Are religious Americans really this stupid?

[treehuggingoctopus]

Watch this and find out...

It's not an American problem only. I only wish one conducted such a survey in some European countries - Poland, for instance . . .

Poland is where blessed Pope John Paul II originated from.

Blessed. Right.

[ryu]

mmmm.....small things small minds

[Nighthawk]

Watch this and find out...

Poland is where blessed Pope John Paul II originated from.

Blessed. Right.

Not cool brah.

[treehuggingoctopus]

Blessed. Right.

Not cool brah.

Why exactly not cool, pray explain?

JPII hype is utter and complete bollocks. The truth is that's the guy who:

1. all his life strove hard to undo the liberal Second Vatican Council reforms and replace it with a hard, well-defined and centred party line
2. was best buddies with leading right-wing dictators in South America
3. did his best to destroy liberation theology
4. engaged in an 'ecumenic' dialogue - which in truth was an uneasy conversation with Judaism and Orthodox and Protestant Christianity; no other denomination proved good enough. His portrayal of Buddhism in Crossing the Threshold of Hope is as scathing as it is wildly inaccurate
5. worked very, very hard against the so-called 'civilization of death' (cf. the 'rotten West' Stalinists ranted about) - which was/is in fact the liberal, tolerance-based kind of society most of us take for granted these days
6. fought to limit the use of contraceptives, the move that proved particularly fatal in Africa, for obvious reasons
7. was misogynistic to the very bone
8. regularly covered sex abuse scandals

Quite a paragon of virtue indeed.

[Nighthawk]

Blessed. Right.

Not cool brah.

Why exactly not cool, pray explain?

JPII hype is utter and complete bollocks. The truth is that's the guy who:

1. all his life strove hard to undo the liberal Second Vatican Council reforms and replace it with a hard, well-defined and centred party line
2. was best buddies with leading right-wing dictators in South America
3. did his best to destroy liberation theology
4. engaged in an 'ecumenic' dialogue - which in truth was an uneasy conversation with Judaism and Orthodox and Protestant Christianity; no other denomination proved good enough. His portrayal of Buddhism in Crossing the Threshold of Hope is as scathing as it is wildly inaccurate
5. worked very, very hard against the so-called 'civilization of death' (cf. the 'rotten West' Stalinists ranted about) - which was/is in fact the liberal, tolerance-based kind of society most of us take for granted these days
6. fought to limit the use of contraceptives, the move that proved particularly fatal in Africa, for obvious reasons
7. was misogynistic to the very bone
8. regularly covered sex abuse scandals

Quite a paragon of virtue indeed.

That's not the point. Laughing and insulting leaders of other religions is a stupid and immature thing to do as it breeds hatred and anger. A fine example would be the Danish cartoons on Mohammad.

[treehuggingoctopus]

You know, I insulted no one. I didn't exactly laugh at JPII either, I laughed at his being described as 'blessed' - which is a wildly inaccurate description, IMO.

And I see no reason whatsoever why I shouldn't criticise religious leaders - just as I see no reason to forbid those who feel like doing that from criticising Buddhist masters, my teacher included.

[AlexanderS]

That's not the point. Laughing and insulting leaders of other religions is a stupid and immature thing to do as it breeds hatred and anger. A fine example would be the Danish cartoons on Mohammad.

It is even more stupid to respond to a random small cartoon picture with serious violence which led to several deaths and the burning of danish embassies.

[ryu]

The church has got alot to answer but fighting fire with fire doesnt work. the future of buddhism looks healthier than the future of the vatican and the present is a product of the past

X