# I pit the Pope - What a dope **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139 "2017-02-18T07:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/21 "2017-02-18T13:21:12Z")
Y’know, one of the “criticisms” of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) by certain Protestant sects is that the RCC teaches not only do you have to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, you must also do good works for your fellow man to join the kingdom of Heaven. Simply being “saved” isn’t enough. and some people are surprised when the Pope reminds people of that? and as for the comments about terrorism, I’ve long interpreted statements like that to mean “these people were sticks of dynamite already. Their religion might have lit the fuse, but they were still seeking to destroy things anyway. It doesn’t matter what lit the fuse, we must understand _why they were sticks of dynamite in the first place._” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/22 "2017-02-18T13:35:26Z")
All of you people who think **Blinky-Pinky** is a Trumpist or a right-winger have been _ **Whoooshed!** _ I admit he’s had me going for a few weeks, but this latest thread gives it away. > [@Blinkyandpinky](#): > > … the Pope is surrounded by huge walls in the Vatican. Why doesn’t the Pope tear down those walls, if he truly practices what he preaches, instead of just being full of crap? > … > Most recently the Pope has come out in support of leftist climate change … The “support for leftist climate change” should have made it pretty clear that he was putting on a show, trying to out-stupid the stupidest Trumpists, but it was the “walls in the Vatican” that made it crystal-clear. @ **Blinkyandpinky** — I appreciate what you’re trying to achieve. By carrying the stupidities of Hannity and Coulter to a _reductio ad absurdem_ you hope to wake up the GOP sheeple. You hope they’ll read your post and think “My God! Is this what my ‘thinking’ is like? I have really fallen for a pack of nonsense.” I do admire the effort, _but it doesn’t work!_ I tried it myself on Usenet two decades ago. But when I finally got my spiel so stupid I thought it was obvious parody, I started getting fan mail at my e-mail account … and an invitation to appear on talk radio! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/23 "2017-02-18T13:42:28Z")
> [@Blinkyandpinky](#): > > I will go further than that. > > I believe that global warming or whatever the left calls it these days Ah well, nice to see this Blinky pinko dunderhead to brand himself as an ignorant jackass. > **[Global warming vs climate change](https://skepticalscience.com/climate-change-global-warming.htm)** > > \There have long been claims that some unspecificed > [@](#): > > There have long been claims that some unspecificed “they” has “changed the name from ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’”. In reality, the two terms mean different things, have both been used for decades, and the only individual to have specifically advocated changing the name in this fashion is a global warming ‘skeptic’. But just to counter the expected stupid comeback that that could be a leftist site, the Pink one here should look at what conservative scientists like Republican Barry Bickmore, From Brigham Joung University in the Red state of Utah. > **[How to Avoid the Truth About Climate Change](https://bbickmore.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/how-to-avoid-the-truth-about-climate-change/)** > > I gave a talk called “How to Avoid the Truth About Climate Change” for the College of Science and Health at Utah Valley University.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with me, … > [@](#): > > I gave a talk called “How to Avoid the Truth About Climate Change” for the College of Science and Health at Utah Valley University. For those of you who aren’t familiar with me, I am a Republican and a geochemist who, until a few years ago, was quite skeptical about the idea that humans are causing significant climate change. > > In the presentation, I briefly talked about how I had made the transition from being a climate change “skeptic” to being an outspoken advocate of mainstream climate science. I then discussed how it is that people like me can so effectively avoid the truth about climate change. > [@Blinkyandpinky](#): > > also has a religious element to it, as many of the fanatics who believe in it have a religious like attachment to their ideas, turning their beliefs into a religion, and the followers into zealots. Nah, I have found that this subject is a good way to tell who is the one actually blinded by partisanship, besides showing who is being clueless of not knowing how the Republican party is fooling many of its followers. It was the republican Frank Luntz who came with the idea for the republicans in government to just call it “climate change” (both terms have a long history of usage) because “global warming” was more dangerous sounding, did not want the Republican congress critters or Bush to sound as if this was something to be worried about. > [@](#): > > So to sum up, although the terms are used interchangeably because they are causally related, ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ refer to different physical phenomena. > > The term ‘climate change’ has been used frequently in the scientific literature for many decades, and the usage of both terms has increased over the past 40 years. Moreover, since the planet continues to warm, there is no reason to change the terminology. Perhaps the only individual to advocate the change was Frank Luntz, a Republican political strategist and global warming skeptic, who used focus group results to determine that the term ‘climate change’ is less frightening to the general public than ‘global warming’. There is simply no factual basis whatsoever to the myth “they changed the name from global warming to climate change”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/24 "2017-02-18T14:04:11Z")
