The Consortium

Excuse Me, Holy See, Are those Prada Loafers?

Pope Benny the Too Many has released a new book entitled Jesus of Nazareth in which he criticizes capitalism and excessive wealth in the world today.  Yes, you read that right - the Holy See who dons red Prada loafers to officiate mass in Rome is condemning excessive wealth.  Just when you thought Rome could not possibly be more hypocritical they open a new front.  You have to give 'em credit, the good ole boys in Vatican City never rest - when it comes to rank hypocrisy.

Apparently, the Pontiff was jealous of the charlatan Reverends Sharpton and Jackson getting all the attention this week.  In this tome he writes that wealthy people "are empty despite the abundance of their material goods."  He must have felt a little of that emptiness while 'summering' in the Italian Alps.  It couldn't possibly have been during his regular days of living in a palace and having his gourmet meals served to him.   He goes on to decry wealthy nations for exploiting "Third World" nations (apparently he didn't get the memo in his gold-plated mailbox - there are no more Third World nations;  the politically correct term is "developmentally disabled nations" or, oh wait, maybe it's "developing nations" - heck, I didn't get the memo either).  Yet, methinks the theologian formerly known as Joey Ratzinger should skuff those Prada shoes up gettin down on his infallible knees to thank God for the wealthy nations.  It is the wealthy nations' Catholics whose coffers were raided to pay:

1.) a $100 million dollar settlement in Boston

2.) $153.4 million in settlements and jury awards in Dallas

3.)  $25.7 million dollar settlement in Louisville

And those are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church's payouts for their half century systematic cover up of child sexual abuse.  Where on Earth would Pope Benny have found the money to paper over the child rape committed at the hands of literally thousands of priests in his and his predecessors employ, if it were not for the wealthy nations he now decries?  Imagine how many vestements he could pair with matching Prada shoes had he and his unimpeachable forerunners had the same zeal for ridding the church of pedophiles as they do (and did) for criticizing the United States, global wealth, Israel, and/or the Global War on Terror!

Now, he does clarify that he started writing the new book back when he was just a Cardinal and had not yet been cloaked in his Papal infallibility (and his poor feet were probably still being relegated to Gucci shoes - the horror!).   "Everyone is free, then, to contradict me," he says.  Sounds good to me your Holiness.

I would just think that someone who was installed as a (then) 78 year old placesitter Pope, a man who rose from Hitler Youth to his perch on top of the world, and someone who continues to harbor fugitive Bernard Law in the Roman Curia would do himself (and the rest of us) a favor and just shut up and enjoy those summers in the Italian Alps.

BORU

Manufactured Indignation

Several members of the modern ummah have decided to throw another temper tantrum, this time directed at Pope Benedict. These select Muslims apparently feel that the manufactured furor last seen in reference to the Danish Muhammed cartoons needs to be resurrected.

According to CNN:

In his speech at the University of Regensburg, Benedict quoted criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who wrote that everything Mohammed brought was evil and inhuman, "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".

The cited words, taken out of context of a longer speech, are nothing more than a quote of a 14th Century Emperor who was speaking with a Persian during the siege of Constantinople.  In citing this passage, the Pope clearly did not purport to represent his own view of Muhammed. Rather, this story was told in the context of explaining the role of faith in philosophical reason and the role of reason in the Christian faith.  It was also told to explain how discourses on reason prior to the 20th Century necessarily had a faith component; whereas in the modern era, many scholars discuss reason in the absence of faith.

Following the supposedly offensive reference, the Pope follows up with a quotation from Theodore Khoury, the person who translated the discourse of the 14th Century Emperor:

Theodore Khoury, observes: "For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement [that leaders in faith must also be able to lead by reason] is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality."

This quotation by the Pope in his speech might be considered far more offensive to Muslim sensibilities.  It essentially states that while Christianity and Christians are grounded in reason and rationality, Islam, and its conception of Allah, has no connection with reason and is potentially irrational.  However, once again, this is merely a quotation by the Pope in an attempt to define the role of logic and reason in faith and vice versa.  The Pope's speech does not adopt this conception of Islam as his own. 

