Richard Dawkins and his ilk are having their day in the sun because our country was foolish enough to elect a fundamentalist as its leader and is now reaping the rewards for that. People look at our current theocracy and all the mistakes it is making and decide that these mistakes must be an indicator that religion isn't all it's cracked up to be. The real message should be: Non-thinking fundamentalism and hypocrisy isn't all they are cracked up to be.

Once the shrub is out of office and we get a real leader in their (oh, God, please) the current popularity of anti-Christian writers will fade. (One thing atheistic scientists can thank G.W.Bush for is making Christians look like idiots in the minds of the world. He's done more for the advancement of atheism than any other religious person in history, methinks.)

Nothing Dawkins says is any more or less valid than the points brought up by thousands of atheists before him. When he speaks about the ridiculous claims about Young Earth and things like that, I'm right there with him. When he says that there is no reason to suspect God exists at all, I'm flummoxed as to how somebody could think it. (Believe in God or not, as you choose, but to say that there is NO reason to even SUSPECT he exists is overstating the case and there are millions who agree.)

As for what the Church is doing to about all these misunderstandings (and there are A LOT of things popularly misconceived about Catholicism), it's doing what it can. But if people are already predisposed to not listening, what can you do? There are books like, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism". That book actually does a pretty good job of clearing up a lot of misconceptions. But who is going to read it? Probably almost exclusively two groups: Catholics who don't need it and people with anti-Catholic agendas who won't read it objectively but instead will just use it to try to find more leverage.

A television campaign might be an effective way to go. Seventh Day Adventists have sure done well with that. I can picture a series of spots, each explaining in lay terms the reasons behind a different aspect of the church that is commonly misunderstood. But, contrary to popular belief (and you'll probably lambaste me for this thinking it's got to be completely wrong, but I assure you it is not), the church doesn't have much money to spend on things like that. The Catholic church is admittedly VERY land-rich, but it is also very cash-poor. Selling land means closing churches, so liquidity is a major problem. The kind of campaign they would need to wage to make serious headway in clearing up many of the most common misunderstandings would be very expensive and they just don't have the resources.

I'm not sure I'm understanding your point about the Pope having the ear of God. When I picture a Pope having the ear of God I picture a guy with a pointy hat saying, "Hey, God! That Irwin Schlasterhack guy is a real jerk. Don't let him in when he comes knockin'!" and God's reply, "Yeah, okay Vinnie! I'll send him down the street to Satan's place."

God doesn't follow our orders. He might grant our requests (or might say no), but he's not at our beck and call. And the Pope is just one of us.

As for your other question, he DID give us the truth about all the important issues. First, he summed it all up on a pair of tablets and had Moses deliver it to the people. Later, people were still screwed up, so he came down in person to show us how to get straightened out. We nailed him to a tree for his efforts. Then he helped people write an amazing manual for life, teaching us how to live, and it's called the Bible. And still people say, "Well, if he exists, why doesn't he just tell us what he wants?"

This reminds me of a modern parable. You may have heard it:

There was a terrible storm, and flood waters were rising in a town near the sea. People did what they could to save their homes, but soon water was up to the roof lines. People who could get out did, but many were stuck. Boats were brought in and lots of people were rescued. One boat pulled up to t a house with a man sitting on his roof and the boat pilot invited him in. "No," the man responded, "God will save me."

The water continued to rise. About the time it got to the peak of the roof, another boat came by. The man, up to his ankles in rising flood water once again refused the help of the mere mortals insisting, "God will save me!"

Soon, the water was up to his chin and he was washed away from the roof. While he was treading water a helicopter came and tried to rescue him. "NO! God will save me!"

Needless to say, he drowned shortly thereafter. Upon meeting God he said, "Lord, why didn't you save me?"

"What are you talking about? I sent you two boats and a helicopter!"


w