radar is just getting us set up for his rant about being more influential than this pope when he dies in a couple of years.

Radar is just jealous that he hasn't lived long enough or in interesting enough times to have accumulated any of his own interesting dirt to be derided about.

Has anyone else noticed the new pope looks a lot like the evil emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars movies?

Thank you for saying that!! I thought I was going out of my mind. :worried:

The Pope:

The evil Emperor from Star Wars:

Aw, you guys! This one can't compete! JPII was such an incredibly good-looking guy. I feel sorry for him because his name is Ratzinger.

The Independent has today run a shock story detailing Ratzinger's strict conservatism and anti-homo/women/secularisation philosophies. Duh! Of course he's anti-secular etc. He's the pope! As much as I vehemently disagree with pretty much everything he says, that's because I disagree with religion. He's quite right to uphold his beliefs in such an eminent and clear-cut position.

That implies that for someone to be truly religious they must want their religion to be codified into secular law, and I reject that.

If he's giving a speech and a heckler throws eggs at him, I reserve the right to the first Eggs Benedict joke.

Yes, depends on your notion of religion. If it's spiritual, I agree. If it's calvinistic/theocratic, I disagree.

Nobody was, after they lost.

It isn't anymore. :)

Actually, it appears that they picked a very old, very conservative pope, probably as a placeholder. My guess is that they wanted someone who would not change the status quo. They knew that they would not be able to select anyone in any reasonable amount of time to replace JP II, so they went with a safe candidate who will be gone in a few years.

The selection process for the next pope has probably already begun and will take years. These guys could probably come to Philadelphia and teach a few of the guys here something about back room politics.

Well, the new guy is certainly theocratic. He's the guy who tried to stop Kerry from receiving communion, and is now telling Spanish officials not to cooperate with gay marriage laws. I guess Catholics shouldn't work in convenience stores that sell condoms, either.