Kind Of Amusing Link For Misanthropes

[HDPM]

Here's a link to some dude's website and a thumbnail biographical sketch of rotten Popes. Some good info in here, whether or not it is accurate. Good argument fodder. web page (http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/papacy.html)

If I were really nuts I'd name a daughter after one of these guys. "Uh, is her last name VI and his first name Pope or what?" "No, Just plain Pope Alexander VI..."

[Zeno]

Interesting web page. And most of the information is still scanty. Some of these guys were real monsters. Also, it does show quite conclusively that the papacy was a political tool of powerful Italian families for hundreds of years. The papacy is a truly ludicrous office but will surely continue for many ages to come. The personal character of modern popes may be “better” but the social and human damage done by their continued preaching of archaic notions and puerile attitudes is immense.

-Zeno: Atheist, Misanthrope, and Mariner Fan.

[brad]

since much of the misery of the 3rd world is overpopulation/ large families, its a valid argument to say the pope is evil for his no birth control position.

[HDPM]

It's worse than that. Recent news stories have indicated that the Church in Africa is teaching that condoms don't prevent AIDS. They are saying it isn't scientifically proven that condoms prevent AIDS. Last time I checked AIDS was a massive problem in Africa. And people die miserable deaths without medical care there. But soon to be Saint Theresa says that is a good thing because suffering is noble and pure. And this teaching on condoms really has nothing to do with the Church's stance on birth control when you think about it. They could easily say condoms prevent AIDS but it is immoral for Catholics to use them or to engage in enumerated sexual acts because of this doctrine here, that dogma there, and the encyclical bull order command from 872. But they don't say that, they try to undermine rational thinking in the quest to get people to believe their pile of beliefs. It is plain that the Church as an institution has monstrous views which are calculated to cause human misery. Nothing new.

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
It's worse than that. Recent news stories have indicated that the Church in Africa is teaching that condoms don't prevent AIDS.

[/ QUOTE ]

An article appeared in the Guardian in early October. I'm sure it was picked up by other papers also.

[ QUOTE ]
But they don't say that, they try to undermine rational thinking in the quest to get people to believe their pile of beliefs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Make that "pile of crapola", HDPM. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I just read an interesting article in the recent issue of Free Inquiry about the bed politics between Christianity (Protestant and Catholic ecclesiastics) and the rise of the Nazis. The article goes into detail about the Concordant that the Vatican secretly negotiated with Hitler and the Nazis once they came to power. One of the Vatican negotiators later became Pope Pius XII. Needless to say, the Concordant is a sickening document but there is nothing new or unusual about that in reference to both the Nazis and the Vatican.

-Zeno