Tim Minchin sang it better. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/25 "2017-02-18T14:11:12Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > and as for the comments about terrorism, I’ve long interpreted statements like that to mean “these people were sticks of dynamite already. Their religion might have lit the fuse, but they were still seeking to destroy things anyway. It doesn’t matter what lit the fuse, we must understand _why they were sticks of dynamite in the first place._” Religion did not light the fuse. Their fuse was already burning. They just happened to find an excuse in whatever religion they found at the moment they decided to blow up. They could just as easily have found an excuse in, say, [a song that they still must twist to mean what they want it to mean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(Manson_scenario)#Beatles_lyrics.2C_as_interpreted_by_Manson). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/26 "2017-02-18T14:45:18Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > No no, it’s better than that. He’s using the internet, which is a creation of 100’s of years of undeniable scientific advancement to shit post dismissing “science” as a religion. > > Get back to me when a religion produces an internet router that can switch millions of packets a second. Until then : shut the fuck up you ignorant dumbass. Excellent point. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/27 "2017-02-18T14:51:04Z")
Trolls gotta troll. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/28 "2017-02-18T14:59:29Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > @ **Blinkyandpinky** — I appreciate what you’re trying to achieve. By carrying the stupidities of Hannity and Coulter to a _reductio ad absurdem_ you hope to wake up the GOP sheeple. You hope they’ll read your post and think “My God! Is this what my ‘thinking’ is like? I have really fallen for a pack of nonsense.” > > I do admire the effort, _but it doesn’t work!_ I tried it myself on Usenet two decades ago. But when I finally got my spiel so stupid I thought it was obvious parody, I started getting fan mail at my e-mail account … and an invitation to appear on talk radio! :smack: No sorry, if that was his game he would have done a better job of it, spent more time on the logical absurdities of the conservative mindset rather than insults. Insults are B&Ps sole reason for existence. This is just pure Trollery. But apparently the mods have decided not to enforce the rule against trollery in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/29 "2017-02-18T15:41:51Z")
> [@Blinkyandpinky](#): > > Is this the worst Pope ever or what? > > I’m not sure what their defect is. Perhaps it’s because it’s the first Jesuit Pope or perhaps it’s because it’s the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere, but this Pope has got some real wacky ideas that are not becoming of a religious leader. > > I remember when the Pope criticized walls last year, an obvious dig at Trump, never mind that the Pope is surrounded by huge walls in the Vatican. Why doesn’t the Pope tear down those walls, if he truly practices what he preaches, instead of just being full of crap? Mr. Pope, tear down those walls! Why doesn’t he take in and house a few thousand refugees that he loves so much, and that he suggests that everybody else accept? > > Bernie Sanders even said in an interview that he believes that the Pope is a socialist like himself, which is of course a horrible thing to be. > > Most recently the Pope has come out in support of leftist climate change and of course he came out with this beauty also: > > “Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist. They do not exist,” > > The current Pope is obviously delusional, and instead of acting like an apologist for Islamic terrorists, the Pope should quit living in the leftist fantasy land that’s in his mind and join the real world. The sane world. What pathetic loser you are. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/30 "2017-02-18T16:47:39Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Y’know, one of the “criticisms” of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) by certain Protestant sects is that the RCC teaches not only do you have to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, you must also do good works for your fellow man to join the kingdom of Heaven. Simply being “saved” isn’t enough. It’s not that: it’s that, if you truly believe, you see everybody else as your brother in Christ, and this will logically lead you to do your best to help others. Anybody who claims to be a Christian but who never helps others (within whatever his means happen to be) is about as Christian as a cat’s fart. The exact expression in English would be “whitened sepulchres”, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/31 "2017-02-18T16:54:32Z")
Hey, that rhymes!!! Pope - dope!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Pope and dope! Ahh, hahahaha!!! They sound the same!!! That’s so clever!!! Hahahahaha! Hee, hee… Ha… ha. That was the best part of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/32 "2017-02-18T17:03:29Z")
