The Pope, Atheism and the environment

With all the pomp surrounding the demise of the leader of the Roman
Catholic Church, I find it hard to reconcile his position as spiritual
leader of a Christian sect with his appeal as a ‘world leader’. To an
atheist, his position as representative of God on earth may seem
ridiculous but it has mind-boggling appeal to any God-fearing human.
And that cuts across all religious boundaries but fails to elicit any
reaction from the Secular Humanists, a progressive group of atheists and
freethinkers who feel that “God” lies within us.

In his 26 year pontificate, John Paul II has managed to single handedly
(assuming he observed his vow of celibacy) increase the world population
beyond what it would normally have been without his strict Catholic
decrees against contraception, abortion and end of life issues. In a
much mis-used buzz phrase “culture of life” (as opposed to satanic
“culture of death” which now pervades modern western society,) JP2 has
inadvertently commended millions of human beings to a life time of suffering,
torture and ultimate untimely demise from starvation, disease and
strife, mostly political but largely religious. But wait, their
suffering here on earth is not it vain, for their souls will attain the kingdom
of heaven.

The world population now stands at over 6 billion, majority of those
children being born to parents who observe one of the world’s greatest
religions – Christianity. In the first world, the population is
actually declining, the average fecundity being 1.65 children per 2
parents (sexual orientation not-withstanding). Is it any wonder that
this is where most of the questioning of our ‘blind faith’ has been
posed?


All our efforts to contain the spread of AIDS in Africa are being
thwarted by the Christian edict against birth control. Both these
modern ‘evils’ could be reduced by the distribution and recommendation
of using latex prophylactics to control the population explosion and
venereal disease transmission. But any aid organization that wishes
to follow this route will have to bear the brunt of the being shunned
by vatican funds and all others that have any affiliation with the
"Crucifix Club".