December 20, 2012

Are you keeping up with the tweeting of the Pope?

I started "following" him, but then there were no tweets, and I check Twitter so rarely, that I hadn't read any of his tweets. Then, I read in Vanity Fair: "Pope Starts Tweeting, Can’t Stop Tweeting, Is Called a 'Huge Bummer." Wow. Okay. So, I'll check what the Pope is tweeting. (I am not Catholic, so I'm under no obligation!)



Going for the embed code, I get to see everyone who's replying to that:



147 comments:

Bob Ellison said...

Twitter is a vehicle for self promotion. A pope might see value in that, even without sin, insofar as it might promote the values and the church he espouses.

Still, I find it odd that the pope would find such self-promotion proper. It doesn't seem Christian. Neither does popedom itself.

That God he keeps talking about is perhaps not Who he, or you, think He is.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Putting all that tradition and pomp on full display in such an accessible, interactive and terse social media network as Twitter is bound to make him look no more respectable than any ordinary, diehard religious fanatic. The second comment portends this. Welcome to the electronic democratization of all authority everywhere. Full stop.

mccullough said...

Why doesn't anyone treat the Dalai Lama with this type of scorn?

Anonymous said...

Muccullough: Why doesn't anyone treat the Dalai Lama with this type of scorn?

---Duh. He's not a white straight christian male promoting western society.

Jaske said...

Maybe it's a hedge on the possible 21st apocalypse.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And it works both ways. Put a guy with an avatar matching a return from a Google Images search for "tribe" on Twitter and he'd get just as many wisecracks. Avatars are not meant to be taken seriously. For some reason, Hollywood celebrities might be the exception, but they tend to be good looking.

But I bet you that if you put the guy from the rain forest with the bone in his nose that Sting used to campaign with and he'd look equally less dignified.

Maybe it's just the medium of Twitter. Terseness has its limits. Remaining dignified in 140 characters or less is a tradition that died out with the North American Indians.

Shouting Thomas said...

Oh, well, I bet the Pope has a sense of humor, and this sort of stuff doesn't bother him at all.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Why doesn't anyone treat the Dalai Lama with this type of scorn?

Probably because he preaches peace in a generic way, unencumbered by strictures on every little sexual detail as interpreted by a celibate man.

The Dalai Lama does not give off the sense of snooty exclusiveness that the Pope does. Much better for his brand.

joe said...

"You know this is a Protestant country and the Catholics and Jews are here under sufferance."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The avatar of the commenter chiming in at 6:33 allows me to rather easily rest my case on the use in taking avatars seriously.

Darrell said...

Because the Dalai Lama is a Socialist?

Quaestor said...

Benedict hasn't been doing his job. Rome has a dozen bridges and he hasn't inspected any of them.

mccullough said...

Twitter needs to have haiku month and 5 words or fewer month. I want to know who is the pithiest person in the Twitterverse.

mccullough said...

Here's one for the pope: "Virgin birth beats virgin sacrifice."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Twitter hasn't looked this dignified since Don Trump popped off on election night.

mccullough said...

Another. " Mayans wrong again. Merry Christmas!"

kentuckyliz said...

Go ahead. Tweet pissily at the pope. Extra time in purgatory.

garage mahal said...

I wonder if God really does have his own Twitter account. Does the Pope follow "God" on Twitter? The "right" One?

Likewise, I bet it would be awkward to arrive at the Pearly Gates and you have to explain the God parody accounts you ran on Twitter.

Carol said...

Ritmo's all butthurt because he's not in the Catholic clique. We're very exclusive!

mccullough said...

"Dalai Lama, fortune cookie philosopher"

Shouting Thomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kentuckyliz said...

I like the pope's tweets. I don't want the same self-promotion internet slime I get from everyone else. Just 140 characters of salt and light. Thank you your popeness.

mccullough said...

" Islam Not religion of Peace"

Smilin' Jack said...

Mary is filled with joy on learning that she is to be the mother of Jesus, God’s Son made man. True joy comes from union with God

Hee...Mary is about 15 at this time. God: the original pedophile.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Not as butthurt as the vast number of lapsed Catholics who quickly tired of all that somehow went along with that "club".

mccullough said...

"Kama Sutra better than Koran"

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

That last comment was directed at Carol.

Shouting Thomas said...

