I'm not posting this for [+]'s nor am I posting this for responses, & replies will not be very welcome, I'm merely posting this as my journal on a subject that has aggrevated & frustrated me over the last few days, I'f your a regular to this site your probably already aware of my opinion, & those of a certain disaggreable disposition - I am already aware of your opinion so please don't write anything here (keep that shit in the origonal posts).

I'm sick of discussing the merits & faults of Catholicism, & the merits & faults of the leader of the Catholic church, at the end of the day, the issues brought up recently have nothing to do with this.

My main problems over the last few days have been;

The disrespect toward & group of people on this site - Both in a religeous sense (toward Catholics) & in a national sense (toward Poles). I am not pigeon holing anybody into abusing both catogories & I am sure some have written about this, without thinking of the potential consequences of what their comments could do. It saddens me to think that people have left ESReality as a result of some of the comments over the last few days, & the satisfaction shown by the instigators & ring leaders over the last few days, to the news of their departures.

Religion is a powerful idea, & it is an important subject to both, the religious among us, from all religions & denominations & obviously to the Atheists among us, many of whom are making their opinions known. I don't have issues with questioning religion, pointing out its flaws & discussing the negative results of the Popes actions in his 27 year papacy, but there is a place for it, & it is not here in a site, where it can & will strongly offend a large number of the readership.

Many of those whom I have accused of ignorance & prejudice, have responded by saying they have a right to free speech, which is ironic, as The Pope has directly been involved in giving a voice to some whose political circumstance had not allowed it previously (please don't respond to this with negatives he has done). It is also ironic, since historically, those politcal movements whom have tried to suppress religion, also tried to suppress free speech as a way of controlling the masses, so some of you are wanting to allow us some freedoms yet not others.

To the subject of respect - Many of my posts have asked people to show respect to the subject, a request which has been questioned. Just to reiterate what I mean by this, I'm not asking for you to show respect for the Pope, or Catholicism, just to show respect to your peers whom may be affected by this. It is already a difficult time for them & a site like this should not make people feel unwelcome on such grounds.

A couple of people have asked the question. 'Why is the Popes passing more important than any other death?' - My answer;
No two people mean the same to any of us, 1000's of people die every day, we would not progress very will if we mourned each and every one of them. Your family & friends would mean more to you should they die, than to me, but I would show courtesy & respect for your situation should something happen.

I don't know if there is a God, or an afterlife, but it is a subject that is always going to have questions, people are always going to believe in God, & people are always going to dispute it, the sooner you accept this, the sooner, we can all acknowledge & accept each others differences & begin living more harmoniously. Our differences, social, historical, racial, political, cultural & religious, are what defines us as a people, it would be a very spartan & boring world should we all think & believe the same things, our diversity & originality are aiding our intellectual evolution & can only be a good thing.

As a member of a minority group, living in the U.K, I have been very fortunate to encounter racism on a personal level rarely, & it would be very easy for me to dismiss it, but after this week here, I am aware of many of the prejudices held by the younger generations around Europe & the world today, & it is disheartening to grasp just how far away from removing it from society completly.

/My 2 Cents..

If your gonna post here, please post sensibly respectfully & constructively, If you wan't to rant or post aggresively, please use the original Pope forum post.