The Pope Was In the ‘House!
Published by Lisa Kansas April 16th, 2008 in Punkass!, Moronic Religions, UncategorizedAnd I heard that the American Atheists had a sweet spot staked out for protest…of course today would be the day that my boss, in a fit of responsible behavior, failed to cancel our monthly departmental meeting like he was supposed to (he’s cancelled ‘em like clockwork every month since last September, dammit!). So in short, I couldn’t go. But all was not lost–the boyfriend flung himself boldly in the breach (he works just outside DC) and armed with my digital camera (which I neglected to supply with fresh batteries before handing over to him, oops, but he resourcefully hit a Rite Aid on his way to the Metro station) he nipped over to the protest site in my stead.
Now, I do understand that a big part of the character of most atheist types is an aversion to being a “joiner.” Yep, I do understand that…but c’MON, folks, he says that the area staked out was easily big enough for 200 people!…so that the 35 or so who showed up were kinda ambling around their large empty space in polite nerdy silence, triangulated between those in an ecstasy of Catholic wish fulfillment (a horde, on both sides) and to the rear a large loud vocal contingent of anti-Catholic Christians who spent a lot of time shouting “Celibacy is Demonic!” (Not that I don’t feel that way about it myself, especially when it’s mine and it’s involuntary.) However, he did snap a few shots of two of the more distinctive atheists present (see below) as well as a policeman who, in spite of the far more vigorous crowds surrounding the tiny atheist contingent, kept his video camera aimed at Teh Godless the whole freakin’ time. The cops shooed them all away before noon, so no Pope pics. Oh well…
Why are the cops even at this thing? When was the last time Atheists got crazy rowdy and fucked some shit up?
…And I’ll tell you what’s hawwt: that pop guy bending over to show off that ass. There’s something about a fella in uniform.
Am I allowed to answer punkass marc’s rhetorical question? …wouldn’t an appropriate answer be “The Cold War”?
I wish Mr. Popeless American luck there, but I also wish that there were more room in your audience for the religious… Not to say that you personally are frightening us all off, but to be Catholic and feminist today is to have one’s intelligence afforded all the respect as that of a post-lobotomy gorilla. From both sides.
Whether or not one thinks that God should be killed ala Pullman, wouldn’t it be better if there were more ways for people to transition to liberal views without leaving their faiths behind?
*sigh* I suppose a comment on a two-month old post on this particular blog is hardly going to help anything, but I felt called.
Hi Maya, It’s actually pretty cool that you spoke up–generally this dialogue doesn’t get opened up too often (at least it hasn’t with me personally). It’s hard for me to know what to say, though. I would never, ever insult a person’s religion to his or her face or in fact behind his or her back and specifically reference him or her. However, I cannot and honestly will not pretend to respect religious beliefs in of themselves. I do not find them respectable. The only thing I can respect is other people’s choices on how to live their own lives that don’t impact me in any negative way, and I absolutely do do that. However, when I perceive something that I find absolutely ridiculous and/or morally wrong to be harming either myself or others, I must speak out. And this is why I don’t pay lip service to religious beliefs. I find the Catholic Church’s official doctrine, as espoused by the Pope, to be something harmful and detrimental to millions of people worldwide, and I am going to speak out against it. If the Church starts restricting their faith to people who are willingly following its tenets without any childhood brainwashing or economic and legal pressures, then I will leave them strictly alone. But they don’t do that, do they?