"May you live interesting times" is a legendary curse, but today, it's an extraordinary statement of fact. I barely remember when Pope John Paul II was elected pope (I was a little kid). Now the second pope of my lifetime has been elected (no surprise, it's Ratzinger -- Lord, Wikipedia is fast...!)
Who would have thought that the naming of a religious leader would be such big news across the secular world. But history shows that the pope has almost always been a major political player. John Paul II just took it to another level. Ratzinger was an unsurprising choice in many ways -- he will maintain the conservative doctrinal philosophy of his predecessor (he helped come up with it, after all), and at 78, he is old enough that -- barring a miracle -- he won't rule the roost for a quarter century, as John Paul did. World Youth Day on his home turf in Germany should boost the Deutsch economy, at least. And hey, the guy has his own fan club -- he probably should be pope.
Of course, there will be the inevitable queasy feelings about electing a German pope just three generations after World War II, but any suggestions that Ratzinger is tainted by the period in which he spent his formative years appears to be bunk (though as a young German man, Ratzinger was, by requirement, a member of the Hitler Youth, and he did do time in an Allied POW camp...)
And I can't help but feel that the College of Cardinals copped out in a way -- choosing continuity rather than boldness, and opting for a safe respite of doctrinal sameness and European blandness rather than going for a more inspiring cultural pick. I say that admitting that I'm kind of bummed (in an outside-looking-in, non-Cathloic sort of way), that the Third World didn't get a shot. The time seemed so right for a Latino or -- if you're into really long, long-shots -- an African pope. But bummed doesn't mean "surprised." I didn't think the world was ready for a Black pope -- though I did think brown might work out...
Right now, CNN is harping, as American news organizations will do, on what the new pope's attitude might be toward the United States. Tellingly, the Cardinals elected their senior member, a man closely aligned ideologically with his predecessor, who vigorously opposed U.S. foreign policy and the lack of attention by rich nations toward the world's poor -- and a man from one of the two main European opponents to the invasion of Iraq... We all knew the next pope wouldn't be an American, but in this day and time, a German is about as NOT American as you can get. (American Catholics, don't hold your breath for a liberalization of church rules.)
So, Pope Benedict XVI it is. (But I still say he's a bit creepy looking...)
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dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
