Están locos estos Americanos

Una entrevista con Dr Richard Dawkins (autor de libros como "The Selfish Gene", "The Ancestors Tale", "Climbing Mount Improbable", etc) sobre su nuevo libro "The God Delusion".



Un momento gracioso está en el "2:00", cuando le preguntan:

Entrevistador: [The book says]... "God almost certainly does not exist"...
You are leaving open the possibility that he does?

Dawkins: Of course, any scientistist would leave open that possibility.
[...]
You cannot absolutely disprove the existence of anything.
So, just as we cannot disprove the existence of Thor [...] or the Flying Spaghetti Monster... We cannot be dogmatic and say it is certain that God does not exist. We can say it's as unlikely as Thor with his hammer. I could call myself an "athorist" to give the idea of that...

Después del comentario de Marcos, parece que nos queda más claro qué dijo exactamente Ratzinger. De todas maneras, parece que muchos periodicos serios siguen sin haber leído el discurso original (es que el alemán es muy complicado).

Editorial del New York Yimes de hoy:

Editorial: The Pope’s Words

There is more than enough religious anger in the world. So it is particularly disturbing that Pope Benedict XVI has insulted Muslims, quoting a 14th-century description of Islam as “evil and inhuman.

Es curioso que no dice "los musulmanes se han sentido insultados", sino "el Papa ha insultado a los musulmanes", atribuyéndole intención.

De todas maneras, a los periódicos estadounidenses les encanta aprovechar la mínima oportunidad para criticar a la Iglesia Católica, así que no me extraña. Aquí todos son Anglicanos, o Luteranos, o Evangélicos, o Presbiterianos, o Baptistas, o Metodistas, o Episcopalianos... cualquier cosa con tal de no ser Católicos...

Ejemplo: el capítulo de los Simpsons en que Bart y Homer se convierten al catolicismo, y Marge, Ned Flanders y el cura de Springfield se dedican a convencerlos de que vuelvan a "la auténtica fé":

On the road, Marge and Lovejoy try to bring Bart back to the "one true faith": The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism.

Parece que Benedicto XVI se ha pasado de sincero con su opinión sobre el Islam:

In his speech at the University of Regensburg on Tuesday, Benedict quoted criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who wrote that everything Mohammad brought was evil and inhuman, "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Viendo como se las gastan los seguidores de la "Jihad", va a tener que reforzar el "Papamóvil".

Cada vez más, los ejecutivos de las empresas estadounidenses recurren al "outsourcing" a países como India o China para reducir sus costes.

Según New York Times y Wall Street Journal, los hijos de esos ejecutivos están siguiendo el ejemplo de sus padres, y ahora se dedican a hacer oursourcing de sus "deberes escolares".

At $9.95 a Page, You Expected Poetry?

THE Web site for an outfit called Term Paper Relief features a picture of a young college student chewing her lip.

“Damn!” a little comic-strip balloon says. “I’ll have to cancel my Saturday night date to finish my term paper before the Monday deadline.”

Well, no, she won’t — not if she’s enterprising enough to enlist Term Paper Relief to write it for her. For $9.95 a page she can obtain an “A-grade” paper that is fashioned to order and “completely non-plagiarized.”

[...]

How good are the results? [...] an editor ordered three English literature papers from three different sites on standard, often-assigned topics: one comparing and contrasting Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Orwell’s “1984”; one discussing the nature of Ophelia’s madness in “Hamlet”; and one exploring the theme of colonialism in Conrad’s “Lord Jim.”

Según el reportero del NYTimes, un profesor de Harvard calificó uno de los "papers", pero no quedó muy impresionado por el contenido:

... I would probably give it a D+ ...

(Pero, como dice el título del artículo, a $9.95 la página, no puedes pedir poesía.)

El New York Times de hoy trae un artículo con información detallada sobre las técnicas que utilizaba la C.I.A. para interrogar a sospechos de terrorismo en sus cárceles clandestinas.

Para obligarles a confesar, primero les ponían el aire acondicionado al máximo, y si eso no funcionaba, empezaba la verdadera tortura:

He stood or lay on the bare floor, sometimes with air-conditioning adjusted so that, one official said, Mr. Zubaydah seemed to turn blue. At other times, the interrogators piped in deafening blasts of music by groups like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Esta noticia no es de EEUU, pero me ha parecido suficientemente graciosa, así que la pongo en el blog.

Según el padre Gabriele Amorth, "Exorcista Jefe" de Benedicto XII, parece ser que:

1. Hitler y Stalin estaban poseídos por el demonio
2. El Papa Pío XII intentó un "exorcismo a distancia" para sacarles el demonio del cuerpo
3. Parece ser que los exorcismos a distancia no acaban de funcionar bien del todo
   

Según la noticia:

Father Gabriele Amorth who is Pope Benedict XVI's 'caster out of demons' made his comments during an interview with Vatican Radio.

Father Amorth said: "Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations.

"I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.

[...]

According to secret Vatican documents recently released wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII attempted a "long distance" exorcism of Hitler which failed to have any effect.

Cuando Pío XII comprobó que el exorcismo no tenía mucho efecto en la conducta de Hitler, no se le ocurrió pensar que a lo mejor el Demonio no estaba relacionado con todo esto.

No, la explicación era claramente otra:

Father Amorth said: "It's very rare that praying and attempting to carry out an exorcism from distance works.

"Of course you can pray for someone from a distance but in this case it would not have any effect.

"One of the key requirements for an exorcism is to be present in front of the possessed person and that person also has to be consenting and willing.

"Therefore trying to carry out an exorcism on someone who is not present, or consenting and willing would prove very difficult.

El padre Amorth también opina sobre literatura, en concreto sobre las influencias demoníacas de los libros de Harry Potter:

In the past Father Amorth has also spoken out against the Harry Potter books, claiming that reading the novels of the teen wizard open children's minds to dabbling with the occult and black magic.

Father Amorth, who is president of the International Association of Exorcists, said of the JK Rowling books:"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."

He said that Rowling's books contain innumerable positive references to magic, "the satanic art" and added the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil."

Y no olvidemos que este señor es un autentico experto en estos temas:

Father Amorth is said to have carried out more than 30,000 exorcisms in his career and his favourite film is, according to Italian newspapers The Exorcist.