Ritmo, I am a church musician who plays at three different parishes in NY and NJ.

The rumors of the demise of the Church are greatly exaggerated.

Services are well attended. Particularly by young marrieds with children.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

They seem to gain more adherents by breeding than by other means, though. Not that I mind; I'm actually more at home in a Latin setting than a stuffy Anglo one. But you still have to admit, it's bad for branding. Free will is one heck of a selling point.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The rumors of the demise of the Church are greatly exaggerated.

Services are well attended.


Oh, I'm sure they attend. Ceremonies are great fun! But whether they take the projected authority of the many authorities within it as seriously those authorities take themselves is another matter entirely.

Rosalyn C. said...

The Pope should stick to his guns. NoPunIntended. Furthermore, we are entering a time when the Christian flock in the Middle East is in very serious trouble and persecution of Christians is at an all time high and getting worse. Benedict XVI visited Lebanon recently and took those Christians under his wing.

"His insistence that religious freedom is a basic human right and a prerequisite for social harmony was a bold statement in the context of a region where most countries restrict and even prohibit the practice of any faith besides Islam. But like the document he came to Lebanon to present, a collection of his reflections on the 2010 special Synod of Bishops dedicated to Christians in the Middle East, the pope said nothing specific about where and how the region's Christians are regularly deprived of that right." http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1203891.htm

He is treading a fine line as a man of peace and a spiritual leader in not inciting more violence, yet he does not want to be complicit in the slaughter of Christians by not speaking out at all.

see also: THE POPE IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES: CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR CHRISTIANS TO ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-pope-in-financial-times-christmas.html

All he's got is his spiritual message and why not use twitter?

Shouting Thomas said...

They aren't breeding, Ritmo.

They are bringing lovely, wonderful children into this world.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

They are bringing lovely, wonderful children into this world.

Who? Hispanics? Why yes, I agree they are!

But the traditionalists can't seem to get their vote in the allegedly freest country on earth, for some reason.

Shouting Thomas said...

Oh, I'm sure they attend. Ceremonies are great fun! But whether they take the projected authority of the many authorities within it as seriously those authorities take themselves is another matter entirely.

I know a lot of priests. Most of them have a very well developed sense of humor.

Official Church doctrine is that they are servants, shepherds of the flock, not authorities. At least, that's my understanding.

Most priests spend the majority of their day in nursing homes and in the homes of the sick and dying, providing a bit of solace and companionship. It's a tough job.

Chip Ahoy said...

I want to see the Pope tweet back, "oh go to hell" and mean it.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I'm actually a fan of the tangible social mission of the Catholic priesthood and all that. So to the extent that they leave doctrine to others, I suppose that's all well and good. What isn't, though, is the way it then goes completely unchallenged.

Being neither, I will admit that I find Catholics along where I live in the East Coast easier to understand than Protestants. They have value for such a thing as "community", and that's important.

But I still wouldn't want to put up with what they have to.

mishu said...

Probably because he preaches peace in a generic way, unencumbered by strictures on every little sexual detail as interpreted by a celibate man.

You obviously know jack shit about Buddhism.

mishu said...

Probably because he preaches peace in a generic way, unencumbered by strictures on every little sexual detail as interpreted by a celibate man.

You obviously know jack shit about Buddhism.

Dr Weevil said...

I read long ago that the Dalai Lama is just as opposed to homosexuality and other non-procreative sex acts as the Pope, but somehow still manages to be considered cool. Some of the comments on this HuffPo page suggest that that is correct, and that garage mahal's impression that the Pope is somehow snootier or more exclusive stems from pure ignorance.

Mark B said...

Ritmo,
What does your avatar say about you?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I dunno, Mark. That an aurora borealis might be a pleasant and interesting thing to look at? No gravitas necessary there. I guess the wisps of magnetic light reflections look whimsical and playful. It's intended with all the self-importance of the scene in American Beauty where the plastic bag dances endlessly in the wind: Namely, none.

Dr Weevil said...

Anyone who writes that the Catholic church has "many authorities within it" should probably stop right there and stick to other subjects in the future to avoid embarrassing himself further.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So you can go and tell the bishops who threatened to deny communion to politicians who weren't anti-choice that they were wrong then, doctrinally speaking, Dr. Weevil. That great is your authority and penchant for avoiding embarrassment.

