandon the Church have to start considering starving the monster – stop contributing to the Church, even the local parish and not just the Bishop’s/Cardinal’s Appeal, until reform takes place. Pour the money into organizations that support equality instead.
It’s almost touching, isn’t it?This poor, deluded fool of a man clearly thinks it’s still the Renaissance and he’s Julius II, cheerfully making war on everyone in his path as he expands the territory and wealth of the Papal States. It would be pathetic, or merely laughable, if he weren’t so damn rich himself and if he didn’t wield so much influence in the world (for whatever mysterious reason). The truth about Benedict couldn’t be any more obvious if he was running around in a Napoleon hat.
a few things1) That juxtaposed photo still makes me guffaw. Please never stop using it.
2) The Queen is clearly out of touch, as shown by her courteous welcome of the head of the International Pedophile Protection Racket.
3) One of the latest pedophile eruptions was in Belgium, where “hundreds of pages of harrowing victim testimony detailing traumas and suffering” were published. (Guardian, 9/10/2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…
Matthew 18:5-7 isn’t bad eitherEspecially in light of the news out of Belgium.
http://www.biblegateway.com/pa…
hmm, I dunnoI think he’s probably pitching at disaffected high-church C of E types who feel closer to rome than their happier, clappier, brethren. but then, hardly anyone goes to church in the uk anyways, so altho it’s probably some dastardly papist plot, it doesn’t really matter.
The British don’t seem exactly enamouredFrom http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010… :
Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Terry Pratchett, Johann Hari and about 50 others have signed a letter printed in the Guardian pointing out the damage the Pope and Church have done and that he should not be afforded a State visit, as the Vatican is not one.
Still, I’m sure a decade of Blair had the same lasting effects on who is in power at all levels as the
Bush years did herelast 11 years have had here.http://www.zimbio.com/Tony+Bla…
He’ll be lucky if he’s not arrested by Tatchell.
The Queen is courteous to everyone
” the damage that ‘the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life’ had done in the last century.”The part of his speech, immediately after that sentence, that somehow didn’t get quoted by the supplicant media:
There’s this notion that secular people can’t have virtueI’m far more theist than that twit and even I can recognize that secular people can hold the same moral values (aside from considering the need for faith moral) as Christians (of which I’m not).
If this Yahoo doesn’t know any atheists who have moral values, he should hit me up. I’ll find him a better class of friend.
Technically, the United Kingdom is not a secular countryIt has an official state church, and the Crown holds the title of Head of the Church and Defender of the Faith. Several other European nations are similar: Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland and Norway all have state churches.
Ironically……all of them are far more secular in practice than the United States ever was.
In most Western European countries, religion just doesn’t play a role in everyday life. People go to weddings, baptisms, funerals and visit church on important holidays. That’s about it. At least for somewhat younger people.
I’d forgotten about that, TechBearand Stevie is right, too.
I’m hoping that it’s only a vocal minority of Xtian radicals that are seriously trying to un-separate church & state here in the US. However many or few there are, it behooves the rest of us to make sure that does NOT happen!
Gotta fear that atheist extremism!Yeah, those atheist extremists. They terrorize society by flying rational arguments into houses of cards. They kidnap high-value superstitions and demand a ransom of logical thinking. They burn the “fear and control” hierarchy at the stake of enlightenment.
These atheist extremist ba5tards actually believe that human rights should be universal, that women have the wisdom and compassion to control their own bodies, and that religion is a major factor in the problems facing this world. They won’t even support the shell game used to hide pedophile “men of God” from their angry tormentors (aka victims and parents).
Finally, I’ve even heard that they support the Constitutional establishment and free exercise clauses with respect to religion. We must band together and declare a holy war on these evil god-deniers!!!
The Key to Survival …and DominanceThe assumption that belief in a specific deity belief system is a necessary condition for both ethical decision making and the moral behavior that matches the surrounding culture is what keeps any major religion in business.
If this assumption did not exist, various dominant religions would have to compete with each other (and atheism, and other assorted systems for keeping people out of anarchy) for the morals of each new generation, rather than just picking up the scattered individuals that didn’t get indoctrinated in childhood. Outside belief systems are a threat to their continuity.
Funny thing is, it really does hold true for morals, once any particular religion dominates a subculture, especially a self created one. Behavior considered moral soon matches whatever is taught by that local deist based belief system. Ethical decision making and the behaviors based on it on the other hand, are not bound by this and have been proven by the Holy See not connected to belief in a specific deity.
You make a great pointIn a similar vein – how often do Christian extremists shoot doctors or blow up Planned Parenthood clinics, vs. what’s the last time NARAL blew up a church? ’Nuff said.
“how often do Christian extremists shoot doctors”Whenever it does happen, its irony in its basest form – but still a hoot.
As Bill Hicks said, if you’re really pro-life, don’t block the entrances to abortion clinics; block the entrances to cemeteries.