Will you tune in to the pope?

Will you tune in to the pope?
Absolutely not.
This solitary, inexperienced, sheltered man has nothing of value to say to anybody, except to his sycophants. He's a loon of the highest order.

I just got an email from a betting company. It says it all, really...

BOOKIE OFFERS BINGO BETTING FOR POPE’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Following the news that the Pope will give his first ever broadcast for the BBC when he delivers the Today Programme’s Thought For The Day on Radio 4 ---- has issued it’s latest Pope Bingo Betting.

What phrase will the Pope say first in his Thought For The Day?

11/4 Christmas

5/1 2011

5/1 Son of God

6/1 Festive

8/1 Love thy neighbour

8/1 Time of crisis

12/1 Open your hearts

12/1 Learn to forgive

12/1 God is love

12/1 Hope

20/1 Nativity

20/1 In the service of the Church

20/1 Loss of faith

33/1 I apologise

33/1 The Queen

50/1 John Paul II

66/1 Secular

66/1 Three wise men

100/1 Abortion

100/1 Gay

100/1 Child abuse

200/1 Condoms

500/1 Mince Pies

500/1 Heathrow Airport

500/1 Rupert Murdoch

500/1 Vince Cable

In any case, he won't be reading out his own words but those of some apparatchik who wrote them for him.

Bugger. Just realised I'll be in Ireland. Can't get R4 in Cork.

Padraig
Yes you can, I listen to it either on long wave or on the internet.
Interesting that your first word when you're thinking of the pope is "bugger"... ;-)

ouchy.

LW signal in my house v poor. And putting on t'internet would involve getting out of bed.

I just hope he gets Jeremy Hunt's name wrong.

So Uncle Fester is going to deliver Thought for the Day on Christmas Eve, How ghoulish can you get.

Give his piece a chance.

I wonder why the Guardian bothers to ask questions like this. It is asking for predictable responses from the usual suspects.

If I happen to be listening when that man comes on I will switch over to chris Evans on radio 2

davidabsalom

I just hope he gets Jeremy Hunt's name wrong.

- he he. Good one ..

But.......If Pope Benedict addresses people in person, however will the Guardian manage to twist his words and pervert his message?

So many open minded people already saying they will not listen - obviously prefer the fabrications of newspapers, as opposed to info direct from the "horses mouth".

Betcha he easily gets a bigger audience than Aul' Liz's Christmas day TV spiel.

What a tremendous grace to have His Holiness deliver the Christmas message of hope. Thank you BBC! I know there will be so many who will welcome this news.

He won't be able to say much in 2 minutes or so, but it is bound to be worth hearing. Even his enemies should tune in, they may be surprised that he is not the monster of atheistic propaganda.

@ LeDingue

In any case, he won't be reading out his own words but those of some apparatchik who wrote them for him.

What nonsense.

Pope Benedict is an exceptionally intelligent and learned man. He will be able to write his own words, just fine.

I suppose you are getting the Guardianista angle in first - you want to disassociate him from the speech, incase he says anything nice.

@ Chris2011

Thank you BBC!

Good shout Chris - thank you indeed, BBC, and well done.

Not often I have owt good to say about the BBC, but they have really excelled themselves here.

Revolting. As if there wasn't enough mass stupidity at Christmas without extra bible bashers. While the god botherers still get extra representation in parliament and government funding of their schools we don't need to give them any extra privileges. I'm sure the Vatican have enough money to pay for a webcast; they do after all have ridiculous amounts of gold

Indeed, I, for one, welcome him to Thought for the Day. A good comedy turn is not to be sniffed at, particularly on Christmas Eve when you need all that you can get to raise the spirits. Unfortunately I won't be in Old Blighty to hear to it.

Whine whine whine. What is it with Catholics and having a persecution complex?

I guess it is because you can't make any better arguments because there's no evidence for your breed of sky fairy.

'Whine whine whine. What is it with Catholics and having a persecution complex?

I guess it is because you can't make any better arguments because there's no evidence for your breed of sky fairy.'
Could be something to do with internet trolls

@bromleybot
I'll tune in sure, if he's going to produce some evidence for his brand of mass delusion.

Oh what's that? He's not going to produce any- is that because it is a load of nonsense?

Most people grow out of a belief in Father Christmas

@PadraigR - I am in Toronto and stream R4, don't panic.

No way. I'd rather pee razor blades than listen to the ramblings of someone who still lives in the medieval ages.

DavidShariatmadari -

Another one to add to the list

1,000,000/1 Giving the obscene wealth of the Vatican to the poor.

To be honest I probably will hear it as I usually have R4 on in the mornings. Generally I rant at the nonsense spouted on Thought for the Day but it's sometimes quite inspiring and I really can't wait to hear what the crusty old duffer has to offer everyone for the season of goodwill. Maybe he'll give a little more ground on condoms use and save some lives - that would be nice.

Shavedorspiked - if you dislike Christians, I assume you won't be celebrating Christmas?

Because, like, if you wanted a midwinter knees-up, that's just gone....

It's a religoeus festival. It's entire raison d'etre is ''bible bashers'.....

1,000,000/1 Giving the obscene wealth of the Vatican to the poor.

Well said roachclip
Even after the sequestrations of accounts for money laundering, the tax free status of strictly business property rents should leave them with a few hundred million they could give away each year. They prefer to just pile it up and roll it into their multi-billion cash/gold holdings.
What they don't spend on jewel encrusted hats that is. And the huge out of court settlements for child rape that they occasionally make when faced with subpoenas that might 'embarrass' the organisation.

I wonder how long it'll take him to blame all the worlds ills on the non-religious as usual?

