Richard Dawkins talks about the pope in the Washington Post.

Full text below.

Ratzinger is the Perfect Pope

“Should Pope Benedict XVI be held responsible for the escalating scandals over clerical sexual abuse in Europe?” Yes he should, and it’s going to escalate a lot further, as more and more victims break through the guilt of their childhood indoctrination and come forward.

“Should he be investigated for how cases of abuse were handled under his watch as archbishop of Munich or as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer?” Yes, of course he should. This former head of the Inquisition should be arrested the moment he dares to set foot outside his tinpot fiefdom of the Vatican, and he should be tried in an appropriate civil – not ecclesiastical – court. That’s what should happen. Sadly, we all know our faith-befuddled governments will be too craven to do it.

“Should the pope resign?” No. As the College of Cardinals must have recognized when they elected him, he is perfectly – ideally – qualified to lead the Roman Catholic Church. A leering old villain in a frock, who spent decades conspiring behind closed doors for the position he now holds; a man who believes he is infallible and acts the part; a man whose preaching of scientific falsehood is responsible for the deaths of countless AIDS victims in Africa; a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence: in short, exactly the right man for the job. He should not resign, moreover, because he is perfectly positioned to accelerate the downfall of the evil, corrupt organization whose character he fits like a glove, and of which he is the absolute and historically appropriate monarch.

No, Pope Ratzinger should not resign. He should remain in charge of the whole rotten edifice – the whole profiteering, woman-fearing, guilt-gorging, truth-hating, child-raping institution – while it tumbles, amid a stench of incense and a rain of tourist-kitsch sacred hearts and preposterously crowned virgins, about his ears.

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Interview of Constance McMillen by Joy Behar.

Some people just can’t be happy saying that’s not what they want.  They have to tell you how to live and that pisses me off.  All she wanted was to go to her prom.

The hits just keep a coming.  More trouble for the Catholic Church.  Top story on CNN at this time is… “Vatican says it was unaware of alleged American priest abuse.”  What do they mean by “was” unaware?  Do they know now?  I am also miffed with CNN – “abuse”?  Really?  NO!  It is RAPE!  Father er… Rapist Lawrence Murphy had his way with around 200 (that we know of) boys for more than 20 years.  According to the lawyer of several of the victims the church had all of the details as early as 1974.

The documents, dating to 1974, include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims’ affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Murphy and minutes of a final Vatican meeting on the case.

Murphy began as a teacher for St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin, in 1950, and was promoted to run the school in 1963 in spite of the fact that students had warned church officials of molestation, according to the documents….

And in separate news…

A Portland group that feeds the homeless will lose $33,000 that was promised by the Catholic church because the dared to support same sex marriage.

Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the diocese requires agencies that receive funding to conform to the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church. She said Preble Street agreed to that requirement when it applied for the money.

So… rape kids and you get protected and they pay your moving expenses but if you dare say gay people have rights too then the people you help will go hungry.

In my constant search for the most bizare homeopathic treatment, I have found one just for the ladies.  There is now a “treatment” for a yeast infection.  It is called Yeast Gard.  It has no side effects.  Actually, it has no effects.  Here are the “active” ingredients:  Candida albicans 28x, Candida parapsilosis 28x, Pulsatilla 28x.  Since I had no idea what these things are – I had to look them up.  You’re gonna love this…. (From Wikipedia)

Candida albicans is a diploid fungus (a form of yeast) and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans.

Candida parapsilosis is a fungal species of the yeast family that has become a significant cause of sepsis and of wound and tissue infections in immuno-compromised patients.

The genus Pulsatilla includes about 30 species, many of which are valued for their finely-dissected leaves, solitary bell-shaped flowers, and plumed seed heads. The anthers are bright yellow and the purple bell consists of sepals.

So to get rid of your yeast infection, they are going to give you some fungus (a form of yeast) and parts of some flower.  It’s kinda like the “secret” –  like cures like.  Sure that sounds like a good idea to me.  So let me guess – if I have a gunshot wound I should put some black powder on it?

But wait there’s more…. or should I say less.  Note above that after each “active” ingredient there is this notation “28x”.  What that means is that there is 1 part fungus in 1×10^28 parts of gel.  Here is what 1×10^28 looks like.  10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  That is a lot of gel.  Once again we see that homeopathy is a joke and cannot work.

You can learn more about homeopathy at the 10:23 website.

You could also watch the below video.  “If homeopathy works…I’ll drink my own piss.”

Go Check it out.  Then Let us know what you think!

A nice video from a non-scientist.