I think the pope has atheism confused with religion

May 4, 9:07 AMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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"The pope is still a loon." That should be the headline, but that's old news. We know that all too well by now. As the days go by, I become more and more convinced that the pope is not fit for human consumption. He indeed seems to be delusional - wacky at best.

This time he isn't promoting someone who believes that hurricane Katrina was a form of Godly retribution. He isn't reinstating a priest who downplays the Holocaust. He isn't saying that condoms add to the HIV/AIDS problem. No, this time the pope, according to a report, is saying that "[a]theism has led to some of the 'greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice' known to mankind." I think he has atheism confused with religion.

What a lovely thing to be espoused by someone who reportedly is going to the Holy Land as a "pilgrim of peace." Seems more like he's going to Disney Land as a fictional rat in a really tall hat. Because really, to say you are a "pilgrim of peace" in one breath then something like this about atheism in another breath seems contradictory. A pilgrim of peace in my estimation doesn't spread lies, fear, and hatred about a group of people whose greatest "crime" is that they don't believe in the pope's imaginary friends.

According to the report on ministryValues.com, "In Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope), Pope Benedict said that atheists argued that 'a world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering and cynicism of power cannot be the work of a good God.' Since there was 'no God to create justice,' atheists said, Man himself was called on to establish it on Earth. This protest against God was understandable, the Pope said, but 'the claim that humanity can and must do what no God actually does or is able to do is both presumptuous and intrinsically false.'"

The pope, in all his infinite wisdom, went on to say,"'It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice: rather it is grounded in the intrinsic falsity of the claim. A world which has to create its own justice is a world without hope.'”  But, wait. Isn't that exactly what has happened?

We have created our own justice in the form of religious dogma for years. Are we without hope? And if we are, what is it, exactly, that we are supposed to be hoping for? More oppression, more vengeance, more murder and mayhem as laid out in the Bible and other such writings? The so-called justice that the pope is calling for, which is derived from religion, is atrocious as best. Let us remember for one moment that the Bible is a creation of man. Yet, as we fight against this man-made biblical "morality," there is still hope, as many people with equality in mind stand against religious tyranny.

We are never without hope. We may find ourselves, at some point, without any possibility of realizing our goals. But, I don't think we are ever without hope. Case in point - I hope in my lifetime that religion will melt into the sea, like some giant, life emaciating glacier. While I don't think that will happen, it doesn't stop me from hoping that it will - some day.

I think what the pope means to say is that no man without religion on his side should "create" justice. That takes control and wealth out of the hands of people like him. I am sure he has to have read the Bible. Does he truly not see that what is contained there is not justice? I think he understands perfectly well that atheists are not protesting against God (it's ridiculous to protest something you do not believe exists). It is religion and the dispensers thereof that disturb many of us. Religion is not God, by the way.

Come on popey, baby - how 'bout an infusion of truth. Remove your head, insert a tube - truth colonic anyone? The Bible is a collection of folk stories compiled as a means of control by a man on a quest for power. The Bible is the epitome of man-made justice. And you can't blame atheists or atheism for that.