Intersting Reponse to Pope's Comments - Take a Look!

[sassy]

I thought you might be interested - I actually found this peice on an agnostic forum, but it does make you kinda wonder. I'm Mormon BTW but monogamy is our way!

Nice forum, please tell me what you think about this article!


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To The Last Pope of a Dying Church?
Can't You Do Better than This?


The same medieval seer who foresaw that Pope John Paul's birth and death would coincide with a solar eclipse also predicted that this pope, whose name he said shall be called Benedict, will be the last and final pope. That was St. Malachai.


Thus it was said, Benedict XVI will be the last Pope, after which the Church will be gone and judgement day will arrive - at least, for the Catholic church. For the "Seer" in this case, it seems the Catholic Church was essentially the world. There was no acknowledgement of Islam, Buddhism, or even Wiccan circles. No Japan, no India. Heck, no Martin Luther, no 95 theses, no Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, Methodists, Holly Rollers, Baptists, astrologers or any of the seemingly uncountable sects sprouting like universes on the end of Stephen "King" Hawkings' nose. And being the world, its demise actually represents the end of the world. And so Pope Benedict XVI, nee Joseph Ratzinger the German-hearted, carries on his shoulders the ominous burden of being the last tango@the vatican. Dot Org. Period. So why, at this crucial and momentous hour, do you, this Pope of supposed "peace on earth" etc., etc., choose to incite sectarian hatred and engage in that New World Order pastime of Islam-bashing? Is this how the Vatican is supposed to be heading? To a hail of sludge instead of a hail of Marys?

When you were first chosen as Pope, many voiced their disappointment and trepidation at what was viewed as your "conservatism" and "extremism". Hans Kung, a Catholic theologian, author and professor at Germany's University of Tubingen, said: "The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope is an enormous disappointment for all those who hoped for a reformist and pastoral pope...", but all hoped that somehow the elevating power of the Holy See would unseat the devil in you. Obviously, those hopes have been dashed, and we are in a clash of mud-slinging and saber-weilding. The world's slipping far, far from peace under your "watch", in a hail of fire and brimstone. All hail the Near Earth Object.

Or whatever-it-is - which spells Doomsday, according to ancient Mayan texts written on jaguar skins, further confirmed by little-known but very ancient Chinese astronomical records and predictions, further confirmed by a computer model of disasters which showed "things going off the charts" suddenly, and all in the same year and perhaps month and day... which moment, translated into Gregorian time, reads: (drum roll, please, followed by cornets) 12-12-2012.

On that day, give or take a piece of time, or time warp as the case may be, you, Pope Benedict, will no longer exist, and you shall take your place as Son of Adam no. 574,689,077,423,335,116 aka Joe the German guy, circa Judgment Day minus his lifetime and some other equations too complex to mention here, and you will be asked, "Why did you insult the religion of Islam?"

And you will reply, "To glorify Christianity and show that we are the Good People and Muslims are the Bad People, and ignorant, and terrorists, and kill people."

Then you are asked, "Are 'good people' those who insult others to glorify themselves?"

And you reply, "Ahhhhh, no.....but I worship God..."

To which you will be asked, "Who is your God?"

To which you will reply, "God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit - three-in-one."

Then you are asked, "Three-in-one, you say? What is the First Commandment?"

To which you will answer, "God said: I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

At which you will suddenly find yourself falling, yet still questioned, "Then why do you worship three, you liar!! One cannot be three, and you know that, LIAR! God is not man and man is not God. You broke the first commandment and you never repented - now it's too late and your hour has come..."

And the rest is engulfed in flames...

So now, let's go back in time, from timelessness to your lifetime, aka "test time". Where you say Islam is a religion without logic, while you claim yours is a religion of logic.

So you say the Creator of all that exists - fathom that for a moment - procreated - reproduced like any creature and fathered a son, a physical human son whom you claim we should worship, and part of that worship should involve a cannibalistic ritual whereby the flesh and blood of that god are consumed ritually, and it's an important tenet of your logical faith to believe that once a bell is tinkled, the symbolic wine and bread one consumed turns into the literal blood and flesh of Jesus inside one's body. Oh, and you also believe God had his "son" tortured and killed and even sent to hell in order to make all those who worship that "son" specifically never have to take responsibility or suffer the consequences of their actions. Now there's some logic for ya!

But Islam, on the other hand, states that the Creator is a Creator by definition and does not procreate, have consorts or physical relations with His creatures, but creates - and that there is nothing whatsoever like or similar to Him at all, but He is ineffably One, alone, the Only. He does not share power with any other(s) in any sense whatsoever. Now that's obeying the First Commandment!

As for "rituals" in Islam, they are not useless motions, but time-and-place-defined acts of connection to the Almighty, and reading of His final revelation, the magnificent Qur'an, which has never been changed or translated out of existence - unlike the Bible, which all the king's horses and all the pope's men can never put back together - like it came - again. And "jihad" is not "holy war" as has been erroneously translated, but means, and is, literally "struggle". It can be inner, personal, social, ethical, national or international struggle. It can be war or peace. Maintaining peace is a great struggle indeed. If Muslims do not represent or exemplify Islam perfectly - and no one claimed they did - you apparently did not notice the log in your own eye, or you could have seen the countless sects of Christianity, or the Catholic churches losing people at such a rate that only gambling and bingo could be called upon as a stop-gap measure to try and resurrect the dead.

And you apparently completely ignored the pedophile priests that are popping up like a plague of locusts, devouring the church's finances, reputation, not to mention parishioners. Remember that quote, "Judge not, lest ye be judged"?? Your problem is, the Truth is Eternal. Lies die. God is One. And the world is on a precipice of imminent disaster, from war to pestilence. So at least - couldn't you find a more fitting, a less mean-spirited, a less ignorance-showcasing way to say goodbye???

I consider myself luckier than the most, for I am not a follower of any "religion" , just me, God and lots of common sense - not a FOLLOWER. Here's to freedom!

Leslie Van Ry is an Ancient Cultures Specialist and author of several papers about the development of conscience and organized religion. This author has always chosen pizzaz over academic treatises - and often with interesting perspectives. Controversy is never far.

[waltky]

Uncle Vinny says, "Hey, you no playa the game - you no make'a the rules"...

Pope: Sex can become 'like a drug'
May 10, 2008 -- Pope Benedict admits that Vatican's teaching against birth control is hard; He praises document condemning contraception on its 40th anniversary; Benedict concerned that human life risks losing its value in today's culture; He worries that sex can "transform itself into a drug" one partner has to have

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged Saturday that the Vatican's teaching against birth control was difficult as he praised a 1968 Church document that condemned contraception. In a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the document, Benedict reiterated the Church's ban against artificial birth control as well as more recent teaching against using artificial procreation methods.

Pope Paul VI's 1968 "Humanae vitae" ("On Human Life") encyclical prohibits Catholics from using artificial birth control. "The teaching laid out in the 'Humanae vitae' encyclical isn't easy," Benedict said. "What was true yesterday remains true even today. The truth expressed in 'Humanae vitae' doesn't change; on the contrary, in the light of new scientific discoveries, it is ever more up to date," the pope added.

Benedict appeared to be referring to artificial procreation methods, which in the Church's view offend the dignity of life and go against Vatican teaching that the only way to conceive a child is through intercourse between husband and wife. "No mechanical technique can substitute the act of love that two married people exchange as a sign of a greater mystery," Benedict said.

More Pope: Sex can become 'like a drug' - CNN.com