Religion - La Papa

Oy, what a schnoz!


Yes, yes, I know it means "the potato," not "the pope," but frankly, I've never liked Ratzi, and his talent for putting his foot in it (his mouth, I suppose) combined with his fondness for soles, as opposed to souls, makes him more of a potatohead than a Pontiff, in my book. Why should I care, you ask? I'm not a Catholic, after all. I care because I was educated in a Catholic school and saw firsthand that many, very many, people are affected by what comes out of that church. I think John Paul was Pope when I was growing up, and the Church of those days seemed a lot more progressive than it is these days. I remember the glory days of Liberation Theology, and how many Catholics fought for the rights of the poor and oppressed and even went gladly to jail to protest unjust wars.

The Catholic church of pope Ratzi of the Red Prada Slippers is a very different beast indeed. These days all we ever hear about is how the Vatican is cracking down on the errant clergy who have the gall to support women's rights, or speak out against poverty and injustice. Shoes of the fisherman indeed!

At any rate, the potatohead got hisself a little press when he went to visit Brazil and make noisome news about his opposition to abortion. Luckily not every politician in the world is a spineless, slimy toady of the Bush and Blair stripe.

Following the pontiff's not-very-diplomatic words on abortion, Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomez Temporao - who recently worked with Lula towards a liberalization of the abortion legislation - fired back.

No church, no religion should impose its dogmas and precepts on a society, the minister said openly. One should listen to women, he noted Wednesday, adding that "unfortunately men do not get pregnant - if they got pregnant this question would have been solved a long time ago."

Well put, sir. I've always maintained that if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. In the interim, I'm not about to be dictated to in matters of private morality by some dithering old Queen in a dress. The world would be a much better place if nasty old men would keep their noses out of women's reproductive organs.

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