Pope Supports Separation of Church and State

[chemp]

In a rare nod to common sense and decency, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, aka "the Pope" used his position to urge Pakistan to repeal its anti-blasphemy law because it acts as a "pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities".

We should hope that where the Pope's words have the ability to shape the minds of impressionable followers that they will be willing to begin to understand the importance of the separation of church and state. Still I would venture that the Pope's words and beliefs, as correct as they are, come from a radically different interpretation of reality than I would like. I'm sure that he is mostly talking about protecting religion from government, not protecting secular society from religion, and indeed he did say the following in the same speech:
He commended the Council of Europe for granting doctors and nurses the right to exercise conscientious objection concerning abortion, and praised those European countries that joined Italy's fight to keep crucifixes displayed in public places.
If only he could see these issues in the same light as the anti-blasphemy laws. Conscientious objection is being radically rewritten here as a concept. In the case of a soldier, such an objector is kept off the front lines, and is reserved for medical or clerical duty. In the case of a medical practitioner, the front line in the war on disease or injury can be everywhere. A conscientious objection to certain medical procedures should be enough to invalidate a person's medical licence. In other words, if handing out condoms bothers you, don't be a nurse, doctor, educator or pharmacist. And don't shop or work at stores that sell condoms. (Or, join the real world.)

more...

http://www.cautionchurchahead.com/2011/01/pope-supports-separation-of-church-and.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. I think we should send this to Scalia.

[Angry Dragon]

2. He heads a city state that intermingles

religion and the secular world. Is he against that??
He wants diplomatic immunity and at the same time wants to be able to go into any country and tell them how to run the government.
Sorry..... he only cares about things that help him and no one else