Douche.

garage mahal said...

garage mahal's impression that the Pope is somehow snootier or more exclusive stems from pure ignorance.

Huh?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Dalai Lama just plain comes across as more fun, friendly and welcoming than the former Nazi Youth guy, Weevil. Get over it. And get over yourself.

Dr Weevil said...

Does Ritmo think that I'm claiming that I'm the authority that speaks for the entire Catholic Church? That's the only possible partial meaning I can extract from his latest words, and it's obviously and entirely false.

Mark B said...

Ritmo,
Thank-you for the thoughtful reply. My daughter's attention was drawn to it. A child's eye drawn to a lovely bauble. Empty at its core.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Glad to know you think so little of your daughter's intelligence or curiosity and so much of your thick and pompous "core", Mark.

Dr Weevil said...

So garage and Ritmo think that it's perfectly OK to disapprove of homosexuality and all other non-procreative sex as long as you wear plain orange robes and look like a jolly grandpa when you smile? (It can't be the baldness, because plenty of Popes have had that.) Or maybe they're just bigots with an irrational contempt for Christianity and fondness for exotic Buddhism.

Automatic_Wing said...

I prefer to call him the Bishop of Rome. I guess it's the Orangeman in me.

Shouting Thomas said...

Three hours and 38 minutes until the end of the world!

Charles Barkley thinks it's all stupid and that the Mayans were wrong.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

(It can't be the baldness, because plenty of Popes have had that.)

Nor could it be their collaboration with Nazis or their penchant for ruling Europe and machinating between its kings, could it?

Nah...

Tibetans are fighting to overthrow Chinese corporate communism and tyranny. And yes, they are a bit more colorful. And the flags and those pilgrims! Very participatory.

But I suppose that bit about having to defend Chinese corporate communism is what really makes you feel hostile to the Tibetans and their rallying cry. Yes, popes have a long history of fighting for much more respectable things, politically speaking. Or something.

garage mahal said...

So garage and Ritmo think that it's perfectly OK to disapprove of homosexuality and all other non-procreative sex as long as you wear plain orange robes and look like a jolly grandpa when you smile?

I think you should be able to disapprove of anything you want. But what in the HELL does all this have to do with me!

I made a simple joke about God and Twitter. Gees Louise.

CWJ said...

Benedict has proven to me that he is a far better Pope than I thought he'd be. Of course, he should use twitter. Why not, Jesus' parables were shorthand for larger truths that would be imposible to otherwise explain in the time available.

Pope Benedict gets pushback and snark? Who'd of thunk it. He posts, in this case what I believe, is truth. And let's it hang there to be considered, believed or not.

Those that read and believe are comforted. Those who read and consider are his audience. Those who read and mock have always been with us.

The important thing is that he does not get drawn into a debate with those who will not see, much less discuss cogently.

Ritmo. you are the seed who was cast upon the rocks.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's ok, CWJ. I never intended for any blood to be squeezed from your rock. Soil is more fertile and allows for actual life and thought to be grown. Sunlight, too.

Dr Weevil said...

Is Ritmo drunk, or insane? I have said nothing against the Dalai Lama, and I wish him all possible success in his struggle for Tibetan freedom. I just think it's hilarious that Ritmo and garage can't seem to grasp that someone they approve of (the Dalai Lama) may have very similar ideas on sexual morals to someone they despise (the Pope). I rather like them both.

Now Ritmo thinks I'm supposed to despise the current Pope because of the bad things other Popes did. Is he aware that there have been dozens of high Lamas? I believe some have cooperated with the Chinese regime, though they may have had little choice. Is the Dalai Lama responsible for the crimes of all the others?

Of course, anyone who calls Benedict XVI a Hitler Youth is a vile bigot. He was drafted into it, as was every other German boy, and deserted as soon as he could. Like some Lamas, he had little choice.

Dr Weevil said...

Oops, you're absolutely right, garage (for once, ha ha).

I somehow (can't think why) got you mixed up with Ritmo. In fact, he was the one using the Dalai Lama on this thread as a stick to beat the Pope with, calling the latter 'snooty' and a Nazi, and generally acting like a moron.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Who cares about sexual "morals", whatever that means? I haven't heard the Dalai Lama spouting off about it lately. Or ever, really. I haven't heard these things used as fodder for vacuous American political campaigns.

