[Mb-civic] A Cornucopia of Death - Arianna Huffington

Wed Apr 13 17:21:16 PDT 2005

Paint the last month black. It's been an orgy of mourning; a cornucopia of
death. We've had Terri Schiavo, Pope <http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm>
John Paul, Prince Rainier, and Charles and Camilla's wedding - which felt as
grim as any funeral. All brought to us in no-longer-living color. If nothing
else, the media have outed themselves as the ultimate necrophiliacs. I
expect CNN and Forest Lawn <http://www.forestlawn.com/>  to announce a
sponsorship agreement any day now.

The pope's interminable interment was the magenta-colored cherry on the
death sundae. The TV coverage was so over-the-top and utterly uncritical, it
was as if John Paul had been, well, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Or,
at least, Jim Caviezel. 

Now, I'm certainly not suggesting that the last week should have been spent
trashing the late pontiff. His many achievements
<http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/PopeJohnPaulAchievements
.asp>  - taking on communism, embracing the Third World, speaking out for
the poor, and standing up against war - surely deserved recognition and
praise. But you'd think the wall-to-wall coverage would have included some
serious discussion of the two tragic failures of his reign: his woeful
mishandling of the church's child <http://www.4law.co.il/comer27204.htm>
molestation scandal, and how his archaic position
<http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/PrintMail/ZonePrint.aspx?Path=http://www.sunti
mes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket6st/basket6st1112793083.aspx>  on
condoms contributed to the deaths of millions of people, especially in
Africa.

The molestation outrage is a black mark that can't be whitewashed. 

Over 11,000 children were sexually abused and close to $1 billion in
settlement money has been paid out, but the pope did not go much beyond
decrying "the sins of some of our brothers." He never met with any victims,
he never offered practical solutions to dealing with the problem, he never
addressed the decades-long cover-up of the abuse. He even rejected a "zero
tolerance" policy calling for the immediate removal of molester-priests,
concerned that it was too harsh. 

Too harsh?! This is a man who wouldn't allow a priest to become a bishop
unless he was unequivocally opposed to masturbation, premarital sex and
condoms. So, in his perversion pecking order, you had to be dead-set against
"self-love" but when it came to buggering little kids, there was some wiggle
room.

And let's not forget that the Pope appointed Cardinal Bernard Law
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,72923,00.html> , who was one of the
architects of the sex scandal cover-up, and who even faced potential
criminal prosecution for his role in the concealment. But instead of making
an example out of Law, the pope gave him a cushy sinecure in the Vatican.
Adding insult to the grievous injury suffered by the abuse victims, Law was
one of the nine cardinals specially chosen to preside over the pope's
funeral masses. It is a disgrace - and an indication of how detached the
Vatican became under this pope. 

The other stain on the pope's legacy is his tireless opposition to the use
of condoms - even in places like Africa
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60261-2001Aug10?language=printer>
, where AIDS killed 2.3 million people last year alone, and where the
disease has driven life expectancy below 40 years in many countries.

But even in the face of that kind of suffering, he fought tooth and nail
against condoms. Any time a church official even suggested that people
infected with HIV should use condoms, they were either removed from office
or censured by the Vatican. We were told again and again last week about how
committed John Paul was to promoting a culture of life. I guess the 20
million people who have died from AIDS are the exception that proves the
rule.

On the other hand, the pope's passing might have saved the political skin of
one of his culture-of-life cohorts, House Majority Leader Tom
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32389-2005Mar13?language=printer>
DeLay. If you have a series of looming ethics scandals about to come
crashing down on your head, having the media focused 24/7 on something else
is a very lucky break indeed. But, in the end, it's going to take a huge
celebrity dying every three days for the next few months to keep The Hammer
from going down.

The presence of DeLay at the pope's funeral in Rome, along with President
Bush, the First Lady, Condoleezza Rice, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Bush
Sr., was a stark reminder of our perverted priorities. The pope dies and
it's Must Holy See TV; 1,547 <http://icasualties.org/oif/>  American
soldiers die in Iraq and President Bush and Laura have yet to attend a
single one of their funerals. Not a single one. Maybe the president only
goes to funerals of people whose death he wasn't involved in.

  _____  

Find this article at:
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/column.php?id=767

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