Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens Agree with Me

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

On March 26th I posted a piece in this blog that was titled "Fire the Pope!" It was really meant as a kindness, because what the reptilian old reprobate really deserves is a good public caning followed by life in one of the Vatican's dungeons. You see, our esteemed Pope, back when he was just a lowly Cardinal named Ratzinger, did much to protect pedophile priests, some of whom were able to remain in contact with children for years due to his overt neglect and misguided goal of protecting the reputation of the Church - a goal that overrode the protection of children. The result was predicable: more children were scarred for life, and the reputation of the Church went into the crapper anyway.

Nice work, Ratzinger!

I don't claim to be an atheist, but I am definitely repulsed by the God of the Christian Fundamentalists, a white male deity who is obsessed with hatred and vengeance, and who smites down anyone who dares to have a secular thought. The moralistic crackers who promote this wrathful God must live in constant fear that somebody somewhere is having fun. I believe in the historical Jesus, a teacher who roamed the desert promoting weird ideas like peace and love and making sure that weddings had plenty of wine. I doubt very seriously that the poor son of a carpenter gave a camel's ass about who was sleeping with whom under those starry desert nights.

The politicizing of religion came about during the first millennium of the Church's existence. If the princes of the Church were to live in gilded palaces, certain things had to be incorporated into the religion - things like rules of behavior, fear of pissing God off, and a big collection plate. The Christian fundamentalists of today see themselves as God's eyes and ears on earth, and their mission is to amass enough cash and political clout to keep all of the heathens in line. These morals police have no interest in niceties like love or compassion.

So, again, I am not an atheist, but my God is a much more pleasant and understanding deity than the one worshiped by the fundies. I don't want to be ruled by a God like theirs, and living in their Heaven would be my definition of Hell.

But Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are atheists - bold, intelligent, and well-reasoned atheists. Both, like me, are outraged over the Pope's enabling of the pedophile priest plague, and both, like me, are calling for the removal from office of this criminal. Whereas I just called for his firing, Dawkins and Hitchens have gone a step further and are calling for his arrest. The Pope will be traveling to the United Kingdom in September, and Dawkins and Hitchens believe that would provide a great opportunity to effect the pontiff's arrest for crimes against humanity.

The Vatican feels that the Pope is immune from arrest because he is a head-of-state. Though not everyone regards Vatican City, a few square blocks located in the heart of Rome, as a sovereign country, those who do might do well to remember Manuel Noreiga and Saddam Hussein, two other despotic heads-of-state who were carted off to prison.

Pope Benedict XVI, aka Cardinal Ratzinger, caused serious harm to be done to many children, and he did squat to bring pedophile and rapist priests to justice. Upon reflection, I believe that just firing him would not send the proper message. Lock his ass up!