Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Bidding Adieu To Pope John
A relative of mine asked me what I thought of Pope John Paul II's passing a while back. Here is how I responded:
The Pope? Well, the best I can say is that I’ll miss him not too much more than I’ll miss George W. Bush when he’s gone. I mean, other than Bush, the Pope, whoever he may be, has always been prime material for my jokes. May the good Pope rest in peace if not piss. I guess I should have some respect for the dead but hey it is not like he showed poor Terry Schiavo any mercy. While he was allowed to die on his own with some dignity, Ms. Schiavo was forced to exist in a vegetative state for years long after every reputable physician not paid by her side of the family or the forces that were backing them said she had mailed it in. The good Pope would have none of it however. As God’s right hand man he claimed that it was wrong before the eyes of God for “man” to take another’s life. Nevermind that in Ms. Schiavo’s case “man” was not taking a life but extending it way beyond the point nature would have otherwise allowed. I think the good Pope should have looked all around him. This way he would have realized there is not much respect for the sanctity of life on display in this tortured world of ours. Why just a few blocks away from the Vatican [until recently] sits Silvio Belusconi who found it more convenient to kiss up to our frightful leader George W. Bush and back his war of choice than worry about some nosey Italian journalist begging for her life after being kidnapped in Iraq by a resistance group. Fortunately, her safety was secured even if her escort, who died in a hail of bullets fired by American occupation forces as they approached a checkpoint, was not so fortunate. Perhaps his traumatized soul will meet up with the good Pope and ask him about the respect for the sanctity of life being shown by good Christians in Iraq. My guess is that the good Pope is too busy making sure he isn’t rear ended by many of the boys who, through the ages, were victimized by their fine parish priests. All of whom, as is obvious, did their dirty deeds under the watchful eye of the Church. I would thus advise Pope John, now that he is in the great holy city in the sky, to watch his back; those robes come with a quick release.
The Pope? Well, the best I can say is that I’ll miss him not too much more than I’ll miss George W. Bush when he’s gone. I mean, other than Bush, the Pope, whoever he may be, has always been prime material for my jokes. May the good Pope rest in peace if not piss. I guess I should have some respect for the dead but hey it is not like he showed poor Terry Schiavo any mercy. While he was allowed to die on his own with some dignity, Ms. Schiavo was forced to exist in a vegetative state for years long after every reputable physician not paid by her side of the family or the forces that were backing them said she had mailed it in. The good Pope would have none of it however. As God’s right hand man he claimed that it was wrong before the eyes of God for “man” to take another’s life. Nevermind that in Ms. Schiavo’s case “man” was not taking a life but extending it way beyond the point nature would have otherwise allowed. I think the good Pope should have looked all around him. This way he would have realized there is not much respect for the sanctity of life on display in this tortured world of ours. Why just a few blocks away from the Vatican [until recently] sits Silvio Belusconi who found it more convenient to kiss up to our frightful leader George W. Bush and back his war of choice than worry about some nosey Italian journalist begging for her life after being kidnapped in Iraq by a resistance group. Fortunately, her safety was secured even if her escort, who died in a hail of bullets fired by American occupation forces as they approached a checkpoint, was not so fortunate. Perhaps his traumatized soul will meet up with the good Pope and ask him about the respect for the sanctity of life being shown by good Christians in Iraq. My guess is that the good Pope is too busy making sure he isn’t rear ended by many of the boys who, through the ages, were victimized by their fine parish priests. All of whom, as is obvious, did their dirty deeds under the watchful eye of the Church. I would thus advise Pope John, now that he is in the great holy city in the sky, to watch his back; those robes come with a quick release.