But what I would like to know is, where the papacy stands on China - one of the more concerning threats to freedom today? I know what they thought during the Cold War, but how about anything pertaining to freedom before that? Mind you, they did have more than a millenium's worth of experience running the show in authoritarian Europe, behind the scenes.

Lastly, Benedict might not have had much choice in what happened in his youth. But what of Pius XII, during his, you know "reign" - or whatever you call it? What about the case James Carroll made for critically examining the role of his institution in the events that culminated in that not so proud episode? Or is criticizing others something you only reserve for liberals?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Nice way to make light of your persistent unwillingness to read, Weevil. It wouldn't have been the first time. But glad to see you use garage as a stick to beat me with, since you seem to like seeing things that way.

Known Unknown said...

RItmo, having a difficult time separating faith from men.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You bet, EMD. "Faith" is inseparable from the men who believe or are told to believe it, as much as is the "reason" that they choose or refuse to temper it with.

Yep, I don't have much use for blind faith.

Shouting Thomas said...

Yep, I don't have much use for blind faith.

Ritmo collapses into pontificating. I suppose you know the source of that term, Ritmo.

You're funny when you start carrying on this way.

At least, when you're not turning vile. Somehow, on this issue, you also avoid the endless term paper padding.

That's a relief.

The world awaits your next pronunciamento, Ritmo. I can hardly wait.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sorry, Dude. I'll leave that to your guy in the hat.

Me, I just respond to the thoughts that others say. Sometimes I come up with my own, and when I do, I don' t think that they are any more unworthy of criticism than yours or anyone else's are.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

on this issue, you also avoid the endless term paper padding.

No. It's just that this is an issue about which you happen to know something - and hence don't feel your intelligence insulted by discussing it in detail, even if more critically than you might have wanted to.

garage mahal said...

Oops, you're absolutely right, garage (for once, ha ha).

Yea. Ha. Ha Ha.

Shouting Thomas said...

Who told you that "blind faith" is a tenet of the Church?

I never hear it mentioned.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It doesn't matter, Shouting. It's an apt description for what many nevertheless do.

I think you (and a couple others here) are doing a fine attempt to rise above that, but don't insult yourself by pretending it never happens. Many premises for more than a few matters held to by the church start from erroneous premises, and dogmatically/axiomatically furthered. Otherwise, they wouldn't be controversial.

Shouting Thomas said...

This kind of carrying on, Ritmo, about the Catholic Church, is sorta like all that carrying on leftists do about Faux News.

Why bother?

If you don't like Faux News, don't watch it. If you don't like Catholic doctrine, ignore it.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I do (ignore it), Shouting.

But when its ideas are injected to our supposedly otherwise secular political debates, you had better believe I will discuss it. And challenge it. And when it's wrong, agitate against it.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This is the Popes way of saying to the flock 'get busy... we need more catholics'.

Chai Chai said...

I have always wondered why non Catholics were so concerned with what Catholics teach and practice.

It seems to me that they don't want to join the faith yet don't want others to belong either.

Is it a sense of not belonging? Is it guilt for not having a particular Faith?

Shouting Thomas said...

I would contend that Catholicism is one of the world's great intellectual traditions, rather than a matter of blind faith.

I read the Gospel yesterday in which the angel announces to Joseph that Mary is pregnant with Jesus.

It's a pretty astonishing story that, I think, at its core, deals with the issue of bastardy, and forgiveness of women and children for the same. That's just my opinion. You could say that it parallels rather closely, the story of Obama.

Priests taught me to challenge my faith, and to examine my conscience in confession. I'm not sure what that has to do with blind faith.

Ideas are "injected" into the public debate? The moral ideas of the world's great religions have no place in public debate? You make it sound so sinister.

Aren't injections usually healthy for the body of the patient?

edutcher said...

Watching these morons make light of the Pope's tweets always reminds me of how many idiots there are out there who see the Internet as the biggest platform available to make fools of themselves.

Smilin' Jack said...

Mary is filled with joy on learning that she is to be the mother of Jesus, God’s Son made man. True joy comes from union with God

Hee...Mary is about 15 at this time. God: the original pedophile.


You married as soon as you were able to reproduce in them thar days, moron.

Shouting Thomas said...

