Pope Benedict gave a speech to more than a quarter of a million people in Paris last week. Now, normally I really don’t have that much to say about the Pope in general but there was one thing that stood out to me during the Pontif’s address and that is:

At mass on Saturday morning in Paris, the pope told more than a quarter of a million people that the modern world had turned money, possessions and power into idols as false as the gold and silver statues worshiped by the pagans of antiquity.

“Has it not imitated, perhaps inadvertently, the pagans of antiquity, by diverting man from his true end, from the joy of living eternally with God,” he said. Read full article here.

Another article to check out is this gem entitled Pope in Paris condemns love of money, power: PARIS (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled “pagan” passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague Saturday as he led more than a quarter of a million Catholics in an outdoor Mass in Paris.

Interesting theme for a speech coming from a religious leader decked out in gold. That’s just my thought on it. Kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” sort of thing. Funnier still is trying to promote the ideal that a love of money and power comes not from a religious institution that was built upon those precepts but no it comes form those “pagans”.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention everyones favorite overboard news agency Fox News. They ran the story of the Pope with this headline: Pope Condemns ‘Pagan’ Passion for Power, Money During France Visit

Yep, now I’ve gone and mentioned the Pope and quoted an AP article with a link

Technorati Tags: false idols, fox news, Pagan, pope, pope condems pagan passion, pope speech in paris

Greg Gutfeld hosts the “Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld” show every weekday at 2 a.m. on Fox news. Now, there are two main reasons that the following commentary made by Mr. Gutfeld on March 25th escaped me until now: 1) his show is on at 2 a.m. and 2) his show is on Fox News. That being said I want to share with you a snippet from Mr. Gutfeld’s commentary.

“And now, with dwindling food and rising prices, we’re approaching what the greenies really want — the sacrifice of humanity for a false god, global warming. Choosing this pagan religion over people can only mean, ultimately, cannibalism. So pass the ketchup and dig in. Just save me the rump.”-Greg Gutfeld March 25th 2008 Read the full article here:

Mr. Gutfeld regularly and jokingly refers to his idea of human cannibalism as what he sees as a solution to the global food shortage problem and as mindless commentary I understand that. However, my problem lies within his piece by equating global warming to a pagan religion in and of it’s self. It would seem as though Mr. Gutfeld views global warming as not really a problem and uses the idea of calling it a pagan religion to prove how silly an idea it is.

In our American culture, poking fun at other people’s views is a normal part of what we do but there are times when someone goes a little too far in the search for a punch line. In this instance, I feel that Mr. Gutfeld whether he writes his own material or not went a little too far.

My reasoning for this is due to having dealt with the myriad of misconceptions that are spread through our culture about Paganism in general. People of Pagan faiths here in America are still working to overcome the myths that others perpetuate about us while in other countries around the world misconceptions and fear regarding some people of Pagan faiths is still getting them killed. So, the continuation of misconceptions on Paganism is not something I see as fodder for a late night punch line.

Technorati Tags: fox news, global warming, greg gutfeld, laura jean karr, paganism