In other words "the separation of the colonies from the Church of England created an opening for a large Catholic population to settle, thus expanding the political influence of the largest and most notorious state religion in history, of which I am the Prada-slipper-wearing head. All hail my pointy hat of righteousness!"
@1, are you a Stephanie Miller fan? That sounds VERY familiar....
@2: Never heard of her. Which part?
Good insight, Pope!
Even the blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut.
And he is totally right. Except for that one, tiny, almost microscopic detail about state religion in the US: every president since Washington has been pretty strongly in favor of (non-denominational) Christianity, and Christians have been getting a pretty good deal from the American government for the entirety of this country's existence. Plus there are the federal holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. But other than that, yeah, the USA's totally secular.
@5 - Yeah, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are only barely "Christian" holidays in our culture.
Way to prove the Broken Clock Theorem, Ratzinger!
When did Thanksgiving become a Christian holiday?
@8: I'm a little hazy on my dates, but I'm thinking maybe 1621?
With comments like that he could get the Democratic nomination for President ;)
@9 - but that makes it a Native American holiday. Kind of like All Saints Day was used to obscure the original holiday the day prior.
For a pretty good interview that reviews how the secular nature of our government was meant for the good of religion, go here:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/liberating_the_founders/index.shtml
Normally I can't stand Speaking of Faith, but I happened to catch this show on the radio and I thought it was decent enough to merit a listen all the way through.
So I guess it's the secular love of religion that is forcing American bishops to withhold communion from, and to threaten excommunication for, Catholic American legislators who don't vote according to Catholic teaching?
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