Where the heck do you get your high horse from? This editorial is nothing more then a whiny pile of hate. Last time I checked, the catholic church was the worlds largest religious organization, dedicated to bringing a message of Love and salvation to the world out of the hope that maybe, just maybe, we can make things better. But you're barely out of the gate when you start equivolating them with Nazi's. NAZIS! Seriously, you are incredibly offensive when you talk about religion and I for one think you should keep your ignorance and predjudice to yourself.

... I mean come on! The pope talking with muslims is an attack on secular traditions? Last I checked, the Catholic Church was not a secular institution.

The Catholic church *can* be equated with the Nazis. After all, Pope Pius XII did nothing to help those persecuted during WWII. Even Catholics, those who were supposed to be helped. Pope Pius even punished priests who were found to be hiding Jews, or helping them to escape the Nazis. And, many works of art, and the wealth that was stolen from the jews, ended up in the Vatican. As the head of a powerful religious organization, Pius XII should have been at the forefront of at least the defense of those members of his church. That he was not is criminal. Pius XII may have been greedy and power-hungry, or he may have just been scared, and cooperated with the Nazis to stay in power, and alive. Either way, he did not leave a legacy for the Catholic church to be proud of.

As for your comments about the Catholic church being about love and salvation, were that this was true. I know many Catholics who do not follow Jesus' admonition to love their neighbor as themselves. You seem to be in their number. Instead of politely agreeing to disagree, you tell the author of an opinion piece to "go to hell." If that isn't hate and prejudice, I don't know what is.

As often as I disagree with Mr. Hitchens, he has good reason to be disgusted with Bernard Cardinal Law and those who protect him. Aside from any violations of the law - which are for the court to decide, not me - it's clear that he abrogated his responsibility. By failing to act at times, and taking the wrong actions at others, he allowed children to suffer heinous crimes. Furthermore, he failed the priests who were guilty, by allowing them to continue sinning again and again. Better for them as well as the children to STOP them the instant that he knew. If their guilt was not established, he should have reassigned them to duties not involving contact with children while a quiet but careful and thorough investigation was conducted.

And in case anyone is wondering - I am a Catholic, and a devout one at that - I go to Mass, I give to charity (both time and money), I make a strong effort to love those who irritate the heck out of me and to live according to Christ's commandments - love of God and love of neighbor. I see a lot of good in the church, but there are also some horrific failures of both courage and conscience.

How did you mention to write all this while completely evading the point? Bernard Law should be in jail- Yes or no?

Refreshing to read your articulate, concise comment. I agree with you about Hitchens and Law. This one time I accept Hitchens' opinion without question although I usually think of him as him an irritating know-it-all.

thebin:

How did you mention to write all this while completely evading the point? Bernard Law should be in jail- Yes or no?

Like, you didn't ask me - but of course he should be in jail. How he gets there is the bigger question: How do you serve a warrant on the Pope?

thebin:

How did you mention to write all this while completely evading the point? Bernard Law should be in jail- Yes or no?

If he is found guilty in a court of law, yes, absolutely. I think he is guilty of a crime - but I'm not a juror in a courtroom, so my opinion is legally irrelevant.

And if asked, should he be put on trial? My opinion is yes. Not sure what statute would be the right one, I only know the laws that I need to learn and the ones that should be no-brainers (don't lie under oath, don't steal, don't murder, basic traffic laws, and when having trouble getting a building permit, do NOT ask who you need to bribe or where to find the Department of Graft. They don't think it's funny.)

We would be lacking several artistic works were it not for the Church of the Holy Roman Empire.

There would be no:

Godfather

Sopranos

Da Vinci Code

or Thornbirds

I believe one reader described this comment as "articulate". Hardly. The poster and reader should look up the word "equivolate", and, once they have discovered that there is no such word, look up the word the writer meant to use, "equivocate". After that, both writer and whoever posted the ridiculous comment praising this drivel should think twice about trying to use big words to make a point. I believe the word "theamazingjex" is looking for is "equate". Next time remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

The pope can talk to muslims all he wants, as church attendance dwindles he's becoming increasingly irrelevant. There is no such thing as freedom of speech in religion. That's a secular concept. The pope, in his endless quest to appease the islamofascists of the world, condemned the publishers of the muhammed cartoons. It's not surprising that he would do this. The credulous "people of the book" have to join forces to stop the (Re)Enlightenment that is now occurring.

The tone and content of the post by "theamazingjex" typifies the thuggish intolerance of many of the religiously-minded, which only goes to prove the point Hitchens was trying to make. Hitchens should keep his "ignorance and prejudice" about Cardinal Law to himself? Were he not a cleric, hiding out in the Vatican under the protection of other clerics, Law would be doing 15-20 years for aiding and abetting child molesters. Bravo to Hitchens for calling him out!

And just how does one "equivolate"?

What intellectual isn't a know-it-all aizmap?

Shouldn't you be up in a tower somewhere?

While your opinion is fine, saying someone should go to hell is (in your mind) the highest insult. You are saying 'spend an eternity in torture' so I'm saying something equally offensive: you should die of pancreatic cancer. You should really refrain from such insulting words just because you strongly disagree with someone's opinion.

Actually, I don't believe in hell so saying 'go to hell' is rather like saying 'go to Atlantis' but it's your thought that counts. I clearly don't have the supernatural ability to actually give you pancreatic cancer (or do I?) but it's my thought that counts as well. Anyway, if you did get cancer then your prayers would inspire God to heal you so that you wouldn't lose face to an atheist. If he didn't heal you, then well...hmmm.

Dobutsu:

What intellectual isn't a know-it-all aizmap?

Dobutsu: Here's what I am talking about. Sometimes I get sick of folks just a-thrashin' their gums at an issue, making no progress toward understanding nor coming near resolution of the question at hand. And I get plain dizzy and weak when folks don't admit they are doing this pointless yammering, then get proud of themselves for it and start thinking they are right! This is when a curious voyager through the intellect becomes a know-it-all. I am often dizzy with Hitchens, but not enuf to send him to Heck. This Pope article was one of the ones I am okay with.

BTW, the articulate person I addressed in an earlier post was engineergirl--seems like she has thought this through and is able to address the issue with brevity and conviction. (Yikes, how I do go on.)

NightSwimmer:

We would be lacking several artistic works were it not for the Church of the Holy Roman Empire.

There would be no:

Godfather

Sopranos

Da Vinci Code

or Thornbirds

OMG!! I am giddy with laughter!