Three hours and 38 minutes until the end of the world!

Charles Barkley thinks it's all stupid and that the Mayans were wrong.


You think He'd let me go later so I could hear Ritmo and the rest of the Lefties shrieking in terror?

PS Ritmo's starting to sound like shilol.

Hmmmm....

Jose_K said...

Mary is about 15 at this time= That the consent age in many states and countries

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Oh, I'm sure there is a rich intellectual tradition in Christianity, as well as in so many other cultural teachings - no matter how odd the stories they hold to. You should read Joseph Campbell on how common the threads between these mythologies (yes, I said that correctly) really are. Whether they're true or not, they can still be meaningful.

And yes, you can inject (or bring, or whatever word) your religious ideas into public debate. But debate means they will be criticized.

When it comes to government, they will be criticized in as many ways as possible. Therefore, you'd best be prepared to "translate" them into secular terms. As it stands, the supposed sanctity of the zygote simply has no secular, true basis in reason. It amounts to a sanctification of a genome. It is information, and that is important - but not a sentient human being - which is much more important. And the idolization of mere genetic properties has a long, disgusting and sordid history.

Of course, you can talk about your religious ideas in the public debate all you want, whether in a political forum or not. But this is America, everything does or quickly can become political. So if you prefer to remain non-rational with your ideas, be prepared to be a proselytizer and to confine your "mission" to converting people. The government is not the place for making religious conversions, though. Not in this country.

m stone said...

Is it a sense of not belonging? Is it guilt for not having a particular Faith?

Some say is condemnation, Chai Chai.

The dead do not go down easily.

Jose_K said...

But the traditionalists can't seem to get their vote in the allegedly freest country on earth, for some reason
One: most immigrants are middle class. They are cafeteria catholics.
Two:the rich immigrants dont like protestans
Three:most see republicans as e imperialist, elitist and nativist
Four, but for cubans, most LatinAmaericans are left wingers . Most dictatorships were backed by the USA during Cold War, especially by Ike.( who said about one of them: he is a son of a b , but is our s of a b). And latin left winger marry in the church and send their offspring to catholics schools.
Five: the Church in LatinAmerica is mostly left winger too.

Shouting Thomas said...

When it comes to government, they will be criticized in as many ways as possible. Therefore, you'd best be prepared to "translate" them into secular terms. As it stands, the supposed sanctity of the zygote simply has no secular, true basis in reason. It amounts to a sanctification of a genome. It is information, and that is important - but not a sentient human being - which is much more important. And the idolization of mere genetic properties has a long, disgusting and sordid history.

What a mess of assumptions, projections and assumed certainties that is, Ritmo. Impossible to respond to a mess like that.

I'm a high level programmer. I'm pretty clear what "information" is, and you aren't.

The first thing you might do to clarity your thinking is to quit being so assured that you know things that you cannot possibly know. That's just a defense mechanism. For some reason, it is important to you to insist that you have this amazing sense of assurance.

You don't really because no human does.

Jose_K said...



Three:most see republicans as imperialist, elitist and nativist
It does not matter if true. That is what they believe

CWJ said...

Chai Chai, I agree its an interesting observation that requires said non-Catholics to think through their obsession. As a practicing Catholic, I couldn't care less about their lack of belief.

Shouting Thomas, I agree wholeheartedly. Catholicism teaches us to honestly examine what we believe and what we do as human beings having to live as humans on this earth. At least that's what I've consistently heard from three different parishs in my life.

Look, live your life, vote your concience, worship your God, and ignore the little nonthinking harpies nipping at your ankles like Ritmo.

BTW, Ritmo, your ripost shows that you've perhaps never heard, much less understood, the parable of the sowing of the seed. I'm a little ashamed of myself for even replying.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The first thing you might do to clarity your thinking is to quit being so assured that you know things that you cannot possibly know.

A zygote (fertilized egg) is simply DNA and a membrane. How much clearer and simpler do you want it?

If you propose to defend your church's intrusion into biology, you will have to discuss biological terms. "High-level" programmer, my ass. You can't use THAT as a defense for saying that whatever you don't know about (in this case, high school biology) isn't intelligible.

It is. You just throw up your hands, declare Greek words and biological concepts beyond you. Yes, I don't doubt that you find them beyond you - but stop saying that because something hasn't been simplified to a bar too low to be meaningful (to you), that it is wrong. You simply have set too low a bar.

