The Pope's Funeral
I forgot it was on tv tonight. It's kinda funny, in a way, that all the heads of state are in attendance for a religious leader. I know the Catholic church is probably the biggest church in the world, but it still seems kinda funny in a way. You can say a pope is a political figurehead, but bottom line, he's a religious leader, and everybody's there as if it's a state funeral. I mean, obviously the Pope sets policy, but it is religious policy for a specific church group, not law.
It's hard to explain what I'm thinking, but you hear so much yadda, yadda, yadda about keeping religion out of the political arena, (NOT what our forefounders intended by the way), and the misrepresentation of the ideas of church and state...and here state is in attendance bigtime at the church funeral. That's kinda funny.
I'm not Catholic so I don't pay much attention to popes. Sorry, but true. I have a vague recollection of a pope being shot. I suppose it was this pope? And I have a vague recollection of a couple of pope's dying, maybe one when I was in college, maybe around the time President Regan was shot. I'm not sure. History but it all runs together.
What really impresses me, especially in this day and age, is what a strategic logistical nightmare it would be to have appropriate security for this thing. I imagine since the Olympics were in Athens last summer, that they have called on the experience of that massive security organization and set up to do something similar here.
Kinda terrifying to have all the heads of state from the Westernized countries sitting out in the open.
So I have very early AM blood tests and should be in bed. Two weeks of every day medical yadda yadda and that gets really old. blah, blah, blah. Oy!
It's hard to explain what I'm thinking, but you hear so much yadda, yadda, yadda about keeping religion out of the political arena, (NOT what our forefounders intended by the way), and the misrepresentation of the ideas of church and state...and here state is in attendance bigtime at the church funeral. That's kinda funny.
I'm not Catholic so I don't pay much attention to popes. Sorry, but true. I have a vague recollection of a pope being shot. I suppose it was this pope? And I have a vague recollection of a couple of pope's dying, maybe one when I was in college, maybe around the time President Regan was shot. I'm not sure. History but it all runs together.
What really impresses me, especially in this day and age, is what a strategic logistical nightmare it would be to have appropriate security for this thing. I imagine since the Olympics were in Athens last summer, that they have called on the experience of that massive security organization and set up to do something similar here.
Kinda terrifying to have all the heads of state from the Westernized countries sitting out in the open.
So I have very early AM blood tests and should be in bed. Two weeks of every day medical yadda yadda and that gets really old. blah, blah, blah. Oy!