Tuesday, May 15, 2007

This Pope is appalling!

First he insults all Muslims at a time when passions are so inflamed that many innocent people have died.

Recently he not only insulted the natives of Brazil, he made statements that - given his level of education - I'm tempted to call a lie. He claimed, according to the BBC, that the Christianisation of the region 'had not involved an alienation of the pre-Colombian cultures'. It is well known to any student of American history that the catholic Church gave the Spanish permission to commit genocide in the form of the Requirement (scroll down) and that much of Indian culture was destroyed as the work of the devil. "Christians" are responsible for the murder of millions of natives and the destruction of their culture bemoaned by many contemporaries, e.g. de las Casas.

I cannot believe that he doesn't know the history of the region. (Hence the temptation to call it a lie.) Or perhaps the histories he read were cleansed by catholic "historians" to omit the atrocities committed by his church. Whatever way one looks at it, his words do not reflect the truth.

Absolutely appalling!


From: Survival International, Press Release 15 May 2007

BRAZIL: INDIAN ANGER AT POPE'S COMMENTS

Brazilian Indians have reacted with anger to Pope Benedict XVI's claim during his recent trip to Brazil that their ancestors had been 'silently longing' to become Christians when Brazil was colonised 500 years ago.

Jecinaldo Sateré Mawé of the Amazonian Sateré Mawé tribe called the Pope's remarks 'arrogant and disrespectful'.

Pope Benedict XVI also claimed, according to the BBC, that the Christianisation of the region 'had not involved an alienation of the pre-Colombian cultures'. ...

The Catholic Church's Indian advocacy group in Brazil has called the Pope's statement, 'wrong and indefensible'.


Tuesday, May 01, 2007

4 Years after declaring victory in Iraq

Juan Cole's entry for May 1, 2007, Mission Accomplished, 4 Years On: A large number of impressive links chronicle the unfolding disaster.

Iraq war lie by lie

It's four years today that President Bush declared victory in Iraq. It wasn't his first lie.