Joseph Ratzinger named new pope-- Benedict XVI

[Claire]

I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking that Cliff Claven is the new pope......

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by Claire

I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking that Cliff Claven is the new pope......

That's been noticed too.

[€uroMeinke]

He warned about tendencies that he considered dangers to the faith: sects and ideologies like Marxism, liberalism, atheism, agnosticism and relativism - the ideology that there are no absolute truths.

This is the crux of my problem, particularly the last line, for certainly Catholicism (and all manner of orthidoxy) not only claim that there is a absolute truth, but the are the sole possessors of it.

Unfortunately for me, when one claims to have this sort of "absolute knowledge," I cannot help but think that they are liars - arogant liars. To me it reveals an uncertainty of faith, that cannot stand up to different practices. I cannot imagine that a God, an omniscient being, would be so narrowminded - it seems almost blasphamously insulting.

But then I'm an atheist, and one comfortable with some things remaining unknowable - including the very existence of God. And it's clear this Pope (like the last) sees me as a dangerous enemy for holding these beliefs. Sadly, I'll have to continue to view the Catholic Church as potential enemy as it tries to purge such thoughts from its faithfull.