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Ok... your holiness? We need to talk
Feb. 1st, 2009 01:52 pmDear Pope Palpatine, I want to help you.
And I'm saying this as a non-believer. I think that's very necessary here, because it's going to be hard for a devout Catholic to intervene in this case.
Because an intervention is what you need. Really.
And this isn't out of snark and spite (well, not entirely. I have to admit that you haven't exactly made it onto the my list of bestest friends here) but partly out of genuine concern for what you're goping to do next and partly because I suffer from contact embarrassment.
No, really. It's a real problem with me. If I see someone utterly humiliating themselves it makes me cringe. And watching you in 2009? Well, it's painful, really, it is.
I mean, I don't even follow news of your doings very closely (largely because I don't need to seek out reasons to be pissed) but even I have come across:
Comparing homosexuality to major world disasters:
http://sparkindarkness.livejournal.com/213687.html
Rehabilitating an unrepentent halocaust denier who stands by his claims (dude, you were in the HITLER YOUTH! Now I KNOW it was compulsory and it wasn't your fault, but you REALLY shouldn't be pulling this shit. Any decent publicist would be screaming at the very idea!) and is even repeating and maintaining them
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/pope-criticised-over-holocaust-denier-20090201-7un9.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/159759
And, hey, bringing back 4 ultraconservatives who found Vatican 2 too liberal? Not exactly a good move either.
And you've promoted an ultra ULTRA conservative priest in Austria without consulting the local church at all - and by ultra, well... this guy compares Harry Potter to satanism. Worse, this is a guy who said Hurricane Katrina was god's punishment on New Orleans because of the bad evil gay folk. Seriously.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/01/gerhard-wagner-hurricane-katrina
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/253678,priests-blast-vatican-for-naming-ultraconservative-austrian-bishop.html
And this is just what I've heard, and I'm not pope watcher.
Really, your holiness, you need help. Because this is just from the end of December to the present - less than 2 months? That's an impressive amount of batshit in such a short period of time. Seriously, can we at least hook your predecessor up to some kind of power plant? I mean, he must be spinning in his grave so fast we could power half of Rome off him (no, I'm not going to throw his legacy in your face. I bet you're seriously sick of that already. For what it's worth, I didn't even like the last pope, his position on women, homosexuality and birth control were neolithic - and I think his policies on fighting AIDS in Africa should be considered little short of genocidal, but that's an aside).
Your holiness, something has to change. Because so far I can think of only 3 things to explain this level of batshit.
1) Alzheimers is kicking in. I know, it's a terrible and cruel illness - and it needs to be caught early. Get you to a doctor man.
2) You and your advisors decide policy after long hours tripping on LSD. This? Would explain a lot. This is your religious leader on drugs man! On the plus side you're a GREAT public service announcement.
3) You're a secret anti-catholic mole who has successfully infiltrated the church to a level beyond your wildest dreams. You're now doing your level best to pull it down from within.
I'm not a supporter of the Catholic Church. It has made considerable efforts to make my life as hard as possible, it has demonised and villified me and mine. I'm not a fan. But this level of lunacy worries me. I worry about the message your sending and I worry about the millions of people who listen to you. I worry what some of them will think, believe and do based on the craziness you are transmitting. I worry about my sane and respected catholic friends, because they don't deserve to have such ludicrous insanity representing them or speaking for them.
You're a powerful man, Pope Palpatine, much as I wish you and your office wasn't. And now I'm just strongly reminded of a certain President. You don't have the same overt power, but you're powerful nevetheless and I'm left with the same feeling - that nagging worry when you realise the man with his finger on the button (metaphorically) isn't playing with a full deck. It's unsettling. The lunatics are running the asylum - and it frightens me.
And I'm saying this as a non-believer. I think that's very necessary here, because it's going to be hard for a devout Catholic to intervene in this case.
Because an intervention is what you need. Really.
And this isn't out of snark and spite (well, not entirely. I have to admit that you haven't exactly made it onto the my list of bestest friends here) but partly out of genuine concern for what you're goping to do next and partly because I suffer from contact embarrassment.
No, really. It's a real problem with me. If I see someone utterly humiliating themselves it makes me cringe. And watching you in 2009? Well, it's painful, really, it is.
I mean, I don't even follow news of your doings very closely (largely because I don't need to seek out reasons to be pissed) but even I have come across:
Comparing homosexuality to major world disasters:
http://sparkindarkness.livejournal.com/213687.html
Rehabilitating an unrepentent halocaust denier who stands by his claims (dude, you were in the HITLER YOUTH! Now I KNOW it was compulsory and it wasn't your fault, but you REALLY shouldn't be pulling this shit. Any decent publicist would be screaming at the very idea!) and is even repeating and maintaining them
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/pope-criticised-over-holocaust-denier-20090201-7un9.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/159759
And, hey, bringing back 4 ultraconservatives who found Vatican 2 too liberal? Not exactly a good move either.
And you've promoted an ultra ULTRA conservative priest in Austria without consulting the local church at all - and by ultra, well... this guy compares Harry Potter to satanism. Worse, this is a guy who said Hurricane Katrina was god's punishment on New Orleans because of the bad evil gay folk. Seriously.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/01/gerhard-wagner-hurricane-katrina
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/253678,priests-blast-vatican-for-naming-ultraconservative-austrian-bishop.html
And this is just what I've heard, and I'm not pope watcher.
Really, your holiness, you need help. Because this is just from the end of December to the present - less than 2 months? That's an impressive amount of batshit in such a short period of time. Seriously, can we at least hook your predecessor up to some kind of power plant? I mean, he must be spinning in his grave so fast we could power half of Rome off him (no, I'm not going to throw his legacy in your face. I bet you're seriously sick of that already. For what it's worth, I didn't even like the last pope, his position on women, homosexuality and birth control were neolithic - and I think his policies on fighting AIDS in Africa should be considered little short of genocidal, but that's an aside).
Your holiness, something has to change. Because so far I can think of only 3 things to explain this level of batshit.
1) Alzheimers is kicking in. I know, it's a terrible and cruel illness - and it needs to be caught early. Get you to a doctor man.
2) You and your advisors decide policy after long hours tripping on LSD. This? Would explain a lot. This is your religious leader on drugs man! On the plus side you're a GREAT public service announcement.
3) You're a secret anti-catholic mole who has successfully infiltrated the church to a level beyond your wildest dreams. You're now doing your level best to pull it down from within.
I'm not a supporter of the Catholic Church. It has made considerable efforts to make my life as hard as possible, it has demonised and villified me and mine. I'm not a fan. But this level of lunacy worries me. I worry about the message your sending and I worry about the millions of people who listen to you. I worry what some of them will think, believe and do based on the craziness you are transmitting. I worry about my sane and respected catholic friends, because they don't deserve to have such ludicrous insanity representing them or speaking for them.
You're a powerful man, Pope Palpatine, much as I wish you and your office wasn't. And now I'm just strongly reminded of a certain President. You don't have the same overt power, but you're powerful nevetheless and I'm left with the same feeling - that nagging worry when you realise the man with his finger on the button (metaphorically) isn't playing with a full deck. It's unsettling. The lunatics are running the asylum - and it frightens me.