Posted on 12/29/2005 1:00:23 PM PST by Dane
Washington Blade Names Pope Benedict XVI Anti-Gay Person of the Year
Thursday December 29, 10:49 am ET
Gay Newspaper Identifies 'Blessed Bigotry' as God's 'Rottweiler' Attacks Gay Marriage and Priests
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- As 2005 draws to a close, many media outlets will announce their selections for person of the year. In past years, the Washington Blade editors have selected a Story of the Year instead. This year, the Story of the Year was, in the Washington Blade's view, the extraordinary efforts of one individual to not only put a halt to the acceptance of gay people legally and within the mainstream culture, but to roll back such acceptance to an earlier, less tolerant and more discriminatory time.
In a story released in tomorrow's year-end issue, writer Dyana Bagby writes "Presiding over what some describe as the 'strongest bully pulpit in the world,' Pope Benedict XVI, just eight months into his tenure, has unilaterally targeted gays as moral threats to society."
From banning gay priests to publicly lobbying against legal recognition for gay couples in Spain and Italy, the Washington Blade reports Pope Benedict XVI has aggressively lobbied against gay rights across the globe.
"His rhetoric is obscene. He wants gays clearly taken care of -- it's almost like the Final Solution," said Kara Speltz, a Catholic lesbian activist for Soulforce, an organization dedicated to ending anti-gay discrimination within all religions.
For 20 years, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger served under Pope John Paul II before being elected the 265th pope on April 19.
During that tenure, Ratzinger authored some of the Vatican's most anti-gay rhetoric, including a 1986 Vatican letter calling homosexuality "an intrinsic moral evil" and a 2003 battle plan instructing Catholic politicians to oppose gay marriage and gay adoptions.
Dubbed "God's rottweiler" and "the enforcer" long before taking the helm of the church that boasts a billion members worldwide, Benedict's fervent approach to gay and other social issues is an intentional one meant to influence public policy, according to Chester Gillis, chair of the theology department at Georgetown University.
"He knows very well the kind of claims he makes have political implications. He intends for them to have political implications," Gillis said. "He wants to influence public policy in numerous places in the world and hopefully sway the powers that be to his side, especially on so-called social issues."
So, I guess, that's a bad thing for 1% of 1% of 1% of the population.
...and they lose on Godwin's Law grounds. Ironic, isn't it?
So, they don't like all the "shepherds?"
That's shepherd discrimination.
One of the surest ways to measure a man is by who counts him as an enemy.
Ping!
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Way to go Bennie! You da man!
Does he get a trophy or somethin'?
It is considered an abomination by most religions!
The Pope should wear this as a Badge of Honor.
I am sure The Pope will wear it as a badge of honor, if he has even heard of the publication, which I would doubt.
The rump wranglers are upset.
And here I was hoping to get the award. Darn.
Darn it. Beat out again! There's always next year, I guess...
A badge of honor for sure.
Cite one statement of the Pope's that anywhere approaches this hysterical claim. Gay activists simply are unhinged, This woman and Andrew Sullivan with their over the top rhetoric are cases in point. People have a right to believe homosexual activity to be immoral and to state so in the public square.
I would not be so sure about that unilateral. The Pope has lots of support. The bawling puffers and packers are the unilaterilasts.
That Pope is dynamite!
I was snubbed.
I'm sure the Washington Blade would be in the running for the "Anti-religion Organization of the Year" if the Pope were juvenile enough to create such a thing.
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