New Pope elected

[flowerchild]

You have a valid point. Personally, I would much rather form my opinions about the new Pope based on his recent words and deeds as a cardinal.

Also, I don't think that Benedict has a negative meaning outside America. I doubt that the average German knows who Benedict Arnold was or why his name became synonymous with treason.

I totally agree w/ both of your points myself, I am interested to see how others will view these issues. People are so quick to form opinions, especially when it comes to religion. Will these issues have an affect in the world arena?

 

[rraley]

Oh, Jeez, this wasn't a good choice. At least it was better than other possibilities: Renzi or Nigeria and the Italian cardinal who is closely tied to a Catholic group who opposes Vatican II.

 

[Triggerfish]

The new Pope was a member of the Hitler Youth. Supposedly he was forced to join.

 

[Nickel]

I'm wondering about the statements that Benedict (an ironic name IMO) did what he had to do to protect himself from the government...it seems to me that Jesus was willing to take whatever punishment was dealt him and stand up for the right thing, Aren't we all supposed to try to live like Jesus?

Had he been as "outspoken" as you think he should have been, he probably would've been murdered. That's how the Nazis work. And I doubt he was working in a concentration camp, or murdering the Jews, Polish, etc. If I bought a Volkswagen, would you consider me part of the Nazi party? :shrug:

 

[Lenny]

The new Pope was a member of the Hitler Youth. Supposedly he was forced to join.

Goundhog day, Trigger. Read earlier posts.

 

[Lenny]

I assumed that Ratzinger was saying that no one was molested at all, that all the charges were deliberately made up. Is that what you're saying? Or are you suggesting that the PC press deliberately hid the fact that most of the victims were teenage boys, so as not make gays look bad?

I've said before that calling this "pedophilia" is misleading. For a while, I seriously wondered if I should let my two toddlers anywhere near a church.

I don't doubt there have been cases of abuse but I also believe a greater number of the cases are "resurrected memories." Remember how Rosanne Barre periodically made headlines by recalling she had been abused as a child, had bulimia (too bad it wasn't chronic), had been abducted by aliens, had used (name your poison) drugs, etc. There are way too many complaints by kooks who can be convinced anything happened to them as children (especially if there's a payoff of $millions to be had by the "winners" of the National Enquirer headlines lottery) When MSM wants to assault values, where better aim your venom than the church? In America the Roman Catholic church represents the one single symbol of what the libertarian, leftist political fringe wants to kill.

 

[dustin]

Not like it matters what the heck we say anyways. He's the new freakin Pope. And we can't do a dang thing about it...

 

[Tonio]

Remember how Rosanne Barre periodically made headlines by recalling she had been abused as a child, had bulimia (too bad it wasn't chronic), had been abducted by aliens, had used (name your poison) drugs, etc.

Roseanne is nothing but an attention whore. By the way, what does MSM stand for?

 

[Bruzilla]

The latest that I heard on the news was that all Austrian youths had to join the Hitler youth, but that he deserted before the end of the war. That was on ABC. Later on Jim Leher's show, they said that he didn't quite bail on Hitler after being forced into the Hitler Youth. Instead he saw service as an AA gunner near a munitions factory and only deserted shortly before the end of the war. It sounds like, on first blush, that he only denounced Hitler after it was clear he was losing the war.

So, we have a Nazi and a deserter as Pope. I wonder if God is up there scratching his head.

 

[Nickel]

So, we have a Nazi and a deserter as Pope. I wonder if God is up there scratching his head.

Or, more likely, a human being who :gasp: made a wrong decision or two as a youth 60-some-odd years ago...

 

[Bustem' Down]

Well, we are waiting for the "Anti-Christ" :sad:

The world has been waiting for the Anit-Christ for 2000 years, I think we're safe.

 

[Lenny]

Roseanne is nothing but an attention whore. By the way, what does MSM stand for?

MSM = Main Stream Media. Read Ann Coulter or Bernard Goldberg.

 

[Railroad]

He has served unwaveringly as enforcer of Catholic doctrines and defender of deeply conservative values, laying down strict interpretations of religious teachings, excommunicating leftwing theologians and speaking out against divorce, gay marriage and other liberal concepts. The choice of the silver-haired, mild-mannered German is certainly controversial. Ahead of his election, his supporters argued that he represented continuity with the late Pope's conservative agenda and desire to concentrate Church power in the Vatican.

I'm not Catholic, but the above summary of his positions sounds pretty good!

 

[Tonio]

For what it's worth, Railroad, I've never thought of divorce as a liberal concept.

I didn't know this:

http://www.slate.com/id/2117019/

In 1968, setting aside the considered advice of a commission he'd convened to review the matter, Paul VI had declared all forms of artificial contraception to be as sinful as murder in the encyclical Humanae Vitae...The second question was whether the church would soon take the step of allowing artificial contraceptives—as it came close to doing in the mid-1960s, before Humanae Vitae.

 

[Tonio]

Does that website translate German language for free? I have a book I'd like translated.

I think you have to pay for translations of works that long.

 

[ylexot]

I'm not Catholic, but the above summary of his positions sounds pretty good!

Here's another one...

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican theologian who was elected Pope Benedict XVI, intervened in the 2004 US election campaign ordering bishops to deny communion to abortion rights supporters including presidential candidate John Kerry.