Living faith
Taki
New York It obviously came from above — the order, that is — because I have never seen such perfect temperatures and clearer skies than for the Pope’s visit. And this wonderful Pope, who believes in the strictest doctrine for the Church, was greeted by the faithful like a rock star, cheered and applauded everywhere, with people yelling ‘Wilkommen’ in Brooklyn accents and thousands upon thousands waving yellow-and-white Vatican flags. His Holiness stayed in an upper east side house, one block away from mine, and watching tough and burly Noo Yawk cops tear up whenever he passed by was a sight to remember. It goes to show that faith is far from dead, at least in this country, and the Pope’s beautiful countenance, the peace and hope he projected, rallied us all, no matter what the faith.
Goodness was the order of the week, and my friend Father Boniface Ramsey, who was staying with me, reminded me of it when I told him that the only thing Benedict XVI ever did wrong was to fail, as an anti-aircraft gunner, to shoot down the Anglo–American ‘luft-gangsters’ bombing women and children in the closing days of the second world war. ‘Now, now, this is about loving your fellow man, not shooting people down ... ’ Point taken. And there was so much joy and happiness in the streets as the Holy Father was driven up and down this great city, it was almost as if we had suddenly put all our differences aside and were living in a perfect world.
Benedict reacted to all the pomp the way he always does. He was modest, meek and almost surprised by the waves of nuns, deacons and priests, and humble people from all classes, as they tried to reach out to him. This was a great triumph for Catholicism in America after the dark period of the scandals. The great John Paul met the man who tried to kill him 25 years ago and forgave him. Benedict XVI met some of those abused by the Church and asked for their forgiveness. He is as great a man as his Polish predecessor, and far greater than any other religious head around. Some of those Muslims preaching hate and death should learn a lesson from him. As well as a shave, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve had it with their sensibilities, their non-stop demands of death for others — never themselves — and our pathetic weakness in accepting their cults of death and destruction. Throw the bums out, says I, and keep them out.
During the Pope’s visit, a friend of mine who writes for my website from a European country was threatened with death by Muslims. He had previously been threatened by the authorities, European authorities, with arrest for writing nothing more inflammatory than what I’m writing now. Hence he is writing under a pseudonym as he fears for his wife’s and children’s safety. And this is taking place in Europe 2008. In an impromptu talk, the Pope spoke of St Peter failing, failing and yet becoming the rock the Church had been built upon. In other words, try and try again, with joy and enthusiasm. I agree, but, as my ancient Greek ancestors said, Sin Athina ke Hirakin, we believe in Goddess Athina but we also need to help ourselves.
We must do something about the Fifth Columnists among us, which are the Islamists. We must do something about Israel holding us hostage to its brutal occupation of Palestinian lands, which we, the West, as guarantors of Israel, are held responsible for. Europe has to wake up and vote out of office any appeasers towards violent Islam and violent Likud. Anyone who threatens our freedom of speech has to be deported immediately, and to hell with his human rights; we are not the ones responsible. Or jailed for the duration.
There are many among us who have given up on Europe, and write in order to remind America what can happen to it when professional politicians play it safe and look to cover up rather than to correct. Hillary Clinton has just pledged that if Iran attacks — listen to this — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, she, as president, would nuke Iran. She is mortgaging America’s future — the Clintons have collected more than 18 million big ones from the Saudis alone — in order to protect the very countries which are holding us to ransom with their oil prices. Forget about human-rights violations by those countries, forget about Israel’s human-rights violations against millions of Palestinians; just get the votes. Be ready to press the button to save some of the world’s most repressive regimes because the Arabs have the moolah and the Israelis have the votes. And people still go weak at the knees when this monster drives by surrounded by her goons. Go figure.
And it gets worse. Some clown by the name of Jones writes against ‘the slippery sleazeball and the far Right’ in a tabloid in England. He means Berlusconi and the Lega Norte, a party which is anti-immigration. When clowns are given the right of their opinions in major newspapers, it’s time to emigrate. Italy is sinking under the weight of illegal immigration. It has open borders everywhere and they’re pouring in. Berlusconi will try to do something which should have been done long ago. He’s called a sleazeball as a result. The Lega Norte, like the Flemish Vlaams party in Belgium, does not wish to end up like the Dutch, held hostage to fanatic Islamists. What is so sleazy about that?
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