Pope is Pope, he answers to his God not to American leftists.
Even if he was a fascist, a gay, has given communions to dictators, So? No one on earth can dislodge him now.

This is what I say to anyone who hates religion:

How do you know you're right?

And that's a rhetorical question, really. There's no way they can know they're right, and ultimately, atheism is a belief system in and of itself (with an increasing level of it's own dogma and liturgy). And they're arguing against groups/institutions with well established histories and theological and political philosophies.

Oh, and a sidebar point: Does anyone who's ranting against the Church (especially on the left) honestly think the Church (or any other religious group) really cares what they think? The Catholic Church (which I am not a member of) is over 2,000 years old. It's survived Rome, the Byzantines, the Holy Roman Empire, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Fascism, and Communism. Does anyone on the left really and honestly think that the Church thinks of them as anything other than yet another emotionalist and fashionable fad? (show less)

How do I know I'm right? I don't. All I have to go on is the preponderance of factual evidence. The score there is science 100, religion 0. Given the overwhelming, mutually buttressed, peer-reviewed, 100% repeatable facts of science, versus the weapons grade stupidity of religion, I am going to err on the side of science.

Saying atheism is a belief system is like saying baldness is a hairstyle. It may be comforting for you to think we are as susceptible to superstitious claptrap as you are, but I'm afraid that is not the case. All we are saying is that we don't belief in stuff for which there is zero evidence. You shouldn't either.

Regarding the church, just because a bat$hit crazy idea has managed to pollute human reason for 2,000 years is no indicator that it will continue to do so. Religion is at every turn losing the argument, especially now that the internet has wrestled the truth away from the witch doctors, shamans, juju men, and priests, and put it in the hands of inquisitive people across the globe. Reason is finally ascendant.

We can only hope that reason prevails before some faith addled idiots manage to destroy all of us. Iron age superstition in the age of nuclear weapons is a very scary thing.



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All you have is ad hominens and circular reasoning. Seriously, listen to yourself. Stop trolling us, and get a life.

I'm done bothering to comment with you: I don't care if you have the last word, because I know it'll A) be vile B) be arrogant and C) make no friends with anyone. And know this: I don't care, either way. You matter not at all to me. Nothing you say can and will faze me.

And that, precisely, is how I win the argument.

I bow to your superior argument. You win! Great job.

Now I'll wait for the confirming evidence you will surely be providing that any of this religious nonsense is true.

[crickets]

And we should respect this gentleman, why?

He is deeply embedded in an archaic, corrupt, totalitarian institution responsible for vast harm across the planet. He fully believes in an invisible, foreskin-hating sky fairy whose flesh he eats and blood he drinks every mass. He now rules over a bigoted, homophobic, mysoginistic cabal of shriveled old virgins thoroughly out of touch with modern life and even basic humanity.

Anyone who supports this insane church should be embarrassed. Not least of all the Infallible One. So don't be surprised when people object to the slobbering deification we are watching.

Corrupt? As corrupt as the govt which scapegoated and jailed an unemployed "film maker" after an ambassador and other citizens were murdered due to the govt's incompetence? As corrupt as the politician who raises everyone's taxes and rewarded his billionaire cronies?

The Church has no hold over me, but a corrupt govt can send me to jail with trump up charges.

Actually, I think the left is doing it's usual nihilistic dance here. How so? Their (predictable) reactions are essentially the kind of "Look at me!" stuff that they're known for. It's a reflexive trait designed to 1. Remind everyone how awesomely liberal they are; 2. Demand that the world turn into a liberal plaything (debate? dialectic? Forget those things); 3. Remind themselves- almost as though it's dogmatic liturgy- about what it means to be "liberal" without ever questioning or affirming their viewpoints.; 4. Wait for others to chime in unison, chanting ever louder, in the hopes that their liberal armbands will shine ever brighter, and silence the opposition.

To the left, this is nothing more than another self-reverential dance, designed to remind themselves that they are homo sapiens superior, and that everyone (who matters) should either get in line, or go away. (show less)

The "Left" needs an adversary in order to exist. They are so short of real world solutions that being against something is the only thing that gives them relevance. And they are as uptight in their own particular orthodoxy as the "villians" they claim to be against.

Excellent observations, Steve! Dead right.

But it's not religion they hate so much as anything of value or importance to the white man. (How often do they take a courageous stand against Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism?)

This, as with most everything that comes out of the minds of liberals is primarily about racism. Rght now, Africa and Asia are the most vibrant areas for Catholicism and eventually there will be a back pope. We'll see what happens then.

Race isn't the issue -- it's that The State is a jealous god, and thou shalt have no competing allegiance.

Black pope, a black pope, not a back pope, will tie them in knots.

It's the totalitarian instinct in our liberal friends.
No social institution that is not directed by the state shall be allowed to exist.