The Pope and the Bailout

"Repent!" says the Pope - more or less. Pope Benedict XVI has chastised Western culture for being too oriented towards money and material wealth. He's right, of course.

In the United States, people worship the free market. As if throngs of self-seeking, short-sighted people have the divine in their brokerage accounts and wallets.

Our tendency is to worship the Invisible Hand of the marketplace. Whose hand, by the way? G-d's, of course. And G-d's Invisible Hand is guiding America's success in the world and our natural dominance over others, right?. So if they resist, they are resisting the work of G-d. This logic plays into our Puritan ethos.

There's always been this theme running throughout American discourse on free markets: that G-d works in free market forces. These would be the same free market forces that brought us slavery and prostitution, by the way.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that the marketplace is a man-made creation, and is no more superior to man than our SUVs are. Let's try to live that way for a while. It would make universal health care and free higher education more of a right and less of a privilege. Hey, we're Socialists now, why not?

The Pope Allies With Iran

Pope Benedict supports Iran's right to use nuclear energy. Not nuclear bombs, mind you, but nuclear energy. Pope Benedict met with Khatami, former leader of Iran. The Pope also mentioned the "freedom of religion" in Iran. Except if you are Jewish. He didn't think of that part, I guess.

"Meanwhile, Khatami said, 'Today, Muslims, Christians and followers of other religions should stress on their commonalities and strive to maintain unity in the face of insecurity and violence.' The former president regarded lack of kindness and justice as the root cause of main problems for mankind."

He's joking, right? Like calling for the destruction of Israel is kindness and justice?

I appreciate what the Pope is trying to do. He is trying to get a dialog going with Iran when the U.S. is failing to do this. The Pope is trying to get Iran talking and getting applause for nonviolent actions. That is a good thing. He is getting Iran engaged in positive constructive rhetoric which will be mentioned in the future, believe me.

Basically, Popes are forced to do things like this when the leader of the free world acts like a high school bully and snob all rolled into one. Bush senior was known for treating world leaders like they were all in some exclusive club. Bush junior acts the same, only he won't let everyone into the club and won't talk to those who don't belong. Not a mature way to handle foreign policy.