Vatican calls Paris-Dakar the "Bloody Race of Irresponsibility"
Ouch. Harsh words for the Paris-Dakar Rally have recently eminated from his Eminence's orginization, the Catholic Church. Apparently a recent edition of the Vatican Newspaper included an article entitled "Paris-Dakar: The Bloddy Race of Irresponsibility," which effectively slams the race for its violence and penetration into non-Western cultures. The article comes not long after a South African motorcycle competitor named Elmer Symons (shown at right) died during the fourth stage of the event in the Morocco desert on Tuesday, January 9th. We're sure his Holiness and crew realize that any motorsport carries with it the potential for personal injury and even death. The Paris-Dakar rally seems to goad the Vatican's goat, however, particularly because it employs a track that winds and weaves through various locals and regions that haven't had a whole lot of exposure to Western culture, let alone astonishingly fast all-terrain rally vehicles whizzing by at triple-digit speeds.
Mr. Symons death is truly tragic, and it seems odd the Vatican would use its occasion as the impetus for an attack against the rally. Unfortunately, racers of every sort die all too often in their pursuit for victory, so by that token we're not sure if the Vatican is formally denouncing all forms of motorsports, and without the original article (Damn! Shouldn't let our subscription lapse!) we wouldn't venture a guess.
Please keep the comments respectful. Thanks.
[Source: Antara News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jeff Banks 8:24PM (1/12/2007)
Lets not mention the Catholic inquisition, the Crusades, witch trials and all the other wonderful activities the Catholic church has performed.
Seriously, I hate when religious/minority/political groups all find it appropriate to "condemn the actions" of every stupid thing they see.
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stevew 8:30PM (1/12/2007)
I doubt the Vatican is concerned about dead race drivers. It's probably concerned about all the locals who have been killed over the years.
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Alex 8:32PM (1/12/2007)
It's hard to understand why the vatican would even comment on this when there are far more important issues.
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Jason 8:32PM (1/12/2007)
This just in:
Jason calls the Vatican "irrelevant".
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stephenpmac 8:49PM (1/12/2007)
Not to belittle the greater issue, but it's the Lisbon-Dakar. It hasn't started from Paris in quite some time.
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vpaturi 8:46PM (1/12/2007)
Isn't this race from Lisbon-Dakar? Where did paris come from?
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Chet 9:13PM (1/12/2007)
What form of racing isn't a (sometimes) "bloody race of irresponsibility?" That's why we like it.
Let the Pope say what he wants -- humans are driven (!) to push the envelope.
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vectorbug 9:11PM (1/12/2007)
Don't tell the pope about the Isle of Man TT then.
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hmmm 9:26PM (1/12/2007)
I heard the new pope mobile is powered by cat farts !!
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Jeff Banks 10:09PM (1/12/2007)
"FYI Jeff, the Crusades were a response to Muslim invaders"
So they took a wrong turn somewhere out near Greece and ended up in Jerusalem? (where they killed more people)
Whatever. Call me stupid, but I don't see how you can commit to a religion that one day decides that they got the makeup of the afterlife wrong. "Hey guys, about that purgatory thing we told you about for the last thousand years...yeah, doesn't exist. Sorry 'bout that"
About the Paris-Dakar (starts in portugal now) that killed some Africans. Auto racing is a dangerous sport. Many spectators have been killed in Europe watching rally after drivers have spun out of control. It just happens in Africa and people get upset.
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The Doctor 10:12PM (1/12/2007)
How dare the participants of the Paris-Dakar interfere with non-Western cultures! That's the missionaries' job!
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stevew 10:13PM (1/12/2007)
Right, but the people in Africa aren't willing spectators. They're just villagers along the route.
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Dan 10:31PM (1/12/2007)
The interesting thing here is why the Vatican suddenly decided to come out against one race, over a single death. Racing isn't as dangerous as it once was but people still get killed pretty often. Why now, why this race? It's bizarre.
wtf do the Crusades or Inquisition have to do with this article? Except maybe right now there's a race manager reading this and saying, "Well I wasn't expecting the damn Spanish Inquisition!"
