UPDATE: I was forced to watch CNN International while on the treadmill at the gym. As millions upon millions jam Rome to see or be near JPII at his passing, CNNI’s star reporter Christiane Amanpoure kicked her fake accent up a notch while trolling the streets of Rome for a disaffected Catholic or two. That’s right. The story for CNNI wasn’t the several hundred million who joined the church under JPII or the tens of millions in Rome to honor him. The story was about a couple of disillusioned Catholics swilling beer in a café as if nothing unusual is going on in Rome.
The news blabbermouths are agog with speculation about who the next Pope will be and his political bent. I haven’t heard a single blabbermouth consider the teachings and catechism of the church. The blabbermouths talk gay rights, women’s ordination, birth control and abortion without regard to the primary duty of the Pope or any religious prelate. It’s as if the next commissioner of baseball is going to OK the use of tennis balls from time to time because the fans want to see more homeruns.
I was working on my taxes late last night and had the TV on to drown out my uh… frustration. The great minds at Armed Forces Network have determined that their captive audience should be watching the unwatchable – as ratings and advertising rates will bear out – MSNBC. The show featured failed ballet star Ron “I’d be selling shoes at J.C. Penny were it not for my old man whose principles I now trash with glee” Reagan. Reagan, who wears his atheism like a badge of honor, brought up the ordination of women and opined, “I don’t know how you can exclude over 50% of the world’s population.” He then threw in a “Although, I don’t believe in a higher being” for good measure.
The guest, a deacon due to be ordained in a year, set agnostic Ron straight and cut through all of the social engineering arguments that have the blabbermouth crowd in a tizzy these days. The deacon noted that Pope is not a political position. It is a position to advance the teachings of God. The Pope, whatever other power he has, cannot change those teachings - end of paraphrasing. Therefore, even if the Cardinals elect Boy George Pope, it will not change the word of God. It would only serve to set the church back 2,000 years.
This is what the blabbermouths don’t get. The church is not running for prom king. They are not taking positions to garner the most “votes”. The church is not joining the world. The world is joining the church. The blabbermouths ignore the fact that the church grew by more than three hundred million under JPII. They harp incessantly about the church’s decline in Europe. Yes the church is in decline in a Europe that is in decline. The population in most old European countries is dying – literally. Birth rates in Europe, due to abortion and birth control, (Did JPII ever talk about those two things? Why yes, I believe he did mention them from time to time.), are so low as to make the current culture unsustainable past about 2050. So, by extension, every institution – except Islam - in Europe is dying. [Prediction: Like Australia, European governments will soon have to begin to pay people to have babies.]
So, the Cardinals should simply elect a strong advocate for “the word” and let the blabbermouths continue to wring their hands.
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