And now I understand why we need two Popes

Emeritus Papa Benidictus XVI has broken his silence in a big way. Mimicing Pope Francis' engagement with Eugenio Scalfari, publisher of La Repubblica, on Tuesday another letter to a famous Italian athiest appeared in La Repubblica, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI directly answers the charge that he covered up sex abuse, and continues a several year old dialogue with the mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi.

It is nice to see the Popes taking on New Atheism in Italy head on- may our Bishops have the courage to do similar elsewhere in the world.

Argentine Jesuit + American Bloggers = Total Confusion

Crisis Magazine today has this wonderful roundup of links from conservatives, liberals, Jesuits, Traditionalists, and Spirit of Vatican II types about the interview with the Pope in America. About the only thing I can say about it, is apparently everybody gets to read their own biases into Pope Francis's words.

Mixed Messages?

I still say Pope Francis needs to hire a team of translators. Seems that if he leaves that job to the press Reporter Bias is invincible. But if I read a translator that I actually trust to be impartial I quickly find the Pope himself contradicting the interview that the Jesuits just released.

Or is it truly a contradiction? In the interview, he asked the Bishops to be more pastoral with gay people and less concerned with the subject of abortion. In the second article I linked to, he's talking to a different audience- to medical professionals whose very vocation is rightly the Gospel of Life.

Maybe the contradiction doesn't exist in Italian or Spanish. Perhaps it only exists in American English- tainted by the divisiveness of the culture war.
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Update:
They changed the name of the 2nd article on me.

Imagine a world- without John Lennon

He's a secular saint, that other people claim to want to emulate. But in reality, he was a deeply disturbed individual whose drug-induced psychodelic haze destroyed the morality of an entire generation in an attempt to cover up his own failings.

Mere Christianity works

Mere Spirituality, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.

Secularism teaches evil- because the philosophy can't conceive of being wrong

The slippery slope really does exist but it isn't what people think it is. What if we judged people not on how rich or poor they were, but rather on the philosophy they keep? What if we were able to choose teachers for our children, our co-workers, or who we count as friends, based on the soundness of their philosophy? Better yet, what if we chose our politicians based on the soundness of their philosophy?

Not Adolf Hitler.

More like a cross between Joe McCarthy and James Dean- Orthodox without a cause.

More evidence of Directed Evolution

Gears and levers in insects

Secularism in general bothers me

Because it is first and foremost a lie

Sex abuse causes atheism, atheism causes bad science

The revelation that Richard Dawkins was sexually abused as a child suddenly brings his entire philosophy into sharp focus. Harmed by authority, he's out to destroy the concept of authority, starting with that biggest authority of all, God.

But the problem is, authority is a necessary part of the scientific method. Without a trust in authority, certain forms of evidence can't exist. This damages the ability to look at any topic objectively- it creates an invincible bias that destroys truth.

The crazy stuff I couldn't even begin to make up

The psychology of Richard Dawkins explained in its entirety: He's suffering from post abuse stress and is trying to deny it.

Somehow, that explains his entire philosophy of life to me.

If you are attempting fidelity, that's enough on your plate

Mark Shea uses the topic of gay Catholics to teach something every Catholic needs to learn, most of all myself: The difference between Teaching the Ideal, and Living Human.

The Propaganda of Defeat

How the roaring mouse gets noticed.

And more defiance of nature

Sign the cause today- tell Home Depot and Lowe's to stop selling plants treated with bee-toxic pesticides.

Colony Collapse Disorder has been linked to these pesticides, and we've seen recent mass dieoffs in parking lots in Oregon. Bill S. recently reminded us

You know that the human race has the ability to counteract and manipulate nature for our own purposes and that there is nothing wrong with that, right?

This proves that there is indeed quite a bit wrong with that concept, and has been for a very long time now. If we don't start living WITH nature instead of AGAINST nature, soon we won't be living at all. Bee pollination is at the root of our agricultural system. There WILL be a massive famine if the bees go extinct.

ALL attempts to go against nature always have unintended consequences. Some are easier to see than others. But all are bad.

non-procreative sex is always selfish

There is a purpose to procreative sex- and done right, it can take up to 35 years.

There is NO purpose to recreational sex.

Despite the similarities, the reward outweighs the risk with the first. And is nothing other than mutual prostitution with the second.

Considering that same sex attraction alone

Can lead to “depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.” I believe that This is merely closing the barn door after the horse got out .

It came to me in a dream

A way back to where I was 10 years ago.

The problem with gay marriage is not the gay, it is the marriage.

Marriage, as concieved by every civilization so far, is inherrantly discriminatory.  Even in the most simple, polyamourous form, it says "I will restrict my sexuality to this one group of people and no other".  Human beings seem to need this level of security.

But it is awfully bigotted of government to enforce that discrimination.

Therefore civil marriage is incompatible with the Constitution, at least as currently envisioned.  CIVIL MARRIAGE DISCRIMINATES.  There is no way to write a marriage law that does not discriminate, because the whole intent of marriage is to discriminate.

Just think of the money we could save on divorce courts, if there was no government recognized marriage!