Just when you thought the Catholic church couldn't get any more archaic, the Pope opens his mouth and manages to alienate non-Catholics yet again, re-asserting that Catholicism is the only true church. Pope Benedict is anti-modernization, that is no surprise, but to claim that a previous Vatican council that was trying to create harmony with other Christians was a misinterpretation is just asinine. Seriously though, where does he get off? Most Christian non-Catholics that I know think Catholics are at best a bit too strict, and at worst a bunch of intolerant religious zealots, and having Pope Benedict tell them that they are merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation'' certainly doesn't help anyone.

It's no secret that I am anti-religion in general, though I am never critical of people and their personal faith. The thing is, faith isn't personal anymore. People paste it on their bumpers, hand out flyers at public events, and use their faith to explain away all sorts of human rights violations. For the record, Jesus is not your homeboy, claiming as much is a sin in and of itself. It's so strange to me that while the church steps farther and farther back into the dark ages, the modern spin on Christianity grows more and more prevalent. For every example of youth groups for Jesus or Hip-Hop gospel albums there is news that public schools refuse to stop daily prayers or a large percentage of the governing body of the most powerful country in the world are actual creationists....seriously....seriously! Holocaust deniers are idiots, the flat-earth society is a collection of crazy people, but believing the earth was created in 6 days is cool beans. I don't get it!