Richard Dawkins, the well-known former scientist and atheist messiah campaigner, along with his pal Christopher Hitchens, is exploring ways to arrest the Pope on a forthcoming visit to Britain for ‘crimes against humanity’ over the Pope’s ‘alleged cover-up’ of the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. They (that’s Dawkins and Hitchens) wish to exploit the same legislation that allowed for the arrest of the former ruler of Chile, Mr Pinochet, in 1983. The legal niceties of such a challenge notwithstanding, one can only gasp at Mr Dawkins’ brass neck.
However, I think there is one area in which Mr Dawkins and the Catholic Church might – unbelievably – find common ground. It has been reported that a retired cleric is allegedly of the opinion that the whole brouhaha about pedophilia among priests is all the fault of … you guessed it … the World Jewish Conspiracy. There is currently some debate about whether the cleric said these things in the first place, but it does add an interesting flavor to the debate, especially as Mr Dawkins has previously stepped into that particular minefield.
I think the problem has less to do with Jews than Catholic hang-ups about sex. It’s amazing that a body exists that insists, as a condition of employment, that its executives remain celibate. Priests are as human as the rest of us, and subject to the same urges. I reckon the Catholic Church could, actually, learn a thing or two from the Jewish attitude to sex, as exemplified by the following tale.
A priest and a rabbi are sharing the same train compartment (you can tell already that this joke is so old it has moss growing on it). Being in the same line of work, they begin to chat. ‘Is it true,’ the priest asks, ‘that you Jews are forbidden from eating pork products?’
‘Yes, it is,’ the rabbi replies.
‘But were you ever tempted to … transgress?’
‘Yes, I must confess that I was,’ the rabbi replies. ‘When I was young and foolish, I ate a bacon sandwich. Just the once. And I have to say it was delicious. But might I ask you a question in return?’
‘Of course.’
‘I believe that you, as a priest, must remain celibate. Did you …? Have you …?’
‘Ah, me,’ the priest reflects. ‘I also have a confession to make. When I was a young man I committed a carnal act with a female parishioner. Just the once.’ The priest’s eyes mist over in recollection.
The rabbi leans over and pats the priest on the knee. ‘A lot nicer than bacon sandwiches, eh?’
But bacon sandwiches are VERY nice.
Brian – you should get out more. Or perhaps stay in more.
More best the woman, is normal. I say.
My first rabbi was a woman, and a practicing lesbian. And as everyone knows, practice makes perfect. The main thing was that nobody had a problem with this. Compare this with the current implosion of churches around the world concerning homosexual clergy, women clergy, pedophile clergy. It's all entirely unnecessary.
Great joke! Some aspects of the Jewish religion / culture do seem much more sensible than Catholicism, a religion my father (and hence the rest of the family) gave up when he saw his priest's reaction to my protestant mother. The priest refused to read the banns, and refused to even acknowledge my mother's presence or look her in the eye. All this for someone from the same basic religion… imagine if she'd been Jewish…As a result of this interaction, I was brought up with a healthy distrust of Catholic priests. Oh, and fish for dinner every Friday, because that's just what you do, and bacon sandwiches for lunch every second Saturday, because they're delicious.
Hi! Henry, when you make a new article, I'm tired of reading so much garbage and shit. I am polluted.I do not mean for you if by the resented frustrated that abound.
My brought up in the Plymouth Brethren. My dad was a Catholic, and apparently the Brethren decided that he was the Devil, for wanting to marry my mum.By the time I turned up, they had both given up on organised religion: my dad was either agnostic or apathetic, and my mum was Anglican.
Bob – Plymouth Brethren. That's serious shit, that is.
Nice joke – hadn't heard that one before.My parents were both sent to schools run by religious orders (Anglican for my dad and Catholic for my mother), but had given up on religion by the early teens. So religion played zero part in my upbringing. Though my brother and I were both baptised – family legend has it the church-going Irish (maternal) granny threatened to go on hunger strike otherwise. My better half, also thoroughly irreligious, has the interesting distinction (if that's the word) of having actually been confirmed by the present Pope back when he was an archbishop in Germany. Talking of fervent non-conformist sects, I did evening classes with a lawyer who had been raised a Pentecostal in the North of England. I recall her describing her childhood to me as "Like Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, but without the lesbianism". Anyway, thinking about it I seem to know a lot of people who grew up in religious households/ schools but who are not in the least religious. Though in modern Britain I suppose that isn't altogether surprising.PS Had my own brief say on the Pope in a comments thread here. The commenter before me is the rather more famous PZ Myers.
Oh, my god, why me abandon. I remember taht my father is Catholic and my mother too. After long time, my mother is catholic and my father is writer. I am a strange mixture
Oh, my god, why me abandon. I remember that my father is Catholic and my mother too. After long time, my mother is catholic and my father is writer. I am a strange mixture