I hate when Althouse says ridiculous things like "raise your game," but that definitely applies to you. Learn some science. Then defend (or criticize) how your church tells me to vote on it.

Chip Ahoy said...

CWJ, Ritmo did heard that parable. We all saw it right here. Jesus came and a'splained it to the little cherub on Ann's bench.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

If Catholicism declares any of the empty ramblings of CWJ "thought", then I hereby withdraw my supposition that it has an intellectual tradition.

Shouting Thomas said...

I make (or made) my living mostly in the pharma biz, Ritmo. I actually am very well schooled in anatomy and physiology, as well as pharmacology. I spent years working with the most amazing, mostly Ivy League educated biochemists.

You don't know what you're talking about, do you?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I make (or made) my living mostly in the pharma biz, Ritmo. I actually am very well schooled in anatomy and physiology, as well as pharmacology. I spent years working with the most amazing, mostly Ivy League educated biochemists.

And yet, you have trouble with concepts like "genome" and "zygote"?

Unbelievable.

You are either a liar or just cowardly dodging a debate that you know you can't win.

Shouting Thomas said...

Before I went into the multimedia biz, mostly to produce educational material in the pharma biz, Ritmo, I worked for 15 years in IT in corporate legal.

My last job was producing online education for medical professionals in administering a trial Alzheimer's medication.

I understand the legal and scientific issues you just took a dumb stab at.

You don't.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Blah blah blah... My name is Shouting Thomas and I am so well educated in things that I lack the capacity to discuss. Blah blah blah.

Shouting Thomas said...

Like I said, Ritmo, your overstated sense of assurance is mostly a defense mechanism.

At base, it's just dumb machismo.

This resort to dumb machismo by leftists, who simultaneously endorse feminism, is one of the mysteries of existence.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Congratulations. I look forward to seeing your the accomplishments of your pharmaceutical discoveries awarded by a Nobel prize, and an acceptance speech in which you say that biology is gibberish.

Shouting Thomas said...

I didn't make any conclusive statements about genomes or zygotes, Ritmo.

None at all.

You did.

You also have this odd habit of imagining that your base thoughts belong to somebody else.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

At base, it's just dumb machismo.

I'm not the one spouting off some supposed list of accomplishments while refusing to discuss the science behind them. You are.

jimbino said...

I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.

--Martin Luther

Chai Chai said...

"Then defend (or criticize) how your church tells me to vote on it."

The Catholic Church doesn't tell anyone how to vote. The Church hierarchy reaffirms the Church's position on certain topics thereby informing its parishioners so they can make informed and possibly Faith and Doctrine based decisions when they vote.

The Church's message isn't directed "at" you as a non Catholic, although you may hear it through various channels.

Anyone who follows the Church's message doesn't need to defend those ideas from the thoughts of non believers, what would be the point?

Shouting Thomas said...

To paraphrase the great President Reagan, Ritmo, I promise not to hold you youth, lack of experience and immaturity against you.

No, I'm going to watch a basketball game.

I'm semi-retired and mostly enjoying life these days. Thinking of getting a dog.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I didn't make any conclusive statements about genomes or zygotes, Ritmo.

No spit. Because you are the one declaring them to be off-limits to discussion. So of course you will refuse to conclude anything having to do with them.

Brilliant move. You certainly have the pacifist tradition of your religion down pat. You are like the Gandhi of debaters.

Shouting Thomas said...

I'm tired, Ritmo, at least of arguing.

I don't have the authority to place anything "off-limits."

The issue of abortion is clearly very important to you. I can't imagine why. You've assumed it's very important to me. It isn't.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

That's fine if it's not important to you. But your church has given itself a lot of authority and influence on this and I think they have based their arguments out of it on clearly wrong ideas. Well-intentioned ideas, but dangerously wrong.

We don't have to argue. I appreciate what your tradition has given you. The only lingering problem I have with it is this one, though. Its importance to me has to do primarily with reasons of physical autonomy and how we define that in an age of unprecedented biological discovery.

CWJ said...

Chip Ahoy, I enjoyed that as I do nearly all your contributions.

Allow me to wish you a Merry Christmas.

traditionalguy said...

