I would like to apologize up front to my Catholic readers. Now excuse me because I have to tear a major strip of your pope. I am sorry to have to do this but he asked for it. Here goes.....
As you know Pope Benedict (a.k.a. John Ratzinger of Barvaria, Germany) is in Israel. However, before entering Israel, he spoke from Mount Nebo in Jordan (okay, at least he officially insulted the bejeebers out of Jews worldwide from outside Israel) which is where Moses reportedly looked down into the Land of Israel that he would never enter. Pope "El Deluded" Benedict spoke about the "inseparable bond" between the Jews and the Catholics. And I would just like to know in as precise detail as possible, what the hell is he talking about?
Is he talking about the 2000 years of anti-semitism? Is he talking about the fabulous life that Jews experienced under Augustine, Abelard, Constantine or the myriad other Catholic leaders who did everything humanly possible to destroy the spirit, soul and physical being of the Jewish people. Or is he talking about the fact that my stepson was verbally attacked in his 2008 Canadian university classroom by a classmate who argued: "We should kill all the Jews because they killed Christ."
Yes siree, that is one heck of a shared bond. Who could possibly be closer than the Jews and the Catholics? Perhaps the Iranian president and the Israelis. Oh wait, I forgot Hitler. Yes, we were possibly closer to Hitler.
Pope Benedict all I can say to you is PLEASE HAVE ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR YOU IN THE VATICAN DO A REALITY CHECK OF BIBLICAL PROPORTION. Doesn't anyone in the entire Vatican have an ounce of sense? Okay, if they don't have sense, do they have televisions or books or computers? I am not telling you anything that isn't well documented and covered in any number of media.
I am sorry to break this to you Pope B. but you hate the Jews. Not you personally perhaps, but why should you be absolved from that guilt if we Jews are still being penalized for killing Christ? Fair is fair. An eye for an eye. I know the last pope nixed that Jews-killing-Christ thing, but guess what? It didn't catch on so well. Most of the world's 1.13 billion Catholics never got the message.
I also feel obliged to say that I wasn't there when Jesus died and I am pretty sure that neither was any Jew I know. In fact there is lots of academic evidence to suggest that the whole anti-semitism thing was a bait and switch sort of arrangement. The Romans are the ones you should have been murdering, ghetto-izng, terrorizing, torturing, isolating, starving and all-around blaming for the past 2000 years. Of course, that would have been a scary thing to do because at the time of the unfortunate passing of Jesus THE JEW, the Romans were scarier than the Catholic Church turned out to be. Why pick on the real culprit when you could pick on the Jews?
Don't bother answering that. There is no good and legitimate answer.
I think that Jesus himself must have been looking on from heaven above today wondering what the heck you were talking about. He's YOUR lord so you can run from him but you can't hide. According to you, he sees all, which means he must have seen right through your propaganda.
And in case anyone thinks I am making this up, here's a little snippet from the pope's speech today, as reported by The Jerusalem Post:
"The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the church and the Jewish people," said Benedict. "From the beginning, the church in these lands has commemorated in her liturgy the great figures of the patriarchs and prophets, as a sign of her profound appreciation of the unity of the two testaments."
Pope B. I thought we had agreed last week that you were going to visit your followers in Bethlehem, Nazareth and other such places? Instead you came here under false pretenses and conveniently erased 2000 years of really miserable history.
So Pope B, I apologize, but as your close friend, with inseparable ties to you, I feel I have to tell you that.
you just say it like it is and that is great!
ReplyDeleteCalm down. Sure, the Catholic church has a lamentable history with Jews.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would interpret his comments as an effort to extend the olive branch. Of course there's an inseparable bond, as in the Old testament and many of the spiritual values that Catholics and Jews share, such as helping the poor.
If people of different religions spent more time exploring the inseparable bonds most religions share, the world would be a better place.
Save your outrage for anti-semitic comments. Then it's deserved. Pope B represents the Catholic church today, not throughout history.
Your quasi protestant friend Barb
Of course we have a bond. It's a bond sealed in blood. Jewish blood.
ReplyDeleteIn case you wondered which side this guy is on, notice that he has adopted the Palestinian switch & bait tactic. His entourage is here to negotiate control over all sorts of "Christian holy" sites in Israel. Not sure why all of them are calssified that way - or why even if true the Catholics would have a greater claim than other Christian groups - or why the Jewish claims to the same holy ground is less meritorious. It's sort of a quasi-"Land for Peace" offer. Give us everything we want - the land, absolution from taxes etc. etc. and we'll be a little bit nicer to you (but won't go so far as to support you in your fight with the Palestinians).
I gotta wonder if we wouldn't be better off persecuting them. The Palestinians do, and the Catholic church is constantly nicer to them than the Jews.
BTW - one of my other friends wrote a nice piece about the Pope's visit. Have a read at http://michaelhoresh.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/can-the-pope-count/
Vida, would God of all approve of you speaking or thinking this way? Ask yourself that. Is God truly in your heart? Praising of God and bashing His creations cannot flow from one mouth, both fresh and salt water cannot flow from one source.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed day my friend. "God forgive him for he knows not what he does".