Pope vs Trump
Private Eye, the UK's best and only fortnightly satirical magazine, had a good joke about Donald Trump's recent audience with Pope Francis.
TRUMP MEETS THE POPE
That Diplomatic Triumph in Full
Trump: Phwooar! Holey money, check out the cute chick in the white dress. How you doing, honey?
Pope Francis: (for it is he): May God forgive you!
Ivnaka: Oh no - Dad's just groped the Pope.
Melania: Vell, so long as he's not groping me!
Trump: Hey, Popey! We've got so much in common. We really do. So much. Fact!
Pope: You mean our shared humanity?
Melania: No! You both think you is infallible.
Now if I remember correctly Pope Francis has now distanced himself from historical claims that the Holy See is infallible.
On the other hand Trump still seems to have a long way to go.
No Magic Wands (11/02/17)
Bad news for the American Vice President Mike Pence rabid creationists - Pope Francis has declared that evolution is real and that 'intelligent design' is a load of old baloney.
Who would have thought the Pope would be so plain spoken on an issue that has bedevilled the Catholic Church and other religions for years?
Next thing you know we'll have Muslim scholars agreeing that the Quran is not the literal word of God.
Read the full report via the link below to The Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-declares-evolution-and-big-bang-theory-are-right-and-god-isnt-a-magician-with-a-magic-9822514.html
Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God is not 'a magician with a magic wand'
Francis goes against Benedict XVI’s apparent support for 'intelligent design' - but does hail his predecessor’s 'great contribution to theology'
By Adam Withnall -The Independent
The theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real and God is not “a magician with a magic wand”, Pope Francis has declared.
Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.
“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Francis said.
“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.
“Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
The Catholic Church has long had a reputation for being anti-science – most famously when Galileo faced the inquisition and was forced to retract his “heretic” theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun.
Slavery and Creationism (28/01/17)
America's Vice President Mike Pence shows himself to be a complete buffoon with this ridiculous little speech on evolution versus creationism.
Pence prays in his aid the 'signers' of the American declaration of independence in 1776 whom the Vice President says were all 'believers' in God.
What Pence fails to mention of course is that the 'signers' were all men, the majority of whom owned slaves and believed in slavery.
Thankfully, the views of God-fearing creationists evolved and improved over time.
Inherit the Wind (11/12/16)
'Inherit the Wind' is one of my favourite movies of all time and tells the tale of the Scopes Monkey Trial in America back in 1925
The villain of the piece is a chap named William Jennings Bryan, a populist demagogue in the mould of Donald Trump who regarded the Bible as the immutable and literal word of an almighty God.
A century later and William Jennings Bryan is a mere footnote in history which with a bit of luck is the same fate that awaits Donald Trump.
Inherit the Wind (13/04/14)
Now the movie tells the tale of the 'Scopes Monkey Trial' as it became known back in 1925 in which the 'redneck' State of Tennessee prosecuted a local school teacher (John Scopes) for teaching his students about human evolution and Charles Darwin.
Spencer Tracy plas a famous defence attorney, Clarence Darrow, and wipes the floor a courtroom confrontation with his rival William Jennings Bryan, a well-known political figure and religious bully.
William Jennings Bryan was a fundamentalist Christian and argued that the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all man made laws and human knowledge - which is of course what the Catholic Church used to say in medieval times and no different to what Islamic fundamentalists say toda.
But how encouraging it is that science and logic finally prevailed over fear, prejudice and religious bigotry.
