Pope Benedict, meet Science…

Dear Gods. He is supposed to be an educated, intelligent man. Obviously this reputation has been founded on a very narrow field of study; possibly how many angels can limbo on the head of a sperm or something. Because Pope Benedict’s latest, and most disgraceful, pronouncement to the faithful betrays a clear lack of understanding and knowledge regarding science, human biology, psychology, and social issues. Not to mention basic human compassion and justice.

Never mind the ongoing conflicts of the world; the threat of terrorism; the eradication of the world’s resources; the destruction of the planet. Oh no. Apparently mankind’s worse enemy is The Gay. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are all of us going to wake up one morning, decide we no longer fancy the other sex, and all turn Pink. My husband was a tad surprised when I informed him of this amazing development about to hit the human species but I assured him, Pope Benedict is a well educated and intelligent chap and he says Humanity is about to be wiped out by incipient homosexuality. He can’t imagine himself ever fancying a bloke but that’s just because he’s an atheist.

There’s a thought actually – will it only be Catholics who turn gay and refuse to breed, or all Christians? or only Italians and Germans? Or only Germans who used to be in the Hitler Youth but now see the error of their ways? Just how widespread is this Homo Disease? Or are some of us immune? What if you don’t believe in god? or even in their god?

 

Maybe that’s why Benedict is so upset – perhaps he has been vouchsafed some prophecy that all Catholics will suddenly turn gay overnight and that will be the end of his faithful? Maybe that’s what he’s basing all this hocus pocus on?

Or maybe he’s just a stupid old bigot who can merrily ignore the facts of science and biology to indulge an apocalyptic fantasy that enables his desire to inflict pain, and injustice on a group of fellow human beings – scapegoat them as it were, ostracize them, strip them of human rights….hmm, all this is beginning to sound awfully familiar, Ratzinger.

In less than 48 hours Benedict and his ilk will supposedly celebrate the birth of a God on Earth; a Saviour of Mankind,  who preached love, tolerance, social justice, kindness and self sacrifice. No greater love, do onto others, suffer little children – many of the catch phrases of morality and justice spring from his words and deeds. Yet in preparation for this celebration Benedict chooses to attack and denigrate 10% – yes, Benedict 10% and holding steady – of the human population and label them the enemy of mankind.

Merry Christmas to you too, Pope Benedict. I hope someone gives you a Leaving Cert Biology book as a present.

Crom Cruach…Oh. By Crumb.

Detrius-Dermots Blog wonders if he misheard the claim made on RTE this morning regarding the great Crom Cruach…to whit, that By Crom/By Crumb came from a reference to this god.

Well yes and no…he didn’t mishear them but the By Crom! exclamation (cf Conan the Barbarian) seems to be modern – however it’s asserted in several articles that Crom or a variation thereof is an archaic expression in both English and Irish. I couldn’t find a specific supported reference however so if anyone does….let me know!

Crom himself is a fascinating God.

He is more correctly known as  Cromm Crúaich ( Crom Cróich, Crom Cruach)  but most commonly in oral traditions as Crom Dubh.

He was much maligned by the Christian Church who stole his feast and turned it into one of Ireland’s biggest religious festivals – the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage. His name is taken to mean the “small dark one” although this has been disputed; however, several historians and  folklorists including Peter Harbison, Michael Dames and Maire MacNeill have separately referenced the fact that among the general populace especially in the west and Munster, Crom Dubh folk tales have endured. They attribute to him the role of a Harvest god, (although I’d take this with a grain of salt given the propensity of 20th century writers to attiribute roles to gods and entities in OI literature for which there are no real evidence.) There certainly seems at elast anecdotal evidence that Crom was associated with the harvest although the tale of his encounter with St Patrick paints a picture of an evil, human sacrifice accepting despot.

Some commentators take the saga of Patrick literally and call the stone itself Crom, whereas to the people devoted to Him, the stones would have been mere representations. And not every ancient stone was “crom” in any way shape or form. EG the Lia Fail was not “Crom”. The stones associated with Crom were places of prayer (or sacrifice if you accept the Patrician account).

The smashing of the Stone of Crom is associated with the start of Lughnasagh (end July/beginning August) and seems to be an attempt to overthrow the stubborn pagan associations of the populace rather than an actual event. Therefore the account of Crom as demanding human sacrifice may well be propaganda; although undoubtedly our ancestors had a far more robust attitiude to these things. Patrician stories of the first born human child and first born livestock being sacrificed every Samhain are ridiculous and could not have been supported by the population at the time, especially as they also claim that Crom was the predominant god of the Irish peoples. That would have been one huge waste of resources

Crom is an enigmatic figure, beloved of the people but vilified by the new authorities.