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Final Thoughts on the Pope, God Bless Him
As I watched the pope’s helicopter sail off from Vatican City with an escort of angels taking him to some forlorn monastery, I wished the fuckin’ thing would crash! No bull. Hey, I’m a nice guy. Did I really write that? I sure did, underscored and I’ll put in bold print.
I’m a proponent of chaos theory. The flap of a butterfly’s wing can cause cataclysmic changes given time and distance. A seemingly insignificant event can change the world and the course of history. A good example is Archduke Ferdinand’s chauffeur checking a map after getting lost in Sarajevo and taking the exact street which would lead him directly in front of the café where Gavrito Princip was enjoying coffee after a hectic day. We all know what happened. In less than five years, 137 million people were either killed or wounded, a half million in this country and we were in it only one year.
That’s chaos theory. If the chauffeur had gotten discouraged and given up, even World War II might not have happened. In fact, all our lives have been changed by a lowly chauffeur 99 years ago.
When the moron was running against Senator Kerry in 2004, some staff member got the bright idea of soliciting Pope John Paul II’s support. Bush was losing only slightly and an extra nudge might push him over the victory line. As it turned out, he won by a slim majority.
The idea was to use the abortion issue as a carrot to bait the pope into using his power as a world leader to exhort and solicit votes for the incumbent president. John Paul II referred the request for support to a cryptic Vatican society called Opus Dei whose director at the time happened to be a Cardinal Ratzinger. Dutifully, the cardinal saw the political “writing on the wall” and mailed out letters to all American bishops. The instruction was to use their religious and political influence to get their parishioners to vote for W. I can see it in my mind, these righteous scum bags haranguing and berating church-goers about abortion. “Abortion is abomination,” right? Therefore God demands you vote for Bush.
The sermons were so galvanizing and stimulating that thousands of Catholics jumped on the Bush bandwagon. It was more than enough to determine the outcome. W. Bush was the 43rd president due to Ratzinger’s power and interference. The direction of the world was emphatically determined—the path toward more war and more corporate profits for the military and defense industries. Since Bush was elected the country and the world have suffered immeasurable adversities, including thousands of American kids killed, maimed or psychologically traumatized—not to mention trillions of dollars in destroyed materiel.
It’s the underhandedness and secrecy that pisses me off. Same thing in the California Proposition 8 issue last year, the gay right to marry bill. The pope had his long pious fingers pulling strings in that one also. We all know what happened.
To sprinkle salt on the wound and twist the knife, Pope John Paul II died the next year and who should miraculously become pope? Ratzinger.
Are you ready? Pope Benedict XVI capriciously decided to visit the U.S. as his predecessor was a world traveler. As soon as he landed in Dulles International Airport, President George Walker Bush, the 43rd president of the United State, all smiles and gooey gratitude, came running out, and would have kissed the holy father on the lips (French style) if given the chance. In doing so, Bush broke all historical protocol; an American president never has left the White House purposely to greet somebody.
Here’s the whopper. See if you still admire and respect the Pope Emeritus after this one:
THERE ARE NO PRIESTS OR OTHER CLERGY LISTED ON THE NATIONAL LIST OF SEX OFFENDERS.
Comment
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Comment by Richard Goscicki on March 25, 2013 at 7:46am -
Thanks James. That sheds some light on the history. What’s important about the piece is the connection to chaos theory. Even if the deal with the Vatican were already in place, the pope’s surreptitious intervention by endorsing W. Bush changed the course of history.
I just thought of another example of chaos theory and how it affects our daily lives. I’ll post it soon on my blog. It’s really dynamite when we consider all the repercussions, the “what-ifs”.
My play is keeping me busy but I’ll get to it.
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Comment by James M. Martin on March 24, 2013 at 4:20pm -
All of the Roman Catholic priests enjoy diplomatic immunity thanks to a stupid treaty we signed with the Vatican ages ago. That is what allowed that old Nazi prick to get away with obstruction of justice for the prick who went before him.
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Comment by Grinning Cat on March 3, 2013 at 8:56pm -
Off-topic, to SteveInCO:
For some reason copy/paste isn't working for me--it locks me completely out of the reply window....
I found copy and paste from A|N pages messed up yesterday too, but it's working now.
A workaround for whenever formatting or other codes are interfering with pasting: first click the [T] button, "Paste as Plain Text" (fourth from the left). An "Insert Plain Text" popup will appear; paste your material into there, and hit OK.
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Comment by Joan Denoo on March 3, 2013 at 7:02pm -
Richard, the way I perceive it, a child comes into a family, an institution with definition and boundaries set by the institution of the church and supported by the institutions of education, medicine, law, law enforcement, executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The disease corrupts individuals and institutions and breaking free of that corruption is harder than ridding the Earth of AIDS, polio and smallpox. Please keep us up to date on your writing.
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Comment by Richard Goscicki on March 3, 2013 at 3:32pm
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What a coincidence. I’m currently writing a play about the evil of “Groupthink”. What horrible atrocities in history have been perpetrated because of it. The deeds of the Nazis come to mind. How about the witch trials and Jim Crow lynchings in the 20s?
Consider that religious schools are not only perpetuating groupthink but encouraging and rewarding it. How often The Hitch advocated people learning things on their own, skeptically after ample study and investigation, instead of on the word of the authorities.
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Comment by Loren Miller on March 3, 2013 at 12:50pm -
I can't claim credit for that concept, Joan, much as I'd like to. Our mutual friend did so some time back:
If I could change just one thing, it would be to dissociate the idea of faith from virtue—now and for good—and to expose it for what it is: a servile weakness, a refuge in cowardice, and a willingness to follow, with credulity, people who are in the highest degree unscrupulous.
-- Christopher Hitchens
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Comment by Joan Denoo on March 3, 2013 at 12:33pm
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faith is no virtue
~ Loren Miller
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Comment by SteveInCO on March 2, 2013 at 11:55am -
Hmmm.... if there IS a doG maybe he can come up with a poetically just way of offing Joe the Rat.
Choking on a dildo maybe. Or being raped by a 12 gauge wire brush.
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Comment by Future on March 2, 2013 at 11:31am
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Personally, I find it curious that the Rat decided to excuse himself early. What better way to make yourself memorable than to do something that no other pope has done in nearly 600 years. When your legacy is headed towards a mixture of mediocrity and supposed scandal, I guess doing anything that helps you stand out amongst a lineup of popes might improve your image in the future.
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Comment by SteveInCO on March 2, 2013 at 10:44am
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(I don't suppose we could put FDR in there, definitely a two-term president being he served three plus, Truman who served during two terms '45 to '52, and Ike.)
[For some reason copy/paste isn't working for me--it locks me completely out of the reply window and I've restarted my browser twice to no avail--so if there is something in my above quote that wasn't in the original, that's why.]
No we couldn't, I meant full terms. I should have said so but even so, I said "assuming Obama finishes his term" which ought to have made it clear.
FDR could only (hypothetically) be part of such a string if he was the last of the three, since (having died partway through a term) his successor couldn't serve two full terms--though Truman could conceivably have served 2+ terms as the term limit amendment specifically exempted him as the person serving when it was enacted, as written. But Hoover was only a one term president because he sucked. (vacuum pun/allusion intended.)
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