Don't think of the new pope as a former Nazi.

[shereads]

Think of him as your Uncle Ezra whose house smelled funny, but you loved him anyway.

 

[NoJo]

Think of him as the one with the beady eyes.

The one who most vocally despises homosexuality.

The divisive one.

The George W. Bush of popes.







The good news is, I'm over my brief infatuation with the mysteries of the Church. Seriously, the former Hitler Youth with the sunken eyes gives me the creeps. Knee-jerk reaction: "Yikes. Torquemada."

Yes, he might give popes a bad name.

 

[shereads]

Sell your remaining shares of Trojan Condoms. Buy stock in cut-rate baby formula for third-world countries.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Was he a Nazi? What the hell have you been reading?

 

[oggbashan]

Was he a Nazi? What the hell have you been reading?

He was an enforced member of the Hitler Youth in 1939 and drafted into the German Army in 1945. He deserted and was captured by the Americans. He was NOT a member of the Nazi Party.

Membership of the Hitler Youth was compulsory at that time.

Og

 

[Guest]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/st.../1744094532.htm&sc=1103&photoid=20050419FP116

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Rather, think of him as a pious man. A conservative leader of the Catholic Church, representing well what the Catholic Faith believes. Someone who is a part of God's vinyard and who intends to bring peace, joy, and the blessings of the Lord to all people.

He is a man who has sacrificed more in his life than most on the planet, to honor his faith, his God, and mankind. He is charged with the difficult job of leading a billion people through the complex matter that is politics and religious identity these days. In this, and many respects, he is more qualified--take note--than you.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

He was an enforced member of the Hitler Youth in 1939 and drafted into the German Army in 1945. He deserted and was captured by the Americans. He was NOT a member of the Nazi Party.

Membership of the Hitler Youth was compulsory at that time.

Og

Damned compulsory Nazi.

 

[oggbashan]

Damned compulsory Nazi.

That's like claiming that because we are British or US Citizens we all supported all the activities of the war on Iraq. We weren't consulted - just told that the war was justified by WMDs.

Did you agree with everything your government did in Africa? Were you able to influence their actions?

Any male German of his age had little choice. Be a Hitler Youth or condemn your whole family to a concentration camp. Difficult choice for an 11 year old.

Og

 

[NoJo]

What did he do between 1939 and 1945?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Cardinal Ratzinger was the man behind the calling of the American bishops to the Vatican and the most vehement voice against the paedophilia incidents and the way they were dealt with. Fucker!

 

[SadieRose]

At the end of the day he will do his job...

..And you will do yours.

Unless you choose to live by the Catholic faith, is his past more or less to you than it was 48 hours ago?


(someone who was unaffected by all the weeping and wailing over the death of the "complusory nazi"'s predecessor.)

xx.
Sadie

 

[Lauren Hynde]

That's like claiming that because we are British or US Citizens we all supported all the activities of the war on Iraq. We weren't consulted - just told that the war was justified by WMDs.

Did you agree with everything your government did in Africa? Were you able to influence their actions?

Any male German of his age had little choice. Be a Hitler Youth or condemn your whole family to a concentration camp. Difficult choice for an 11 year old.

Og

I was being sarcastic.

I seriously want to slap Sher for being an uninformed bigot who has done little more in the last weeks than to spread more of that bigotry around. Cardinal Ratzinger would not have been my personal choice, but that's my own problem. Benedict XVI is my new Pope.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

I was being sarcastic.

I seriously want to slap Sher for being an uninformed bigot who has done little more in the last weeks than to spread more of that bigotry around. Cardinal Ratzinger would not have been my personal choice, but that's my own problem. Benedict XVI is my new Pope.

I've been avoiding the boards because of it. One can only tolerate so much mudslinging.

 

[NoJo]

Personally, I think Literotica is a perfect place to say whatever the fuck you want.

 

[oggbashan]

I was being sarcastic.

So was I.

I will not judge the new Pope. How can I? I am not God.

What I think of Benedict XVI will depend on what he does. He is a new Pope with a new name and a new beginning. If the Roman hierarchy is seen as too conservative the only person able to change it is likely to be one they recognise as one of their own. Hardliners are often the best people to make peace because they have the authority to tell their supporters to shut up.

Wait and see, and pray for him.

Og

 

[Sassy Grrl]

I watched a little of it today. The funeral came off without a hitch and i was impressed by the staging of the whole thing.

The announcement seemd a staging nightmare. Couldn't decide whether the smoke was white or not. Couldn't get the curtain closed. Couldn't get it open again.

ABC was saying what an amazing man this new Pope was, how he would inspire people all over the world.

CBC was talking about his conservatism, pointing out his nickname ("The Enforcer,") interviewing liberal Jesuit and Franciscan preists who all very worried about the state of Catholicism going forward.

His activities as a youth don't worry me at all. He was stuck and we all know that. His activities as a grown-up, as a priest, as a bishop and as a cardinal worry me very much.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

His activities as a youth don't worry me at all. He was stuck and we all know that. His activities as a grown-up, as a priest, as a bishop and as a cardinal worry me very much.

But exactly what activities were those?

 

[NoJo]

But exactly what activities were those?

We'll all find out soon enough, thanks to the power of the press.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

We'll all find out soon enough, thanks to the power of the press.

Oh, it doesn't matter. We already know. He's the Nazi. He's one who most vocally despises homosexuality. He's the divisive one. He's the George W. Bush of popes.

Oh and he has beady eyes.

 

[NoJo]

Really? Shit, thank God I'm an atheist, then.

 

[oggbashan]

Over half the BBC's Ten O'Clock News was about his election and comments from various people about what the new Pope means.

I thought I'd got rid of him (as Henry VIII that is).

Og

 

[rgraham666]

Either the new Pope will make some effort to make the Catholic Church relevant to the 21st Century.

Or it will schism again as it has several times before.

Or it will become a secondary faith like Judaism.

Shrug. plus ca change and all that.

 

[NoJo]

Either the new Pope will make some effort to make the Catholic Church relevant to the 21st Century.

Or it will schism again as it has several times before.

Or it will become a secondary faith like Judaism.

Shrug. plus ca change and all that.

I wish the cardinals would stop wearing yarmulkes. It confuses the hell out of me.

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Cardinal Ratzinger was the man behind the calling of the American bishops to the Vatican and the most vehement voice against the paedophilia incidents and the way they were dealt with. Fucker!

What was his stand on the pedophile priests and how things were covered up? I'm hoping that he took a stand on the proper side of the issue instead of siding with those that covered for and reassigned the guilty priests.

I've not spoken much on this whole pope issue. The few times that I have, people have jumped me for it. I'm going to speak my mind now that a new pope is in place.

Why did John Paul get a complete free pass on the whole pedophile issue? Abuse happened under his watch. He was the leader of the system that covered for pedophiles. He kept men like Cardinal Law in place knowing that he had covered for the abusers. All I've heard since his death is what a great and wonderful man he was. Bullshit. A great and wonderful man would have dealt with pedophiles in a manner other than covering for them and simply reassigning them so they could do their deeds to a whole new group of children. IMO that was a helluva lot more important than birth control, abortion, homosexuality or any other issue that he took a stand on. The single biggest stand he took while pope was to allow pedophiles to continue. That should be part of his legacy as well. It seems that no one wants to mention that though.

I don't know much about this new pope. As far as I'm concerned, he's starting with a blank sheet of paper. If he does everything within his power to remove and prosecute pedophiles, I will say he's done a wonderful job and deserves much praise. If he takes the same route as John Paul when it comes to pedophiles within the priest hood, I hope he burns in hell.