Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against humanity

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Richard Dawkins, the atheist campaigner and evolutionist, is planning to have Pope Benedict XVI arrested when he comes to Britain later this year for "crimes against humanity".


Published: 11:26AM BST 11 Apr 2010

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, are seeking advice from human rights lawyers as to what legal action can be taken against the pope over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

It emerged this weekend that in 1985 when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, the pope signed a letter arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys.


Dawkin and Hitchens believe he should face criminal proceedings because his "first instinct" was to protect the church rather than the children in its care.

They are hoping to exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, on a Spanish warrant when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope will be visit London, Glasgow and Coventry, during his time in the UK between September 16 and 19.

“This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence," Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, said.

“This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment," Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said.

Their lawyers, barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, believe they can ask the Crown prosecution Service and that Pope Benedict will not be able to claim diplomatic immunity since he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.

“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

I wish Richard Dawkins would just piss off.

Believe what you want or believe nothing but Richard Dawkins is a joyless soulless arsehole... and that's a fact!!
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

It emerged this weekend that in 1985 when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases,

... a department which deals with sexual abuse cover ups... now that speaks volumes.:mad:
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

I wish Richard Dawkins would just piss off.

Believe what you want or believe nothing but Richard Dawkins is a joyless soulless arsehole... and that's a fact!!

Clearly you don't understand Richard Dawkins.

But let's see if I understand... The "fact" that you stated is based on what? It's a fact based on evidence, or a fact based on your opinion?
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Here's a fabulous riposte. Dawkins articulates what I could only hope to...



Peter
 
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Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Clearly you don't understand Richard Dawkins.

But let's see if I understand... The "fact" that you stated is based on what? It's a fact based on evidence, or a fact based on your opinion?

Three words, 'Atheist Bus Campaign'
There was no real reason to buy advertising space on buses saying, 'there probably is no God' other than to deliberately piss people off.

You provide me with a quote of something positive he has said about anything in his entire life & I will except that he isn't a joyless, soulless arsehole.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

I like him,hes a brave man,but didnt he say he secretly hopes there is a god?Or am i imagining it?
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Three words, 'Atheist Bus Campaign'
There was no real reason to buy advertising space on buses saying, 'there probably is no God' other than to deliberately piss people off.

Can you give me a real reason why not to buy advertising space on buses says "There's probably no God"?

You provide me with a quote of something positive he has said about anything in his entire life & I will except that he isn't a joyless, soulless arsehole.

Of course. Here it is:
"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

To me, that sounds a lot more positive than "You're gonna burn in hell for all eternity if you don't bow to our made up God."
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Can you give me a real reason why not to buy advertising space on buses says "There's probably no God"?



Of course. Here it is:
"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

To me, that sounds a lot more positive than "You're gonna burn in hell for all eternity if you don't bow to our made up God."

Because he could have just as easily paid for posters saying 'Stop Worrying & Enjoy Your Life'

But that wouldn't piss off religious people for the sake of it, so he wouldn't bother himself to do it.

I will admit, I don't actually know what he does for a living.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Dawkins is a funny guy.
he made a joke about seeing some guys wearing 'Dawkins is a God" T-shirts, stating that he'd have to 'question his own existence now'...
well, i thought it was mighty funny!
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Because he could have just as easily paid for posters saying 'Stop Worrying & Enjoy Your Life'

But that wouldn't piss off religious people for the sake of it, so he wouldn't bother himself to do it.

But he preferred to say "There is probably no God", which is, like it or not, true.

So what's your obsession with not pissing people off? It's interesting to me that you can be a Morrissey fan and yet prefer people that are innocuous and inexpressive.

You don't want to piss religious people off? Every breath you take as a Christian, is an insult to Muslims. The same way that being a Muslim will piss off the Jewish. And being Jewish will piss of the Hindus. And being a Hindu is an insult to the Christians, the Jewish and the Muslims.

And being a Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Hare Krishna and etc., is an insult to my intelligence.

Don't wanna piss anybody off? Stop talking, stop living.

I will admit, I don't actually know what he does for a living.

Richard Dawkins is a brilliant biologist.

Instead of pissing me off with your lack of knowledge, why don't you watch some of his documentaries or read some of his books and come back to express your opinion?

Maybe you should check his schedule and meet him in person and watch him talk, like I did. I doubt that you will wish he would just piss off.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

Here's a fabulous riposte. Dawkins articulates what I could only hope to...



