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I realize this may seem odd, but I applaud the decision BECAUSE I am a Jew.

Settle down, settle down. What I mean is that Judaism teaches me that by studying the Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, and Responsa -- as much of the huge body of Jewish canonized scripture and Jewish literature as possible, that is -- I can increase my love of Hashem, my commitment and ability to do mitzvot more fully and correctly, and my admiration for Jewish tradition as developed over the last thirty-eight or so centuries. Truth withstands scrutiny, as the wonderful Carl Sagan has so rightly said. The more you know about the truth, the more you can identify it as truth.

So, I think that those of any and every other religion also need to know more, not only about their religion's current teachings, but about older teachings that may or not be in current favor. If there's truth in a person's faith and in their faith-organization's teachings, then they'll see it more and more, become more and more committed to live according to its teachings, more and more capable of doing what their religion asks of them. If there isn't truth there that speaks to them personally, they will probably learn that, too. Either way, being more informed about what your own religion teaches can only help you, no matter who you are and no matter what your religion is. This particular mass -- I can't remember offhand if it's Tridentine or Trinitine, but one of those -- is a part of Catholic history, and as such, every Catholic has the right to hear it, to understand it, and to engage in study, contemplation, and discussion of what it means for them.

I hope that what they do with that knowledge is teach one another, however, rather than hare off on another dang crusade to convert or kill us. If that begins to happen, though, at least we will (to quote a Christian scripture) "know them by their fruits."

Eh, don't take it too hard.

Remember, there's a prayer that used to be standard in every Siddur.

"Thank you HASHEM for not letting me born a woman."

Goodness knows that would ruffle some feathers if it came back to the mainstream, but no, I don't think it will, nor do I think the Catholics are going to try to forcibly convert us.

Ummm...

This pope is going to get shot anyways.

How do I know?

Well.. let's take facts..

He is an old ignorant nazi s**t.
He is in ******** Europe.
Europe is having a massive problem with immigrants as most of their population is islamic. Some, may be affiliated with a terrorist organization.
The pope pissed off Islamic people.
The pope pissed off jews.
He has a stupid mouth.

Again, I'm not saying any of us, or myself would do it. I'm just saying, I can see it happening easily.. He isn't very well liked.

I doubt it would be done by a jew.

My reasoning is that, Europe has a bit of a terrorist problem. Last I checked, there aren't any jewish terrorist groups I know of.

It is mainstream, Orthodox Jews say that prayer.
And actually, as a woman, I am not offended by it. I understand the meaning behind it. Orthodoxy, from what I've seen, isn't really sexist, it's just that Orthodox Jews observe completely different roles for women and men. It's not that the women have inferior roles, just ones that are markedly different from men. Therefore, the prayer is acknowledging thanks to God for making the person in such a way that they can carry out the roles and responsibilities expected of them due to their sex.

Although I have to admit that the Conservative prayer that Divash mentioned is better.

Im sure it is nice there. I havent gotten to go there. And youre right about him looking like Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars.

Well the real question remains... will Kingpinsquezels (or how ever you spell it) shoot Ovaltine through her nostrils when she sees that pic.