Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he is resigning from his position as pope, making him the first occupant of the position to do so in six centuries. And it didn't happen soon enough. His tenure as pope has been a disaster in many ways, not the least of which has been the revelation that the Catholic church not only harbored child molesters in its ranks, but that it helped them cover up their crimes. And there is good evidence that Benedict was neck deep in the cover up. When normal people give assistance to criminals who are trying to hid their crimes, that is usually called "obstruction of justice". When normal people aid a criminal in continuing to commit more crimes, and the Catholic church did exactly that, it is called "criminal conspiracy". When the Catholic church did those things, they called it "business as usual", and shrieked when anyone had the temerity to suggest that maybe they should be prosecuted like the criminals they are.
Granted, I am not Catholic, but I'm related to people who are, and they and millions like them take this medieval superstition seriously. Even if I had no connections to the Catholic church, the figure of the pope is one that, for reasons that defy logic and reason, millions of people look to for guidance on issues like marriage, homosexuality, sexual relations, and other issues. And on almost every issue, Benedict was dead wrong, and in the case of issues like condom usage to prevent AIDS, murderously so. I have no illusions that whoever is elected to replace Benedict will be much better. After all, the Catholic church is a reactionary, and in many ways hateful organization. But we can hope that the new pope might work to move the church's position just a little bit. Maybe while they are at it, the cardinals can find a new pope who didn't help his fellow priests molest children.
This Musical Monday selection may offend some people. To this I say: Tough. Some people may say this disrespects the pope. To this I say: Good. All popes deserves to be disrespected, and this one especially so. Because everything Minchin says in his song is true. So, if you are offended by the song, I only have to wonder why you aren't offended that a man as morally bankrupt and as complicit in a criminal conspiracy as Benedict was handed the position of pope. Or any position other than "inmate".
Subsequent Musical Monday: The Bed Song by Amanda Palmer
Tim Minchin Musical Monday Home
I'm became Catholic in 09, and my husband was born Catholic, but neither of us are huge fans of the current pope. Because I'm a rebel, I'm okay saying that, but for many Catholics it's a hard thing to say.
ReplyDelete@Beth: I'm not Catholic, and it mystifies me why people stay Catholic when they disagree with the church dogma, but then again, there are a lot of things that mystify me.
ReplyDeleteBut one thing I would note is that your husband was not "born Catholic". He was a member of no religion at birth, and then his parents inculcated their religion into him without his input. No child is born into a particular religion. They are taught religion long before they have any capacity to really understand what is going on.