It is nice to see Ritmo alive and well and livening up debate here again.

I wonder whether when the Pope tweets is that infallible?

I heard that the infallible stuff comes in coos from a certain Dove with inside information.

Unknown said...

FDR said the s of b line. That's really all you need to know about that posters theory.

Anonymous said...

Shouting Thomas, you simply have have no idea. Lord that was funny.

KCFleming said...

Wait, Jamie Foxx said Obama was our lord and savior.

Il Papa seems uninformed.

kentuckyliz said...

There's not enough characters in a tweet for the ex cathedra formula, so no tweet is infallible.

kentuckyliz said...

I am watching Christmas Vacation again...love. The squirrel in the tree is about to happen.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Well, whether he knew or not, at least it allowed me to come up with the phrase "Gandhi of debaters". Feel free to repost at will.

Good to see you too, Traditional Guy.

Lydia said...

O Ritmo Segundo said...
I haven't heard the Dalai Lama spouting off about [sexual "morals"] lately. Or ever, really.

Hmm. Guess who said this:

“A gay couple came to see me,” he said during an interview, “seeking my support and blessing. I had to explain our teachings. Another lady introduced another woman as her wife – astonishing. It is the same with a husband and wife using certain sexual practices. Using the other two holes is wrong.”

“A Western friend asked me what harm there could be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it,” the Dalai Lama continued, warming to his theme. “But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don’t create life.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I don't know, Lydia. But the the fact that you asked us to guess who said that (assuming we wouldn't know who it was) rather proves that the Dalai Lama ain't a driving force behind sexual ignorance as some sort of political value in America.

KCFleming said...

"rather proves that the Dalai Lama ain't a driving force behind "

Ritmo, the Lama of bad faith arguments.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Whatever, little drum-banger boy.

It's cute how you believe ESP is required for a productive discussion.

sabeth.chu said...

merry christmas everybody!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Anonymous said...

HO, HO, HO, no not me, just being mirthful:)

KCFleming said...

"It's cute how you believe ESP is required for a productive discussion.

No, just IQ, or less BS.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

keeping banging that drum, drummer boy. and let us know how the search for the truth of others' faith holds up. you are a drummer for faith! - (only the "good" kind, of course) - and will soon join the hippies in their own drumming circles!

do you ever just let a conversation go where it might without getting skittish over how to determine the outcome and what the participants have supposedly sworn to profess? do you ever consider the possibility of learning from what you hear and of changing, even modifying in slightest way, your views?

why do you become so uncomfortable so easily?

KCFleming said...

Not discomfort, dysgeusia del Ritmo.

Anonymous said...

I haven't heard the Dalai Lama spouting off about [sexual "morals"] lately. Or ever, really.

Ritmo: And that's because, like most liberals, you don't bother checking reality. You have a set of beliefs about the world and that's all you need to pay attention to.

It's not ESP, it's humility that you lack.

An honest person seeking truth would have acknowledged the hole in their knowledge and possibly even thanked the person pointing it out.

do you ever consider the possibility of learning from what you hear and of changing, even modifying in slightest way, your views?

Physician, heal thyself.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So, in other words, you become uncomfortable easily.

Have you considered constructing a mannequin "mommy" out of fuzzy fabric to help hold you when confronted with new, strange and disorderly ideas?

Studies show that such designs greatly ease the discomfort felt by small monkeys. That, and a bottle of milk.

KCFleming said...

"So, in other words, you become uncomfortable easily. "

Classic Ritmo dissembling and bad faith. That is, a typical post.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Ok, creely. Thanks for telling me to be more humble about accepting the empirically validated "truth" of the Dalai Lama telling politicians that they won't be welcomed in his place of worship if they approve of gay marriage or abortion.

What a crude attempt at a comparison. So someone told us something very obscure and irrelevant about the Dalai Lama - spiritual authority to as many Americans as the Pope.

Come on. Stop making the sarcasm this easy.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Pogo - do try to come up with something interesting to say. Or just go on playing "fetch" as you used to call it. Yes, that must have been an honest exchange on your part.

What has faith become to you - The last stand against empiric observation and accepting reality? You don't have to debate reality when you have faith in something beyond what can be seen or reasoned, I suppose.

That's you, buddy. Why not grow up?

KCFleming said...

