1) Thanks to TruthSpew for this tid bit: the story of Paul Phillips, a gay, black man who grew up in the early 1900's.
2) Both Leon and I had the same reaction to the news of the death of Bin Laden. A sense of justice being served but no urge to celebrate. Neither of us quite understand the celebratory reaction. It is a sad world that we live in where terrorists plot and massacre thousands of people and where nations spend millions and send forth armies to attempt to thwart their plans. This man's death, while it may be just, is merely symbolic. Like the mythical beast of many heads, when one is cut off, two will grow. Unfortunately some will see him as a martyr and a saint. Celebration seems somehow inappropriate.
3) Funny how people raise their heros to sainthood. Sometimes it seems like politics or popularity. John Paul II got the roll of the dice and landed directly on "GO" - being beatified only 6 years after his death. This is the pope who likely "covered up" the abuse scandal, and did so much to demonize gay/lesbian persons as well - mostly under the influence of Raztinger, the present authoritarian, conservative, closeted and repressive pope Benedict XVI. JPII's beatification is, if anything, premature.
John Paul I died after only a month as Pope (some tout conspiracy theories and say he was murdered - not entirely incredible) and is considered by some to have been saint-worthy but does not have the political backing to move him very rapidly in that direction (his first miracle is "being investigated").
John XXIII was the last True Catholic Pope of the current era, as far as I am concerned (John Paul I might have been). He died in 1963 and was beatified in 2000 - 37 years after his death and there is little political motivation to keep his memory alive. In fact the politics of the current regime is to degrade John XXIII's attempts to reform and modernize the church.
Dare I say that the whole idea of "miracles" is archaic. One's holiness should be gauged by one's deeds while alive, not by what one might - or might not - do after death.
4) I can't wait to hear from Donald Trump regarding the death of Bin Laden. Will he refuse to believe the guy is dead until he sees the Death Certificate? The long version? And the DNA tests? And the Birth Certificate too? And his Passport? A photo of him lying dead next to a copy of Sunday's New York Times? Demand a retrieval of the body from the depths of the sea?
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7 comments:
I agree with your feeling of not celebrating the death of a monster. He's been in retirement for so many years now, his death is purely symbolic.
Our military confiscated plenty of documents and computers (so I read). Hopefully they'll be of good use to destroy al Quida.
How right you are. Frankly, I fear more our adversaries on the right than I do the terrorists. Why? because the terrorists do it with bombs and bullets while the right-wing fanatics and the KOCHOROACHES are doing it behind the scenes, with an askew agenda to turn our nation into a Plutocracy if it isn't there already.
Bin Laden at this point was insignificant as we will see their organization splinter into 100 different groups, each seeking power and "martyrdom".
saludos,
raulito
You are correct about the John the 23'd. He tries to modernize and liberalize the Catholic church because he knew that evangelism would kill it.
I remember it well, I started in Catholic schools in 1970. The Vatican II reforms were pretty much fully in place by then. Catholicism was moving from dogmatic to spiritual.
And then we got JP II. What a disaster.
Well I didn't rush out into the street, but I'm glad the bastard got what he so richly deserved. He showed no mercy whatsoever in an infamous crime against humanity; and no mercy was shown to him.
But now with all the masterful planning that went into this rat killing, why is the White House having such a hard time getting the story straight? And I know about the Muslim burial code, but in this very special case, wouldn't it have been wise to let an international team of doctors, diplomats, and reporters have a few days, at least, to examine the body and verify for all time and beyond all doubts?
Another case that will be debated and cited forever and ever. Sigh.
I agree, Russ. Some effort should have been made to eliminate all doubt about bin Laden's demise. I understand how details can vary as additional info comes out in debriefing the troops. Let's hope it is not too late to demonstrate to the world that what was reported did in fact happen beyond a doubt. Otherwise, it will be worse than the birth certificate fiasco.
Oh yeah. Because you know before the month is out the teabaggers etc. will be saying Bin Laden isn't dead, it's just a stunt Obama pulled to win the election next year . . . or something like that.
Even an old country boy out here on the prairie can see that was piss-poor planning, I just don't understand it.
But, Russ, I can't imagine the White House and those around the room watching the events play out didn't think of all the contingencies. Perhaps there's method to the madness, so to speak. I sure hope so.
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