# The Pope says I'm a Nazi - or Godwin in one step **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997 "2010-09-16T18:40:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/1 "2010-09-16T18:40:21Z")
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515) Apparently extreme secularism is rife in the UK and we’re oppressing Catholics. A few weeks ago I spoke up for the Catholic Church in the thread about the IRA priest who was squirreled over the border to Ireland. Not this time. He really really is a shit, a stain on humanity. As a result of his evil minded stirring I going to join the National Secular Society. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/2 "2010-09-16T18:43:13Z")
For someone who’s had to go to great lengths to distance himself from a (tenuous) connection to Nazis, you’d think he wouldn’t be this fucking obtuse about the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/3 "2010-09-16T18:51:35Z")
Would, “It takes one to know one” be unkind? ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/4 "2010-09-16T18:56:55Z")
The Catholics who try to distance themselves from everything the Pope says will have a tough time reconciling this one…or not. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/5 "2010-09-16T19:04:11Z")
Ahhhhh, crazy Hitler Jugend Pope; what will he think of next? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/6 "2010-09-16T19:05:35Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Ahhhhh, crazy Hitler Jugend Pope; what will he think of next? Tomorrow’s speech: How Nazi atheists should be rounded up into camps. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/7 "2010-09-16T19:12:22Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > However, the Catholic Church has moved to play down the controversy, saying the Pope knew “rather well what the Nazi ideology is about”. The jokes write themselves. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/8 "2010-09-16T19:14:21Z")
As the entire country goes completely fucking mental over the Pope I present, as a public service, a little sanity courtesy of Britain’s finest news source, [The Daily Mash](http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/celebrity/queen-to-have-lunch-with-insane-criminal-201009163093/) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/9 "2010-09-16T19:33:34Z")
Ah, where’s an antipope when you need one? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/10 "2010-09-16T19:45:36Z")
You know who else was a Nazi? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/11 "2010-09-16T19:46:32Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Ah, where’s an antipope when you need one? Yes! You could push them together, they would mutually annihilate, and you’d get enough energy to run Britain for a century. Win win. ---
**Author:** ![JoseArcadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@JoseArcadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseArcadio)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/12 "2010-09-16T19:47:08Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > You know who else was a Nazi? The Pope? ---
**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:** [September 16, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/13 "2010-09-16T19:54:50Z")
I think what he said was perfectly defensible. He spoke of radically atheist regimes, and the danger of removing religion from public life. Are most atheists radical? Not in the West. Do most atheists advocate for the removal of religion from public life? Don’t think so. He warned against aggressive forms of secularism. That seems kind of in his job description to me. The overreaction of entities like the British Humanists amazes me, though it probably shouldn’t. Perhaps they should just let the Pope be Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/14 "2010-09-16T19:55:54Z")
> [@JoseArcadio](#): > > > [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > > > You know who else was a Nazi? > > The Pope? Yes, the jokes just write themselves. Doesn’t Joe Ratzinger have a political adviser who can nudge his elbow and say, “Don’t you think that reminding people about Nazis is a bit dangerous?” ---
**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:** [September 16, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/15 "2010-09-16T19:57:01Z")
Just because it’s his job doesn’t mean it’s correct. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/16 "2010-09-16T19:58:01Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I think what he said was perfectly defensible. > > He spoke of radically atheist regimes, and the danger of removing religion from public life. … So, where is this “radically atheist regime” in the UK? Why talk about them at all on a visit to the UK, unless he’s talking about something that he thinks is relevant to Britain? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/17 "2010-09-16T20:01:08Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I think what he said was perfectly defensible. > > He spoke of radically atheist regimes, and the danger of removing religion from public life. Are most atheists radical? Not in the West. Do most atheists advocate for the removal of religion from public life? Don’t think so. > > He warned against aggressive forms of secularism. That seems kind of in his job description to me. Replacing ideology with a lack thereof is different from replacing ideology with ideology. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/18 "2010-09-16T20:04:11Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I think what he said was perfectly defensible. > > He spoke of radically atheist regimes, and the danger of removing religion from public life. Are most atheists radical? Not in the West. Do most atheists advocate for the removal of religion from public life? Don’t think so. > > He warned against aggressive forms of secularism. That seems kind of in his job description to me. > > The overreaction of entities like the British Humanists amazes me, though it probably shouldn’t. Perhaps they should just let the Pope be Catholic. So radical theism is just peachy. How quaint. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/19 "2010-09-16T20:08:13Z")
I’m not terribly surprised. This is the guy who seems to think that having female priests is worse than diddling kids. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997/20 "2010-09-16T20:09:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > > [@Guinastasia](#): > > > > Ah, where’s an antipope when you need one? > > Yes! You could push them together, they would mutually annihilate, and you’d get enough energy to run Britain for a century. Win win. What did the antipope ever do to you? Could be a perfectly decent fellow, the sort you wouldn’t mind grabbing a beer with. Seems rather harsh to off him for sweet, sweet electricity. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pope-says-im-a-nazi-or-godwin-in-one-step/553997.md?page=2)