Richard Dawkins takes on Pope Ratzinger’s absurd charge that Hitler’s crimes grew out of atheism at the Protest the Pope rally in London which drew about 10,000 people. Hitler was baptized a Catholic and never renounced it.
Dawkins really lets the pope have it. And he deserves it.
Mano:
This is great stuff, isn’t it?
Apart from the hilariously biting comment about penises being necessary tools for the performance of pastoral duties, I particularly like the point about condemning people in the Third World to the perpetual poverty that results from having too many children. For me, human over-population is the biggest single problem on the planet -- and one that almost no-one talks about. The Catholic church does our environmental security a massive disservice by telling its vast flock not to use contraceptives.
It’s a shame, isn’t it, that a speech such as this could not be given here in America without bringing swift condemnation from the religious right. Think about how closely the Bush Administration’s faith-based initiatives tracked the positions of the Catholic church with regard to reproductive issues. No abortions. Preach abstinence to hormone-charged teenagers. Don’t even think about discussing family planning.
The U.S. population surpassed 300 million just a few years ago and is heading rapidly towards 350 million. In a rational polity, we would be debating the need for a population policy at home as well as abroad. Instead, we’re still having the same old arguments about the Supreme Court’s use of substantive due process in Roe v. Wade -- a decision that is almost 40 years old!
Mano:
I don’t know if you personally approved some of the comments above, but it seems to me that they are flagrant violations of your blog’s comment policy.
Richard.
OK, ignore that last comment. Looks like you beat me to it! Thanks.
Richard,
Some spam comments are not caught by the filter and than I have to clear them out later. So on occasion you will see them come and go.