As a white male who writes and struggles to get my work noticed, when I see such a public proclamation of the intention to not read anything written by someone who shares my skin color, gender, and sexual orientation (things I was born with and had no control over), it’s hard to resist my gut reaction (I know, I know…

Let’s talk about the irony of his statement: it’s the wage rates of *government* employees he wants set by the free market and not government.

As a citizen of WV, a state who has voted Democratic more consistently for longer than any other state in the union, voting Democrat doesn’t make it better. Sure, we can yell DINO all we want, doesn’t change the names on the ballot and the parties beside them. This isn’t a ‘because you voted GOP or didn’t vote’ issue.…

Agreed. They need to do psychological testing to weed out the emotionally manipulative.

If you oppose my ideas for tax reform, or for entitlement reform, or whether the Dodd-Frank Act was a huge step forward in financial reform or an overreaction to the financial crisis, I will not accuse you of hatred. And, in fact, if you decide that the dogma of your church will not recognize a marriage because of…

i literally said WTF out loud when i read your last sentence...

He is no “chill-er” than any other Pope. And never has been.

“In my view, the issue of “gay marriage” is a financial one with people chasing benefits to which they have no real claim.”

This is a great comment for many reasons, chief among which is that you intimated that you’re not steeped in legal credentials / experience, yet you are still appreciative of the distinction between the idea of (possibly) consenting to drugs versus subsequently consenting to sex (while, by the way, under the influence…

What, you were expecting something different? I never understand why people talk about the pope as ‘cool’ or ‘chill’ or even, ‘marginally better than the last guy’. He’s the head of the Catholic Church. He’s a religious zealot, and the leader of one of the most powerful, richest, most conservative institutions in the…

I am perpetually baffled by news stories reporting that the Pope continues to be Catholic and espouse Catholic doctrine. I can’t really understand the difference between “Breaking news: the Pope still isn’t cool with abortion or gay marriage!” and “Breaking news: bears are still shitting in the woods!” and yet the…

Please. Bring this issue up whenever a person is talking about how great this pope is. He isn’t great. Just like Benedict. Just like Paul.

See? This is what I keep telling people! Just because he was nominated as a PR stunt doesn’t mean he isn’t supposed to represent the Catholic Church!

Yeah, it’s not the nicest book, if you actually read the thing. It’s pretty fucking horrible in many, many places actually.

I’m happy that the Branding Pope has caused an incremental increase in your parish working for good. It is also obvious that he has not caused an incremental decrease in the bigotry, though.

See one would think that “supporting the family” would mean giving all loving families the same rights and social as well as legal safety and stability. But I guess what “supporting the family” actually means is trying to rip apart loving families that don’t conform to a narrow definition of what is acceptable…

I know (hope) that part of the chill pope thing is ironic, but I really wish it would stop. Nothing about this poor is materially different from prior popes, and there is no radical departure from Catholic doctrine. This is ALL branding, and everyone who uses the chill pope moniker is buying into it.

I’ve always been wary of him. Too many, “I’m not going to tell you your self-righteous judgement is wrong, but maybe we should be nicer about it” moments.

Honestly, what exactly do you expect from the Head of the Catholic Church?

Chill Pope’s been dead to me since Kim Davis