http://richarddawkins.net/articles/518808-pope-s-holyroodhouse-speech-transcript?page=1

So …

Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live.

Erm, they would be the Nazis with “Got Mitt Uns” – “God With Us” enscribed on their belts huh? Lets also not forget that Ratzi was a member of the Hitler Youth, and thus part of the Nazi tyranny that Britain et al fought against. (I’ll concede that he was young at the time, and may well have been pushed into joining by his parents). It was also the Catholic Church that had for centuries riled against the Jews, and inspired the hatred that Hitler took to such terrible conclusions.

As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a “reductive vision of the person and his destiny” (Caritas in Veritate, 29).

Um, what? Is he equating us atheists with the Nazis? What about the religious extremism huh? You know, the one that lead to planes flying into buildings? The one that lead to many years of bloody violence in Northern Ireland? The one that denies science and tells people that condoms actually lead to AIDS? That has systematically covered up the repeated sexual abuse and rape of young children in their care?

Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms;

Would they be the christian freedoms that promote slavery, demote women to second class citizens, and attempt to deny basic freedoms like Freedom of Speech? And when has any secularist ever not tolerated the religious. All we ask for is that the religious don’t enjoy any special privilege over society. The religious are free to practise their religion and traditional values all they want as long as they don’t impinge on my freedom to ignore their traditional values (and vice-versa).

Pope Ratzi, you are an odious little toad. Please don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

It made me smile.

I was happy that the DJs felt they could treat the matter with such irreverence that they could joke about it. It made me happy to think that there might be some religious nit-wit getting his knickers all in a twist because a joke was made against his Popiness. It made me happy that this could happen on one of the highest rated independent radio stations in Britain.

Go Britain.

Go home Ratzinger.

I wasn’t disappointed.

Oh, it might contain a swear word or two, so listen appropriately.

The recent earthquake in Haiti is a major disaster. From the what I have heard and read there are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands dead, and the immediate area is in chaos. Governments and organisations the world over are promising aid and financial assistance, and people of all beliefs are dipping into their pockets to give money to the various aid agencies that have sprung into action.

So, this is all the things that normally happen when there is a huge humanitarian disaster. Everyone bands together in an effort to help those stricken by whatever natural even has befallen them.

Then the religious nuts chime in. First it was that odious toad Pat Robertson claims that it was divine retribution because of Haiti’s pact with the devil to throw out the French, and that it is a blessing in disguise. Second, whilst driving in to work this morning I was listening to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2, and some religious numpty came on (I didn’t catch his name unfortunately) and proceeded to make some utterly bizarre claims. Echoing Pat he said something along the lines of “How can a god exist and allow this sort of thing to happen. Well, he can’t, unless some good comes of it.”, “Among the first support that came were words of support from the Pope.”, and “God didn’t cause this, it was just a natural event.”

HOLY COW!

OK, first off Haiti overthrew the French over 200 years ago. There is a saying that “Revenge is a dish best served cold” but wow, God obviously wanted it very cold!

Next, this is a huge disaster, with massive loss of human life. What sort of heartless, uncaring, opportunist do you have to be to say “It’s OK, don’t worry about all those dead people,God allowed this to happen so something good would come of this”. An all powerful, loving being would manage to bring about good without killing off vast swathes of the population of a country. A country by the way where around 95% of the population identify themselves  as Christians.

But lastly, the Pope(^TM ) can blow it out has fat ass. Right now what the people of Haiti need is food, medicine, and rescue workers then money in the coming months not some pompous twit sitting in his lavish palace blowing hot air.

If you can, please give to one of the international aid organisations that is actually doing something. I suggest either the Red Cross, or Oxfam.

*** FOLLOW UP ***

Some details of the supposed Pact with the Devil from StraightDope.com

Just shows that Pat has his facts wrong – no great suprises there.

The very first thing that strikes you is that the channel home page looks very professional. No surprises there, the Catholic church is certainly rich enough to be able to afford at least a couple of highly qualified web designers.

The second thing I noticed is that all of the videos seem to have comments and ratings disabled. That seems to be a common tactic amongst the religious channels. They know full well that they’ll be called to task for basically all the falsehoods that they spout, so rather than try and come up with reasoned answers, just censor the whole thing to begin with. To me it’s just another sign that religion is way out of touch with modern society – which is all about sharing information and ideas – and is absolutely unable to stand a little well placed criticism.

I haven’t been able to watch any of the videos yet, I don’t have audio from my current location unfortunately. I expect that they’re all very professionally produced, and also full of absolute nonsense. If I’m at a loose end later today I’ll give one or two of them a watch and maybe comment back here.

BBC News Link

Some Catholics are even now trying to claim that the Pope meant that condoms aren’t 100% effective. That however isn’t how this reads to me:

A tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems

Even if condoms were only 50% effective against AIDS/HIV then they will still help – provided that people are also given the education to understand the risks. As I have stated before, and is true of so many things, education is the key. Without the correct skills, everything can be dangerous. Imagine being given a car and not told how to drive. Some people will work it out and end up getting from A-B quickly and safely. Many others will muddle through and work most of it out. But there will be some that drive straight into a tree at high speed and kill themselves. All it needs is a few lessons and virtually everyone will be safe(ish) drivers.

I don’t often agree with the French, but when something has driven them enough to protest I usually agree with the root cause.

Also, let’s not forget that according to the church even abstinence isn’t 100% effective against pregnancy.

BBC News Link

Unfortunately Africa is a very poor continent, and STDs like AIDS/HIV are rife. The two most effective methods of combating AIDS/HIV are abstinence and condoms. Guess which the Catholic Church thinks works? Sex is good, sex is fun, sex is completely natural. People always have had, and will continue to have recreational sex, and long may that practise continue.

This does however lead to the spreading of STDs, which takes a terrible toll on the populations of the various sub-Saharan countries. Therefore the only effective method to try and to bring this under control is to encourage the use of condoms. Various health agencies (including the UN) have instigated programs to distribute free condoms in Africa, but it appears to be too early for the programs to show any effect.

The thing is, the Catholic Church actually claim that the use of condoms might actually make matters worse! Reading through that article some of what they say does make sense (shock, horror, I’m agreeing with the Catholics!), but I doubt it’s as simple as they are making out. Like any big problem, it is highly unlikely that there is a single, simple, solution. The problem of AIDS/HIV in Africa needs a many pronged approach. Education has to be high on the list, teach people about sexual health, give them the knowledge, skills, and tools to make more informed choices. Make access to barrier contraceptives easy, and make sure people are aware of their proper use. And yes, promotion of a more monogamous lifestyle won’t hurt.