Pope to fight rise of secularism in the West, or, the decline of Catholicism and the fight to keep it alive

Seems that Christianity is dying a slow death; one shameful form of it at any rate. But even though that’s the natural order of things in an evolving world, the Vatican through its divinely appointed CEO, Pope Benedict XVI, would like to buck the trend and save this particular endangered species of mind-virus from extinction.

The Pope, besieged by accusations of cover-ups in clerical sex abuse cases, has, in a vainglorious moment of desperation decided to shore up his sinking ship, by implementing a new office within his religio-business empire to fight the rise of secularism in the West, specifically Europe. It’s to be called the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization [PCP-the-NE for short], and Monsignor Rino Fisichella has been hand-picked by the Pope to drive this department which is expected to “reinvigorate Christianity in the parts of the world where it is falling by the wayside.”

I’m sure the Pontiff is hoping that his new signing will have more success than the famous F1 driver, and that his new department will have the same drug-like hold that PCP once had in keeping a nation mesmerised.

One wonders what the new Vatican department will resort to in its efforts to “rekindle the faith.” I’m pretty sure that some of the methods of persuasion last used during the Dark Ages, won’t be particularly appreciated or tolerated in the age of enlightenment and unprecendented, but hard-won freedoms. But one never knows; if for some insane reason, there is a sudden rise in religious fervor in the West, the Dark Age mentality may yet cast its ugly shadow on the rest of the world.

But somehow, I doubt that this new Vatican department will have any success. I have faith that people are much smarter and less prone to gullibility than they once were. The rise of secularism is testimony to this development, and mental slavery will come to an end.

Another Religious Lie That Came Through My e-Mail

Secularism is on the rise and so is Atheism. The signs are everywhere. More and more people across the planet are realizing that religion is a fraud. More Atheists are revealing themselves openly, especially in America, once thought of as becoming increasingly fundamentalist.

And the religious movements, proponents and apologists are all too aware of this shift away from their organizational clutches. Initially it was the cults and new-age existentialist movements that attracted both the weak-minded and disillusioned away from mainstream religions, but in the age of the World Wide Web, information is the new “God.” Information has exposed the irrational and illogical, and has replaced the imaginary power of God with a tangible alternative. Not that this alternative needs to be worshipped; it only needs to be acknowledged as a real power.

It is thus not surprising that religious organizations and self-serving individuals have resorted to using this information medium for spreading lies, half-truths, mis-quotes and disingenuous statistics, in a ludicrous attempt to confuse, mis-inform and keep the religiously inclined within their control. I recently posted an essay on a hoax mail about people who apparently mocked God, and I received another one recently. However, if you go to this page on the Snopes.com site, there are quite a few listed there.

 

Entitled, The Hands of God, the mail contained the following photograph and claim:

This is awesome! This certainly should make believers out of non-believers. Praise the Lord! Would you look at this picture? It reminds me of that song “He’s got the whole word in his hands.” He is definitely in control. I needed this today more than ever. Enjoy and pass it along. Photo taken in Kentucky .

Cara Winship sent this out it is called: God’s hands. I took this picture on Hwy 30, traveling to London , KY. It has given me strength in the times of trouble. I feel I should share it with the rest of the world. I hope it is an inspiration to you. It just goes to show what we already know…. We have a God and he’s watching over us. I e-mailed this picture to News Chanel 36. I was contacted by Meteorologist John James. He said that this picture of the sky is showing up, in all states, around the world. He wanted to know where I was from and where I took it. He saw a similar picture taken in Texas . He said this is amazing to him!

And my response:

This is not awesome. It’s just pathetic lies from religious cretins.
It certainly does not make me a believer. Actually, I’m even more of a non-believer now that I’ve seen this lame attempt to spread religious lies.
It reminds me of the song “liar, liar your pants are on fire…”
Er, no “He’s” definitely not in control if “He” is allowing such rubbish to be passed on as the truth.
John James?, Chanel 36 News, Cara Winship are all morons and liars.

Now here is what the real picture looked like before it was digitally defaced with a Photoshop clone tool. Wasn’t it a better picture before the religionists got their “grubby hands” on it?