Joseph Ratzinger named new pope-- Benedict XVI

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

I'm just curious why all over the world the move seems to be towards the more dogmatic. As if the matters of God are ever revealed with that much clarity.

Exactly. So much of what people vehently demand to be adhered to is not the word of God (even assuming you believe the Bible is the word of God) but rather man's interpretation and tradition. I don't know much about Catholicism and papal doctrine, but I gather it's a lot like orthodox Judaism where many people look to the Talmud (an immense interpretation written by a conclave of Rabiis centuries ago) first and Torah second. I understand the aim of the Talmud, essentially following Talmudic law guarantees compliance with Torah as the Talmud erects a giant safety buffer to ensure that there's no way you're breaking God's word, however that quickly gets muddled into being the definitive word when it is anything but.