Deep esteem
by Jura Watchmaker, 9 May 2008
His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster has called for Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with “deep esteem”. We are to be respected and understood, he says, but at the same time Britain must not become “a God-free zone”.
After all he and his fellow clerics have said about the fanaticism of people like me, what with our “secular fundamentalism” and all, I’m really not sure what to make of this latest intervention from England’s leading Roman Catholic.
So how should we respond? Keep it clean and civilised, boys and girls, or I’ll start deleting comments. We keep a respectable house here. Oh yes.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 12:47
He said … that “supposedly faithless societies” ruled only by reason were like those created by Hitler and Stalin, ripe for “terror and oppression”.
Errr — so Hitler and Stalin only ruled through reason did they?
What a dipshit.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 14:08
We are to be respected and understood, he says, but at the same time Britain must not become “a God-free zone”.
That seems a little unbalanced. We get “deep esteem”, he gets the social and political life of the country we live in from which to deeply esteem us from.
He said … that “supposedly faithless societies” ruled only by reason were like those created by Hitler and Stalin, ripe for “terror and oppression”.
So much for “deep esteem”.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 15:51
Is it a trade? Does he want respect for nonces in return?
[What did I say? Any more of this and I shall show my displeasure. Ed.]
Friday 9 May 2008 at 16:30
“We are to be respected and understood, he says, but at the same time Britain must not become “a God-free zone”.
That’s gradually happening anyway, whether he gives his lofty, patronising ‘permission’ as to whether we should believe in obvious nonsense or not.
I think he’s realised that he will lose the argument if he doesn’t back off, so he’s trying to distract people. Push on, this one is winnable.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 17:23
I agree with CB; O’Connor is rattled. He made a complete arse of himself with previous comments on the matter, and this is his way of dealing with that while pretending he occupies the moral high ground.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 17:51
The Cardinal has surely been watching too much bad scifi - ‘The God-free Zone’ with mutants shambling and slavering about the place.
I think you’ll find that Stalin remembered his lessons from the seminary very well. As for that wheezy old ‘Hitler was an atheist’ canard–that’s pure brass neck that is.
Friday 9 May 2008 at 23:36
Oh, God(win…).
Let us hold him in deep esteem, the way he deeply esteems the rest of us.