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chairman 10:26PM (1/12/2007)
Hey look everybody, cars are driving fast! Let's make a stink about that so people forget about the child abuse scandals. God's cool in my book, but bloated and hypocritical religious organizations...not so much.
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Kevin 5:19AM (1/13/2007)
Really, do you suppose that everything the 'Vatican Newspaper' says is personally sanctioned by His Holiness and the Council? Enough with the attacks, people.
Love the blog, guys.
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gary 10:32PM (1/12/2007)
I wonder who the Vatican will PO next?
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Robert 10:36PM (1/12/2007)
Dan, technically speaking, the Vatican didn't come out against this race. It seems that the Vatican newspaper did, but not the Vatican itself. It am sure, but not positive, these are two different things. It is probably a case of bad reporting (or headlining).
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Andy 12:15AM (1/13/2007)
Everyone, here's the lowdown on the Crusades from someone who actually knows something about history:
Pope Urban II used the Seljuk seizure of Jerusalem as a cause for mobilization in the eleventh century. One of the causes for outrage in Europe was the destruction of the Temple of the Holy Sepulchre by al-Hakim, the mahdi ruler and a psychopath. The temple had been destroyed years before the First Crusade started in 1096.
Now back to cars...
The Vatican condemns a race event, but not pedophile priests? How loving.
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OneDayMatt 1:21AM (1/13/2007)
It's funny how the Church and the crusades are entwined in the minds of so many. At that point in history, the church was the state (as the religion-state relationship exists now in the middle east, never a good thing) The crusades were originally started as a response to one religion-state group (the muslim-turks) threatened another religion-state group (the byzantine empire). The Holy Roman empire (religion-state) was called in for backup because they were a. of similar religious background and b. they were powerful. The crusades as they existed, however, were neither controlled by nor caused by the church. They were quite literally the result of primogeniture. First born children of nobles were the only nobles that got any land. The second through nth noble sons got jack and figured they could use the "crusade" excuse to get more land. So, as the masses are, they swayed followers into the crusades on a "religious" basis. The greed of men caused the crusades. Crusaders were largely useless and misinformed. Popes were emperors and young rich kids were greedy (i.e. nobles). Very few (if any) were actually Christian (followed the way of Jesus), they were just starving hordes following greedy idealists. They were uncivilized. All religions seem to have the ability to create the great (Muslim-Rumi, Christian-St. Francis of Assisi), the evil (Muslim-Osama bin Laden, Christian-Henry the 8th) and the idiotic-misinformed-starving masses(Muslim-Jihadists, Christian-Crusaders). It's all about what people will call themselves, not what people really are.
I prefer to call myself nothing, but my beliefs are undeniable.
I believe in the Church, those people with true understanding. I don't believe in organized religion that calls itself a church and involves itself in anything other than teaching.
1. Prayer
2. Meditation
3. Forgiveness
5. Faith
6. The truth of selflessness
Goodnight Peace, Namaste, Shalom
Pope Benedict; I request as an equally important being (though infinitely more important to myself) that you apologize for your statements about encroachment on other cultures as you've encroached my culture. I enjoy the rally, it is a sign of progress and a practice in cooperation. I understand that it is irresponsible that the race directors do not close the course to the public; that is a problem. You, however, are the representative of God to those in your church and you hurt your church and lessen its credibility when you attack others. Anger, the true root of your words, is based on selfish fear. God's representative on earth should know to check himself before he attacks others.
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JONNY-BABES 6:07AM (1/13/2007)
I'm with popey-babes!Just with the number of amateur boy-racers passing me on the right at brake-neck speeds and weaving in and out of traffic on the L.I.E. like cracked up speed demons has me fearing for the lives of poor townsfolk in poor unsuspecting (non-european)towns.Put em on a closed circut so they can kill each other, or at least be governed by the rules of the sport in a controlled setting.
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