Despite the fact that Pope Benedict did nothing to criticize Islam or even express any opinion of his own regarding Islam, many Muslims are up in arms (in some cases, literally.) The CNN story notes:

At least one Muslim leader, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the chief cleric of New Delhi's historic Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, extolled Muslims to "respond in a manner which forces the pope to apologize." He did not elaborate.

Other Muslims have similarly expressed the predictable indignation without obviously having read the speech.  Via Dean's World:

Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted party joined a wave of criticism of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, accusing him of trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades with remarks he made about the Muslim faith. A Turkish lawmaker said the pontiff would go down in history "in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini" for his words.

Muslim leaders elsewhere in the world also expressed dismay, with Pakistan's parliament unanimously condemning the pope.

I hope and pray that Pope Benedict does not feel any compulsion to apologize.  He clearly did nothing wrong and the more that those in the West refuse to compromise their fundamental beliefs in free discourse and free exercise of religion, the better we'll be in the long term.  Otherwise, we will probably see the following scenario spelled out in The Jawa Report

Next thing you know, they will protest the Pope for stating that Jesus is the Son of God, a blasphemy in the view of Muslim scholars.

There is a certain irony in the Muslim reaction.  The scholar quoted, but not necessarily approved of, by Pope Benedict, believed that the Islamic conception of their religion, unlike Christianity, is not rooted in rationality and reason.  The reaction of some Muslims to the Pope's speech seems to prove the scholar's belief.

-Matthew

Just Say No

I beg, implore and demand that our leaders refrain from giving into the childish demands of the Muslim thugs that would have Western governments apologize for the "Muhammed" cartoons that appeared in a Danish newspaper.  We must "Just Say NO!" to the demands of a certain few that would cause us to abandon the very principles upon which our Western civilization stands.  In following this manufactured crisis, I have repeatedly heard even the most stalwart defenders of liberty allow that the "Muhammed" cartoons were in bad taste or that they were offensive.  Please stop compromising your fidelity to the concept of free expression and an independent media.  There is NO excuse for the violence or the whiny offense taken by certain Muslims who would use this fake crisis to advance their personal agendas. 

In a lot of ways, it appears that the Imans of Syria and the Mullahs of Iran have learned quite a bit from America's home-grown victim-mongers. Their tactics of false outrage and overreaching demands closely resemble the extortionist tactics of America's own deplorable pimps like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.  As we've learned in this country, giving in to victim-mongers only encourages more victim-based extortion. 

Because the actions taking place in Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan are sickening, and because I don't want to see such offensive behavior repeated, I beg our leaders not to bend in the face of the extremists' imaginary offense at the Danish cartoons. Please don't apologize.  To do so will only invite more violence and will only demonstrate weakness. 

May God bless the true adherents of Islam that refuse to commit acts of violence for violence sake.  And may the instigators of the current crisis be thrown into a dark, cold place populated by failed American Idol contestants.

-Matthew

The Mullahs Are Laughing At Us

The Iranian Mullahs are laughing at the West.  They really are.  They have engineered an international spate of riots against poor little Denmark.   They have convinced the international press to keep reprinting their smirking lie that they seek nuclear power for peaceful purposes.  They have elected a man president who likely participated in an act of War against the United States in 1979 by overtaking the American Embassy in Tehran.  These Mullahs are having a grand old time treating the West as children. 

This story says it all.  Apparently a government-sanctioned Iranian newspaper has decided it will run cartoons lampooning the holocaust. 

"It will be an international cartoon contest about the Holocaust," said Farid Mortazavi, the graphics editor for Hamshahri newspaper - which is published by Teheran's conservative municipality.

Talk about funny! These Iranian Mullahs never cease to tickle MY funny bone. 

-Matthew

The Lord's Message

God has spoken and the Astros should listen:

-tre