One should endeavor to never be interesting to Ritmo.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

There goes the "faithful" guy, playing fetch.

Nice diversionary tactic for a guy who claims to uphold the importance of good will in his every interlocutor.

cubanbob said...

What's with the Pope and twitter? At its best twitter is good for some pithy snark. Don't see where the church is going with twitter.

Ritmo's assertion about abortion, that is a zygote not having any sentience is silly in a real world context. No one is sentient in a stage four coma or under deep surgical anasthesia. Shoot someone dead in either of those conditions and the shooter gets a murder charge. And a murder charge is only levied for killing a person.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Cubanbob likens the plug pulled on the braindead (legally acceptable, uncontroversial practice) with murder because that is how he can liken it to an umbilical cord. Not that zygotes even have that.

The concept of "cellular sentience" is a curious one. Perhaps we can get Deepak Chopra on the case.

Known Unknown said...

Why doesn't anyone treat the Dalai Lama with this type of scorn?

Better hat?

joe said...

Rorschach test completed.


"Catholics are here under sufference"

sabeth.chu said...

peoples like the lama because they know zip about buddhism.
as for the pope tweeting, i think he has a sense of humor - he being a clever bavarian intellectual who also talks to cats, to the astonishment of the romans.
as for the better hats, then i think confucius takes first place.

Dr Weevil said...

EMD:
The Dalai Lama has a better hat than the Pope? No one has a better hat than the Pope. I mean, does a certain lawblogger call his blog LamaHat or Mullahhat? No, he calls it PopeHat because the Pope has the coolest hat of any religious leader. Not that he wears it all the time, of course.

Trendy Americans love the Dalai Lama because he doesn't remind them of any religious leader their boring older relatives would ever follow, like the Pope, or Billy Graham, or Rabbi Whatsisname. He's exotic, like Ravi Shankar, just the thing to show you're not the kind of person who would be caught dead listening to Wayne Newton or Liberace or Lawrence Welk or whatever horrible stuff your parents and grandparents like. If you don't actually 'get' Ravi Shankar, and all his stuff sounds the same to you, that's OK: it's the attitude that counts. You're there to look cool, not to enjoy the music or understand it.

Similarly, it doesn't matter that the Dalai Lama's teachings on sexual matters are every bit as retrograde as the Pope's: you'll pretend otherwise so you can sort of venerate him without ever doing any of the difficult things involved in actually following his teachings. I wonder if the Dalai Lama thinks about his western admirers the same way Ravi Shankar thought about the hippies who pretended to like his stuff, and clapped when he was tuning his sitar because they couldn't tell the difference between the tuning and the music.

Dr Weevil said...

Well, maybe Carmen Miranda has a better hat than the Pope, but no religious leader does.

sabeth.chu said...

i'm still rooting for confucius. it's the elegance does it.

Lydia said...

The Dalai Lama in his hat.

Kinda working a KKK Grand Wizard thing.

Shouting Thomas said...

Amusingly, while Ritmo has been carrying on, I've been planning the music for Christmas Eve mass at one of my churches.

I've been studying this mass, given at Christmas in 2011 by the Bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse. The childrens' choir is quite charming!

Great hat, too!

Known Unknown said...

I know the Pope's Posthole digger hat is superior to the Dalai Lama's tourist visor, but I didn't have anything else to go on.

Shouting Thomas said...

EMD,

Here's the proof.

This is a picture of an entire cathedral modeled on the Pope's hat.

Well, it could be a bishop's hat, too.

Betcha can't do that with the Dalai Lama's hat!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I would be remiss, somehow... I quite don't exactly how... OK, its only a term of art... if the end of days came and I didn't put up a Dooms Day Playlist.

The end - The Doors

The beginning is at The End... and the end is at the beginning?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Life During Wartime - Talking Heads

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

When The World Is Running Down - The Police

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Rapture - Blondie

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The Cutter - Echo & the Bunnymen

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This Night Has Opened My Eyes - The Smiths

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Cities in Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Last Dance - The Cure

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My One and Only Love - Sting

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Todo Tiene Su Final - Hector Lavoe

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Skyfall - Adele (Evan Duffy Piano Cover)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
President-Mom-Jeans said...

Ritmo you raving idiot,

Over 40 posts out of the first 100 are your rantings.

Get your own fucking blog, jackass.