Pope Benedict and his enemies

In my inaugural post, I predicted that people would focus on the negatives of the Pope, and man, I hate being right.

Someone at the UKTimes thought, "I guess there isn't enough news in the world, so why don't I bash the Pope for merely reiterating longstanding Church teaching."

Evidently this new document, Dignitatis Humanae, is way too "No-no-ey" for this Politi fellow. He feels he and the rest of this sad, sad world are being finger-pointed in typical Soup-Nazi fashion and being told that what the Church has always said about the dignity of human life, updated for some new bioethics conversation, is tantamount to "banning everything."

Perhaps the Pope would not feel so inclined to have to say, "No, no" if folks like Politi did not insist on hoping, praying, fasting, and almsgiving that God will give them a Pope willing to change Church teaching to fit what they want, and only that. Notice too, that they always stress the negative, as opposed to the affirmative message that is always included in Church teaching. "Well the Pope wants un-annulled Catholics to save their souls by not profaning the Eucharist? Pooey on him. The Pope says that true ecumenism is out of love and not tolerance? Pooey on him. The Pope thinks that all life is sacred? Pooey on him. Benedict wants us to stress chastity over condoms for AIDS? Pooey on him!" Benedict my aching hind, these folks say, because what Pope Benedict teaches is just too hard. Too. Bloody. Hard.

I am reminded of David, lamenting his sick child, fasting and praying until the child died. What did he do? He stopped fasting, praying, and doing penance. He ate, drank, and was certainly merry, thinking, "Well, the fasting got me nowhere. Now I can enjoy life, because that gives me results."

What is even more ironic, though, is, for all the criticisms of the Pope and his "no-no's," the folks giving the criticism only say it back. "No, no, Pope. No no."

UPDATE: AmericanPapist has a great take on this here.