The furore about the Pope's visit amazes me and in my view demonstrates the intolerance of the PC brigade over matters of Christianity which would not be expressed against the leader of any other faith or even a tin pot dictator.
First let me explain where I am coming from.
I was brought up in a strong Cof E household although my mother was a Methodist. In the past there had been trouble with "mixed marriages" in the family between Catholics and Protestants which had caused some family rifts and indeed the first question my father would ask me if I went out with a girl was "Is she a Catholic" The answer seemed to be invariably "yes", to which the reply was "You will have Father Mahogany coming to see you"
My first wife was a Catholic and her parents did not attend our Cof E wedding although I got on well with them.
Following my divorce I had two girlfriends who were Catholic.
I am now an agnostic but wish I could believe in God but to me the science is against His existance especially in a form we could understand. I certainly do not believe if God did exist He would want us to spend several hours a week "worshipping Him"
However I can understand the sense of peace gained by sitting quietly in a church and the atmosphere in St Peter's in Rome was such that I could almost be tempted to believe.
Religion brings immense comfort to millions of people and IF I did ever believe I would turn Catholic.
That church has resisted the modern tendency to be all things to all men and has stuck to it's original tenets of belief. Yes I have issues with its views on contraception and the paedophile actions of some of the priests was a scandal which should have been addressed.
However the actions of those who oppose this visit of the leader of 5 million British people demonstrates their intolerance, an intolerance they would not direct against a muslim cleric or tin pot dictator.
The worm and paedophile advocate Peter Tatchell has a cheek to oppose the visit on the grounds of the Pope's intolerance when he himself is so intolerant that he would happily see people arrested for saying anything against homosexuality (homophobia as he calls it).
Similarly the lefties and Guardianistas and various arty farty types oppose the visit for the same reason and say the police costs should be borne by the church. The Catholic church is not as wealthy as often supposed.
Yes they have priceless artifacts in their churches and many irreplaceable paintings on ceilings etc but these are not saleable assets.
Against these costs should be put the costs of guarding the muslim terrorists,Tony Blair, the Notting Hill Carnival or the many alien events in our country.
Who would be likely to attack the Pope? Not Richard Dawkins or some such atheist. If past experience with the attack on the last Pope if an attempt on his life was made it would be more likely to be made by a muslim nutter.
Lastly Cardinal Kasper's comments that landing at Heathrow airport reminded him of visiting a Third World Country rings true, and that is before he has visited the "enriched diverse" city we have as our capital.
So there it is, although I am not a Catholic or even a practicing Christian I welcome the Pope, not least because he is not a muslim and belongs to a European tradition from which we have drawn so much of our history.
Live and let live you Lefties gays and atheists.--
AND SHOW SOME TOLERANCE for a change.
