Sorry, Joey... you ain't wanted here!

[Selena]

Very interesting. The times... they are a'changin'.


**************
IT IS a big deal when the Pope agrees to speak at an event that is not church-related. It is an even bigger deal when public protest forces him to cancel.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/16/1200419886021.html

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

"You don't have to agree with what he says, but the right to speak must not be denied to anyone," said the Minister for Universities, Fabio Mussi.

It's unfortunate that a government official can't tell the difference between denying someone their right to speak and simply refusing to provide a venue for someone to speak at.

Idiot.

[Ysobelle]

It's unfortunate that a government official can't tell the difference between denying someone their right to speak and simply refusing to provide a venue for someone to speak at.

Idiot.

Took the words outta my mouth. He's already said what he thinks-- they don't have to allow him to say it wherever he wants.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

Took the words outta my mouth.
Oh it must have been while you were kissing me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAPEUWowEc). :wink:

[Torra]

Did it seem to anyone else that the people protesting were a bit confused about precisely what they were protesting? They practically denied the Pope the same right they wanted! Hypocrisy doesn't often win supporters.

[Ysobelle]

Did it seem to anyone else that the people protesting were a bit confused about precisely what they were protesting? They practically denied the Pope the same right they wanted! Hypocrisy doesn't often win supporters.

No they didn't. They never said they wanted to deny the Pope his opinions and voice. They said they didn't want him to speak there at their university.

If I violently disagree with someone's point of view-- which, in this case, is spoken freely from a world-wide pulpit-- no one says I have to allow the speaker to come spout it in my living room.

That's not hypocrisy. It's integrity.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

Did it seem to anyone else that the people protesting were a bit confused about precisely what they were protesting?
Not to me:"More than 60 professors signed a letter to the college's rector saying the Pope's appearance, which had been scheduled for the opening of the academic year today, was an affront to people of science and to the secular nature of the institution."
[...]
"This Pope unfortunately is not particularly friendly to science," said Andrea Frova, a physicist and one of the La Sapienza academics who signed the petition.
[...]
The issue goes beyond Galileo, Professor Frova said, and to the church's position today on stem cell research, evolution and genetic engineering. "History changes, the scientific problems are different today than in the time of Galileo, but the attitudes of the church stay the same," he said.Where's the confusion?

They practically denied the Pope the same right they wanted!A) Which right is that?

2) qualifying your statement with the word "practically" doesn't change the fact that no rights were denied at all. Unless obliging a university host your speech is suddenly a right now.

Hypocrisy doesn't often win supporters.Absolutely true, which is probably why the Vatican is finding itself under fire.