Say WHAT???

Every so often, I read something that just makes me sit back and say WHAT??? Where in the heck did that come from? And, you guys know that I hold nothing sacred, and am willing to point my critical crooked quilting finger at anybody I don't agree with.

This is real, y'all. It came from Reuters news agency. I went to the source to check and make sure it was real. I've put quotes from the article in italics below.

Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself".

What the hell?

He told diplomats from 180 countries that the education of children needed proper "settings" and that "pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman."

Hmmm. He clearly has not visited my proud family lately...and really, shouldn't he be more focused on the "proper setting" being one that prevents harm to children? I mean, clean your own house, dude.

"Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself."

Hmmm. Threaten...the future of humanity itself. Policies which undermine how a minority of people define family threatens the future of humanity itself. That sounds like "Do what I say or you will be destroyed." Didn't God promise not to destroy humanity again and gave us the rainbow as proof? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that was just a fun Sunday School lesson. I can't remember.

Okay, but you ain't heard the worst of it yet. This came from Cardinal Dull'un...er, I mean Dolan.

Dolan...sent a letter to the president criticizing his administrations decision not to support a federal ban on gay marriage. In that letter, Dolan...said such a policy could "precipitate a national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions."

Ugh, excuse me, but if church and state are separate, can they be in conflict? And, last time I checked, church and state are supposed to be separate here in the United States. Course, church doesn't seem to have come to grips with that yet. But, we're working on that.

Per Benedict: "The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and states; hence, there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue."

Well, he did manage to get that part right. But, it cracks me up that he thinks he gets to decide what a "family" is. I've certainly known a lot of families in my life. Some were successful and some were not. Some had marriages, some did not. Some men beat their wives, others did not. I've even heard of some that killed their children...but oddly enough, I never hear about gay parents that kill their children. What I've heard instead is that children of gay parents, because they're extra effort to acquire, are cared for just as well as the most loved children of heterosexuals.

So, overnight, I had some thoughts. I thought I'd share them. Cause I'm like that.

Anybody that doesn't think my family is a real family because there's not a "female parent" in residence doesn't know much about what family really is and I feel sorry for them. They're clearly missing out on the whole family experience.

The pope is clearly wrong and thinking in a backward way. Come on, dude. If you wanna survive, you gotta adapt. Besides, you can't be infallible just because you say you're infallible. You need to act infallible to really get the title, don't you? Or is it like Miss Teen USA?

And, if me marrying Rob would potentially bring about the downfall of humanity...well, is humanity really that close to the precipice of downfall? Somehow I don't think so. I mean, a narrow definition of family isn't going to stop people that don't fit that definition from doing that thing that makes babies and from grouping up and making families. And, as long as people do that, won't there be humanity?

If we are that close to the precipice, then Rob and I should get married ASAP before it all collapses around us.

Bad Pope. Bad Cardinal. You should be ashamed. I doubt you are, but you should be.

And, if I offended anybody, look to yourself before you blame me. You'll likely find some good old Catholic guilt is really to blame. And, yes, it's okay to like me, even though I disagree with the pope. I mean, really, he can't possibly care, can he?

Whew, glad that's off my chest. Now I can think about what's really important. Raising a child. Being a good partner. Being a good person. Not bringing about the apocalypse.

Lane