I´m just pope-ing out for a bit honey

I was dismayed to watch a bit of the coverage of the visit to the US by the Pope. I have nothing against organised religeon per se, I happen to think its out dated and irrelevant to the modern world and were there to be a less "secty" element to it I think I would like to get involved, but there isnt. So I wont.

The coverage on US TV was just plain over the top. In typical US style it was overdone to the nth degree. There was some guy, a comedian, had a bit of a go at catholics on TV on the eve of some mass in NY, and there was a presenter busting a gut to get this guy fired, trying his level best to drum up some kind of hatred for this guys words saying that freedom of speech is one thing, but to criticise or make fun of catholicism was another. He didnt probably realise it but he resembled those idiot muslim fanatics calling for the death of anyone who wont live in a cave and shun music, leave women to be uneducated and supressed and put gilette out of business. I read later what this comedian had said, and it was quite rude but also quite funny. It will be interesting to see what happens to him because even though the majority of those who emailed the show called for his head or threatened to pull their 15$ a month subscriptions, there were a few who treatened the same if he WAS sacked. I think the FOX presenter should be reprimanded for allowing a very personal issue affect his performance. Not everybody is catholic, not even every American is. In fact only 70 million out of 300 million are!

Then to finally blow my fuse, they asked a preist to comment----- his comment was along the lines of " Well Bob, I was thinking about this on the way in and Jesus said......" I was throwing up inside at this point. A interpreted translation from Hebrew to English made over two thousand years ago and probably altered many times along the way was the best that this guy could come up with. Not a thought of his own, not even a thought of his own based on the influence his faith has on him, but a 2000 year old quotation translated by someone he didnt even know.

I find the institution out dated and the ceremony unnecessary and expensive and in a world with so many problems, naïve to the extreme. Could the old boy not be doing something more constructive with his time than putting an entire countries security on alert just to tell us what we already know about the state the world is in. Ok, a few coppers and TV workers got a bit of overtime which probably came in handy, but it didnt stop 200 Zimbaweians getting a beating at the hands of their government. It didnt stop Bonos starving kids dying everytime he snaps his fingers (he really should stop doing that!) And what the whole excercise costs in silk robes and bullet proof glass alone could have put a decent watering system into most of the Kenyan outback.

I´m not condeming faith, its just the ceremony and bullshit that goes with it, I like helping people, I like to see others helping people, but in this day and age do we need this pomp and ceremony? Plus - is it just me or does this guy look like he´s enjoying being top of the celibates a bit too much - at least the last one LOOKED like he was suffering for his faith.