Peter


As I have stated here many times it is possible to believe in something that some might call "God" and others might call "Intelligent Design" without being religious, and Dawkins arguments are always against religion. It's easy to be against religion, but show me a scientific explanation how something comes from nothing, as in the origins of our universe. Where did the material come from and what set it into motion? How did matter suddenly become alive, or conscious, to the point that we today can even think about these questions?

Dawkins has a good racket, but this is hardly the articulation of a fabulous idea.
 
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Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

As I have stated here many times it is possible to believe in something that some might call "God" and others might call "Intelligent Design" without being religious, and Dawkins arguments are always against religion. It's easy to be against religion, but show me a scientific explanation how something comes from nothing, as in the origins of our universe. Where did the material come from and what set it into motion? How did matter suddenly become alive, or conscious, to the point that we today can even think about these questions?

Dawkins has a good racket, but this is hardly the articulation of a fabulous idea.

The fact that this can't be explained doesn't make the notion of a "God" more plausible. If that were the case, where did your god came from? From nothing? Who created your God? Oh, he was always there.

I have the answers to these questions:
I don't know. You don't know. Richard Dawkins doesn't know. The Pope doesn't know. Siddhartha doesn't know. Nobody knows.

And that's the beauty of science. It's the everlasting quest for knowledge.

Scientists draw conclusions based on evidence.
Religious people draw conclusions based on a book or whatever some dude with a beard told them.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

This is very exciting! I hope it happens. Ooooh, how I'd love that.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

The fact that this can't be explained doesn't make the notion of a "God" more plausible. If that were the case, where did your god came from? From nothing? Who created your God? Oh, he was always there.

I have the answers to these questions:
I don't know. You don't know. Richard Dawkins doesn't know. The Pope doesn't know. Siddhartha doesn't know. Nobody knows.

And that's the beauty of science. It's the everlasting quest for knowledge.

Scientists draw conclusions based on evidence.
Religious people draw conclusions based on a book or whatever some dude with a beard told them.

The fact is that we have this idea of the Big Bang which is probably as far back as we will ever be able to go in our understanding of our origins. It's not really scientific to think that this event just happened. Something caused it to happen. That something has nothing to do with Richard Dawkins answer to the question. He's talking about mythology and how each culture thinks they have the best mythology. That has nothing to do with the creation of the universe, everything that ever has been, is, or will be.

People get caught up in the idea of calling it "God" when it would be more accurate to call it Prime Mover. Some event set all of this into motion, and something caused that to happen. There is something that existed before the universe came into being.

Anyway, my response was to the idea that Dawkins says something profound in this video, and he does not. I do think that the Pope is guilty of crimes, but is Richard Dawkins now trying to take Gloria Allred's place in celebrity justice?
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

The fact is that we have this idea of the Big Bang which is probably as far back as we will ever be able to go in our understanding of our origins. It's not really scientific to think that this event just happened. Something caused it to happen. That something has nothing to do with Richard Dawkins answer to the question. He's talking about mythology and how each culture thinks they have the best mythology. That has nothing to do with the creation of the universe, everything that ever has been, is, or will be.

People get caught up in the idea of calling it "God" when it would be more accurate to call it Prime Mover. Some event set all of this into motion, and something caused that to happen. There is something that existed before the universe came into being.

Anyway, my response was to the idea that Dawkins says something profound in this video, and he does not. I do think that the Pope is guilty of crimes, but is Richard Dawkins now trying to take Gloria Allred's place in celebrity justice?

That's why the Big Bang is a theory.

That's how science works. If there is no explanation for something, they come up with a hypothesis and if that's plausible that hypothesis turns into a theory which then will try to be disproved. If the theory has no chance of failing, that will be called a law.

What Richard Dawkins was talking about has nothing to do with the creation of the universe because the question posed to him wasn't about the creation of the universe.
 
Re: Richard Dawkins planning to have Pope Benedict arrested over 'crimes against huma

That's why the Big Bang is a theory.

That's how science works. If there is no explanation for something, they come up with a hypothesis and if that's plausible that hypothesis turns into a theory which then will try to be disproved. If the theory has no chance of failing, that will be called a law.

What Richard Dawkins was talking about has nothing to do with the creation of the universe because the question posed to him wasn't about the creation of the universe.

Exactly. It was about religion. Thank you.
 
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