He's only a pope after all;

"Muslims are very upset with the Pope over some anti-Muslim statements that he made. You can tell the Vatican is getting nervous like today they issued a statement saying the views of the Pope do not necessarily reflect the views of the Catholic Church and its subsidaries."

Waiting for one intelligent, though provoking article about Christmas on CifBelief is like waiting for the messiah. Just one will do. Just one (he says wistfully). Meanwhile the troll fodder just keeps coming. Exorcists, head cutting on Ashura, Jesus in Japanese cartoons and now papal TFTD = the the guardian's idea of the real spirit of Christmas to date.

@tearfuldragon

If I happen to be listening when that man comes on I will switch over to chris Evans on radio 2

Good lord, you must really hate the pope.

Only blind zealots would want to hear this corrupt and discredited man. In the key period 1981-2005 Ratzinger had jurisdiction over clerical sexual misconduct and did a very good job of protecting the church's reputation at the expense of child protection.

Gabriel100

But.......If Pope Benedict addresses people in person, however will the Guardian manage to twist his words and pervert his message?

Perhaps they'll get a certain CiF writer who told us RD called all Catholics Nazis to do that job.

I really can't imagine why the BBC are pandering to this old weazel.
Sky fairies and the lies from sycophantic criminals in frocks have no place in society at any time of the year.

@Chris2011
What a tremendous grace to have His Holiness deliver the Christmas message of hope. Thank you BBC! I know there will be so many who will welcome this news.

I'm saddened by your reliance on this idiot.

What I am going to do is make assumptions about Catholics, distort what they say, twist things the Pope has said to meet my own view, throw in some stuff about sky pixies, absolutely NOT listen to what the Pope says but a few days later (to avoid looking sad posting here on Christmas day) complain about whatever it was that he said (as reported to me by an anti-catholic paper) then congratulate myself on my supremacy and how I have evolved into a tolerant liberal easy going respect the views of others sort of person.

I really can't imagine why the BBC are pandering

erm.. because Christians pay the Licence Fee too?

And according to the ONS, over 70% of us profess to be Christians so having a Major League religeous leader giving an address on the seocnd most important festival in the Christian calender is hardly surprising really, is it?

have no place in society at any time of the year.

Well 77% of us disagree as we have a rleigeon. Which means society thinks it should include clerics.

Ain't democracy a bitch when it disagrees with you?

well, as a resident atheist I shall probably listen to it. It seems somewhat closed-minded to reject it out of hand, and anyway, we atheists always need fresh ammunition.

If it's a choice between him and Anne Atkins, I'd chose the pope any day.

but apart from that, even if we find catholicism and this pope in particular far too authoritarian and wrong, it is pointless to trot out the old 'all sky-pixies are paedophiles' line and hope that somehow that is enough to destroy people's faith. Engage, argue, disagree and defend reason. That is the only way to go.

@ ChinaBounder

Perhaps they'll get a certain CiF writer who told us RD called all Catholics Nazis to do that job.

Thats funny, as it was also said on CiF that PB16 called all atheists Nazis.

@RedBarchetta

Fair comment, that man.

@kolchan

I wonder how long it'll take him to blame all the worlds ills on the non-religious as usual?

That's a joke isn't it? Bit like your laughable inversion of the usual state of affairs.

Don't listen to them, Ratzy, they're just jealous!

Is there any chance that he will admit to being complicit in the facilitation of clergy abuse? Maybe also he'll open up the archives of the Irish Christian Brothers - two of whom were hanged in North America in the 1930s for raping and murdering two children.

For God botherers;
God is tired, worn out. So he speaks to St. Peter, "You know, I need a vacation. Got any suggestions where I should go?"

St. Peter, thinking, nods his head, then says, "How about Jupiter? It's nice and warm there this time of the year."

God shakes His head before saying, "No. Too much gravity. You know how that hurts my back."

"Hmmm," St. Peter reflects. "Well, how about Mercury?"

"No way!" God mutters, "It's way too hot for me there!"

"I've got it," St. Peter says, his face lighting up. "How about going Down to Earth for your vacation?"

Chuckling, God remarks, "Are you kidding? Two thousand years ago I went there, had an affair with some nice Jewish girl, and they're STILL talking about it!"

Alright, but I might ask for a speech from Brian Cox about the scientific explanation as to why we're lucky to be here to balance things out. I also spend Christmas thinking about why we're lucky to be here, but I think about it more in terms of statistical improbability than a man in the sky. Cox's contribution to The Atheist's Guide to Christmas summed it up wonderfully.

but I think about it more in terms of statistical improbability than a man in the sky.

Indeed the statistical improbability is astonishing.
As to "the man in the sky" who is that? Apart from The Simpsons which is a comedy show I don't think anyone believes in a "man in the sky".

No Christian I have ever met believes in a "man in the sky".
The only people I know who believe in a "man in the sky" are atheists, who believe that Christians believe in a "man in the sky".

And the atheists want other people to believe they are rational.

@Rexel:

Indeed the statistical improbability is astonishing.

And yet here we are, complete with rational and irrational theories to explain why we're here.

As to "the man in the sky" who is that? Apart from The Simpsons which is a comedy show I don't think anyone believes in a "man in the sky".

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware The Simpsons wasn't a serious show. It's just a figure of speech. Substitute in the word 'god' in its place if you want to.

And the atheists want other people to believe they are rational.

How many times does it need to be said that we have experiments, case studies and equations which can explain events which were once put down to the work of a supreme being? It seems far more rational to think that there is no all-seeing and all-knowing creator rather than believing there is one. Where is the evidence which supports the existence of a god/gods?