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Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 13:21:19 -0400 (EDT)
To: Andrew Reeves <andrew.reeves &AElig wayne.edu>
cc: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Daniel Reeves <dreeves &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Pope Benedict XVI
Status: O

Absolutely, write that letter to the editor.  Exactly what you wrote to
improvetheworld would be perfect.  The "working alongside" phrasing
demonstrates shamefully biased reporting.

Eugene (Yevgeniy) is right that the poop's innocent until proven guilty
but my dad (Martin) is right that it's pretty suspicious.  (and note that
he didn't desert from the Nazi army till the last weeks of the war;
however bold that still was, I think given his current title of "holy
father", it's not unreasonable to expect more)

In any case, sticking to what he's said and done in recent years, we can
conclude that he's a nasty, intolerant person.  I conclude that any
interfaith dialog efforts must be for political reasons.  Recall what he
said about Turkey and Buddhism and "Christian Europe".

And I learned something new from the article that Eugene sent:  he
basically accused the US media of making a mountain out of a molehill
regarding priests raping children.  How anyone could not have the exact
opposite opinion is beyond me.  I can't believe it was dropped with so
little fuss.

Like Rob pointed out, there's a lot of complacency surrounding all this
and I think it will improve the world if we persist in pointing out the
emperor's lack of clothing.

And Catholics on this list, please do speak up.

Danny

--- \/   FROM Andrew Reeves AT 05.04.28 10:18 (Today)   \/ ---

> Of course it crossed my mind, too, that one could make a public issue of
> this and at least write a "Letter to to the Editor" to Newsweek. Thus
> far, I have not done that but my decision is not final. I would be
> interested in hearing more comments from the "improvetheworld" crowd
> especially Catholics. As for "derailing" the Pope--no chance of that; I
> don't even see how one could get to the point of questioning him on
> this. Anyhow, as you can remember from my former e-mail to this site it
> is my opinion that a bad pope is what the world presently needs.
> --Grandpa Andrew
>
> Martin Reeves wrote:
> >
> > It would be interesting to hear Ratzinger own memories of his time on the
> > South-east Wall.  I would construe any reluctance on his part to talk about
> > it or vague answers to questions with a lot of 'I don't recall' in his
> > answers to mean he was NOT an innocent bystander.  Even if he was an
> > innocent bystander, a truly righteous person should have extensively
> > reported on the abuses he witnessed!  Does that or any article say he did at
> > least that?  Is it possible that this story could escalate and 'derail' the
> > new Pope and the Catholic Church?
> >
> > Martin Reeves
> >
> > CBT Companies Inc.
> > Peoria and Moline, IL
> >
> > www.cbtcompanies.com
> >
> > Direct:       (309) 495-1741
> > Toll Free:  (800) 747-6500
> > Cell:          (309) 453-2007
> > Fax:          (309) 676-6068
> >
> > Email     mreeves &AElig cbtmail.com
> >
> >  -----Original Message-----
> > From:   Andrew Reeves [mailto:andrew.reeves &AElig wayne.edu]
> > Sent:   Wednesday, April 27, 2005 6:42 PM
> > To:     improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
> > Subject:        Pope Benendict XVI
> >
> > NEWSWEEK magazine, current issue, contains a story on the early life of
> > the new Pope and I quote from page 46 the following paragraph:
> >
> >     "During the war, Ratzinger's firsthand experience with the
> >      German military were a boy's grim chronicles of helplessness
> >      and defeat. He had entered seminary at the age of 12, but was
> >      compelled to join the local Hitler Youth in 1941, when he was
> >      14. At 17, he was building earthworks and tank traps alongside
> >      Jewish forced laborers near the Austro-Hungarian border."
> >
> > I was one of those Jewish forced laborers in the village of Fertorakos
> > from November 1944 until March 1945 (for details, see Chapter 5 of my
> > autobiography, section entitled "Slave Labor on the South-East Wall")
> > and I can assure you with absolute certainty that no Gentile persons of
> > any sort were "working alongside" us. The very idea would have appeared
> > preposterous; we were treated and housed worse than animals. There were
> > uniformed young kids among our SUPERVISORS, and I can tell you that
> > typically they were just as cruel, hateful, and meanspirited as their
> > elders--sometimes more so. Of course, there were some exceptions too,
> > and once I even got a cupful of extra food from one of them. In any
> > case, misrepresenting this experience as "working alongside" us is an
> > outrageous insult which is not what one would expect from the POPE!!!
> >
> > Danny's Grandpa Andrew
>

-- 
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