I’d agree with OP to this limited degree. Francis clearly shows how a person’s own background and assumptions affect their approach even as leader of the arguably most immutable institution. Francis is an Argentine. In Argentina there’s generally been state corporatism/cronyism _called_ capitalism, opposed by socialism. Free market capitalism regulated by a fair rule of law hasn’t generally existed. It’s not surprising people from countries like that tend to be more skeptical of capitalism compared to people from Germany where a real world facsimile of free market rule of law capitalism has existed, or Poland if they grew up under communism, such as the last two Popes. A lot of the other Francis quirks (from my POV) are also typical of the Latin American RCC clergy. You don’t have to agree as a Catholic with the Pope when he gets political (nor, obviously, if you’re not a Catholic). I don’t agree with him much, hope we get a better one next time, but to me the position deserves respect and I don’t believe his motives are bad. There might be a secondary issue of consistency where non- or anti-Catholics praise left leaning Popes like Francis but crudely insult right leaning ones. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/33 "2017-02-18T17:09:20Z")
[Pope-A-Dope](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pope-A-Dope) is actually a thing, but it’s way too soon in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/34 "2017-02-18T17:10:33Z")
> [@Blinkyandpinky](#): > > Your so called “Facts” are wrong and outdated. > > You linked to a NYT article which cites New America, a Washington research center. > > If you go directly to the New America website, you will find that what you claim is not true. > > Jihadist attacks outnumber any other attacks on that chart, it’s the same source that you first linked to in your NYT article. > > Or should we conveniently forget about Orlando too, just like 9/11? > > [Terrorism in America After 9/11](https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/terrorism-in-america/what-threat-united-states-today/#americas-layered-defenses) Hey, look who suddenly cares what a bunch of Leftists write! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/35 "2017-02-18T17:36:35Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > … Brigham Joung … I am going to have bad dreams now, this hurts my head so much. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/36 "2017-02-18T17:38:57Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > All of you people who think **Blinky-Pinky** is a Trumpist or a right-winger have been _ **Whoooshed!** _ I admit he’s had me going for a few weeks, but this latest thread gives it away. > > The “support for leftist climate change” should have made it pretty clear that he was putting on a show, trying to out-stupid the stupidest Trumpists, but it was the “walls in the Vatican” that made it crystal-clear. > > @ **Blinkyandpinky** — I appreciate what you’re trying to achieve. By carrying the stupidities of Hannity and Coulter to a _reductio ad absurdem_ you hope to wake up the GOP sheeple. You hope they’ll read your post and think “My God! Is this what my ‘thinking’ is like? I have really fallen for a pack of nonsense.” > > I do admire the effort, _but it doesn’t work!_ I tried it myself on Usenet two decades ago. But when I finally got my spiel so stupid I thought it was obvious parody, I started getting fan mail at my e-mail account … and an invitation to appear on talk radio! :smack: i agree completely. It’s Poe’s Law in action. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/37 "2017-02-18T17:48:21Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > There might be a secondary issue of consistency where non- or anti-Catholics praise left leaning Popes like Francis but crudely insult right leaning ones. As a left leaning non-christian I’d say there is nothing wrong with criticising a pope who does not follow christian ideals. Jesus was a socialist, he told his followers to share amongst themselves and he famously made that comment about the rich man, needle and camel. So yeah it’s rather refreshing to have a pope that actually seems to be preaching christian ideals as actually espoused by Jesus, you know the guy you are supposed to be following as an example for your life. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/38 "2017-02-18T17:58:06Z")
Maybe the “problem” is, this pope is walking the walk. That makes it awkward for the self professed (but fake) “Christians” out there. This guy doesn’t buy into the “prosperity gospel” or the “just say the magic words and don’t worry about actions” crap. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/39 "2017-02-18T18:12:59Z")
Do. Not. Feed. The. Troll. Oh, and Fuck Off. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139/40 "2017-02-18T18:35:39Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > No one is pretending it didn’t happen, the US invaded Afghanistan because of it and then eventually we killed Osama Bin Laden (Obama did that because Bush was too pathetic to finish the job). We all know Blinky and his conjoined twin Pinky are idiots which is why I won’t bother to respond to them. But I can’t let your little dig at Bush pass without comment. You speak as if Obama was some sort of Green Beret who heroically took part in the mission to kill Osama and wimpy Bush was too pathetic to lead his own mission out there. You must realize that this has nothing to do with being pathetic or not pathetic. Presidents depend on intelligence. Both Bush and Obama expended every effort to find Osama, it just so happened that the right intelligence came in on Obama’s watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-pope-what-a-dope/780139.md?page=3)