# Pope Ratzi **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086 "2005-04-19T17:22:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/1 "2005-04-19T17:22:02Z")
You know, I thought I would have to wait awhile before I disagreed with the decisions of the new pope. I was wrong. They didn’t hire some unknown, no they hired Joseph Ratzinger, a man know, and hate. > [@The Associated Press and Reuters](#): > > On Monday, Ratzinger, who was the powerful dean of the College of Cardinals, used his homily at the Mass dedicated to electing the next pope to warn the faithful about tendencies that he considered dangers to the faith: sects, ideologies like Marxism, liberalism, atheism, agnosticism and relativism — the ideology that there are no absolute truths. > > “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,” he said, speaking in Italian. “Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching,’ looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7523254/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7523254/) Anyone think this will not turn out well? He is even more hardline then the last guy. Also, did anyone read this past Friday’s USAToday? It had an article from South American Catholics, who for some reason where sure that one of their own would be elected. Poor guy, I feel sorry for them. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/2 "2005-04-19T17:26:15Z")
Pope Palpatine I ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/3 "2005-04-19T17:27:22Z")
The pope is not the leader of a country with any flashing red buttons in reach. Does it really matter how hard-line he is? This coming from an Atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/4 "2005-04-19T17:29:44Z")
It matters a lot. Like it or not, the Catholic Church is a hugely influential organization with a vast infrastructure. The tone, if you will, set by the Pope has direct bearing on how much or how little a whole lot of people suffer. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/5 "2005-04-19T17:33:49Z")
Yeah, I really thought chances were good for them electing a liberal atheist Pope this time. Seriously, can somebody tell me precisely how the last one was less hardline? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/6 "2005-04-19T17:34:18Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The pope is not the leader of a country with any flashing red buttons in reach. Does it really matter how hard-line he is? This coming from an Atheist. Being that the largest religious sect in the world reads his words as divine law, yeah, I’d say it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/7 "2005-04-19T17:43:13Z")
Ok, but he’s not God. He is still bound by his religion isn’t he? How much difference can a conservative pope make than a ‘liberal’ one? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/8 "2005-04-19T17:48:36Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Ok, but he’s not God. He is still bound by his religion isn’t he? Read up on “[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex\_cathedra]ex cathedra” papal statements. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/9 "2005-04-19T17:49:27Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Seriously, can somebody tell me precisely how the last one was less hardline? The last one lied about aids, covered up child abuse, and openly spoke out against gay rights, however, he was willing to admit he was wrong. Sure, so was about things that where over and done with, such as the Holocaust, and Galileo, but it was two more, “We were wrong to do those things”, then we will get from the new guy. He is a (non-Spanish) Inquisitor! ---
**Author:** ![griffen2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce7236/32.png) [@griffen2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffen2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/10 "2005-04-19T17:49:35Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Ok, but he’s not God. He is still bound by his religion isn’t he? How much difference can a conservative pope make than a ‘liberal’ one? Nothing that wouldn’t get him shot by the fundies. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/11 "2005-04-19T17:56:48Z")
Great. He’s not even Pope for an hour… in fact, he’s not even Pope yet, and already you vultures are criticizing him. Give it a rest. You hate Catholics and you hate the Pope. We know that. What I don’t know is what pleasure you get out of tearing down a good man. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/12 "2005-04-19T18:00:15Z")
Well, speaking for all Filthy Liberals™, I have to confess that it really boils down to a blind hatred of God. The only thing that is more satisfying than railing against God is railing against the Vicar of Christ. It gives us serious wood. ---
**Author:** ![Aagramn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Aagramn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aagramn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/13 "2005-04-19T18:01:07Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The pope is not the leader of a country with any flashing red buttons in reach. Does it really matter how hard-line he is? This coming from an Atheist. Yes, it matters. I was hoping for a pope who was willing to say something like “while the use of a condom is still sinful, it is less sinful than risking the spread of Aids”. I doubt that Ratzi is that man. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/14 "2005-04-19T18:04:08Z")
**Aagramn** , you big doof, HIV was put here by God to punish the sinners, therefore spreading the disease is actually in accordance with His wishes and thus not sinful. Every sperm is still sacred. ---
**Author:** ![Aagramn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Aagramn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aagramn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/15 "2005-04-19T18:07:48Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > What I don’t know is what pleasure you get out of tearing down a good man. I’d be delighted if he proved me wrong, but from what I’ve heard about him he’ll take a hardline stance against issues such as contraception, homosexuality, abortion and the role of women. This doesn’t please me and many others, so we are bound to comment on it. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/16 "2005-04-19T18:08:35Z")
There was not a single Cardinal that could have been selected that would not have been criticized by some of the posters here. Anyone surprised by this thread hasn’t really been paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/17 "2005-04-19T18:08:36Z")
> [@Aagramn](#): > > Yes, it matters. I was hoping for a pope who was willing to say something like “while the use of a condom is still sinful, it is less sinful than risking the spread of Aids”. I doubt that Ratzi is that man. Would the risk of AIDS be reduced if Catholic sexual teachings were strictly followed? Be honest now. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/18 "2005-04-19T18:08:57Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Great. He’s not even Pope for an hour… in fact, he’s not even Pope yet, and already you vultures are criticizing him. > > Give it a rest. You hate Catholics and you hate the Pope. We know that. What I don’t know is what pleasure you get out of tearing down a good man. Gee, and you obviously give blind allegiance to a man who tells you what to do claiming to be speaking as the voice of God. I doubt many actually hate Catholics outside the KKK. Unthinking dolts who will follow doctrine no matter how perverse and inhuman though deserve scorn and public criticism no matter what faith. Now climb off the fucking cross. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/19 "2005-04-19T18:09:41Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Would the risk of AIDS be reduced if Catholic sexual teachings were strictly followed? > > Be honest now. Oh, no. We can’t let responsibility or caution or anything get in the way of pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086/20 "2005-04-19T18:11:19Z")
> [@Aagramn](#): > > I’d be delighted if he proved me wrong, but from what I’ve heard about him he’ll take a hardline stance against issues such as contraception, homosexuality, abortion and the role of women. This doesn’t please me and many others, so we are bound to comment on it. And I’d say as the Pope affects the world beyond his flock, feeling that he needs to force himself and his views on other faiths and those who are athiest, that he has no restraint and a great deal of arrogance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-ratzi/300086.md?page=2)