Pope versus Pope!

This minigame means no disrespect to the venerable Catholic pontiff - it's just a fun little popularity contest for the players here at Only a Game. Please accept any apologies in advance for any inadvertent offence caused.

It's the Catholic Pope, that is Benedictus XVI nee Joseph Alois Ratzinger (pictured wearing a saturno hat), versus the Discordian Popes, that is everyone else on the planet. The question before you is the ancient popularity contest query:

Do you like Pope Benedict XVI?

Vote now! One vote per player. Scoring is as follows:

• If you are Roman Catholic and respond in the affirmative, begin your comment "Yay Pope!" and give your reason. Score 1 point (and a side point for the Catholics).
• If you are non-Catholic and respond in the affirmative, also begin "Yay Pope!" and give your reason. Score 2 points.
• If you are a Discordian Pope and respond in the negative, begin your comment "Nay Pope!" and give your reason. Score 1 point (and a side point for the Discordians).
• If you are not a Discordian Pope (and do not become one, or do not know if you are one or not), and you respond in the negative, begin your comment "Nay Pope!" and give your reason. Score 2 points.

If it's not clear how you are identifying, you will score the lower value (i.e. only 1 point) and will not contribute to the side contest. I'll update the score as regularly as I can. Voting ends at a predetermined but undisclosed time. Remember - this is a popularity contest about a person, not a referendum on the Catholic Church. Try to stay on topic as best you can.

Victory in the popularity contest is entirely separate from the side contest between Roman Catholics and the Discordian Popes for the spoils of war. Prizes in honour and spoils in glory!

This minigame is now concluded, and comments are disabled.

Final Results

Benedictus XVI is unpopular, score: -6 points (3 points yay, 9 points nay)

Side contest:  Catholics: 1, Discordians: 5

Comments

[Nope Benedict]

Nay Pope! Birth control.

[Jack Monahan]

Yay Pope! Popes still have the best hats, And Benedict wears his many hats with aplomb. Just look at that picture.

[Jack Monahan]

Also to be clear, I am a Roman Catholic. We get exclusive papal-hat newsletters for joining up.

[zenBen]

I do like his hat there. I'd wear one better, but he looks like a preacher from Judge Dredd, about to bathe the muties of the cursed earth in purifying flame. But, distressingly clean, as though from the Stallone version of the IP.

In any case, nay. Pointless edifice of the past follies of benighted humanity.

[zenBen]

"Nay Pope!" Oops. I never read manuals before a game. I am a Discordian Pope; unless I'm not.

[Benshi]

Nay Pope! He's no Sylvester II.

(What does it signify if you are in fact Catholic and still vote "nay?" Have I just excommunicated myself? Or negated Mr. Monahan's point?)

[Darius K.]

Nay Pope! I am a Discordian pope, and I happen to know lots of other Discordian popes (everyone I've ever met), and so I am biased towards them.

[Chris]

Just tallied the score for the first time....

zenBen: "Pointless edifice of the past follies of benighted humanity." Bah, at least the Papal system allows Catholicism to change over the centuries; the Protestant system creates static and stagnant sects all too easily. Without the Pope as some influence towards Christian change, what hope of the US Protestants ever leaving the 17th century? >:)

Jack: I just love the Saturno hat - I was toying between this photo and one with Pope B wearing dark glasses and a wicked smile, but in the end I thought this one was more charming.

Benshi: according to the rules, if you say Nay it doesn't matter if you are a Catholic, but it *does* matter whether you identify as a Discordian Pope... If you do, it's 1 point for the Discordians, but if you don't, it's an extra nay point against Pope Benedict. So which is it? ;)

---

Come on you Benedictus XVI supporters - there must be more than one of you out there...!

[Patrick]

Discordian Pope says: "Nay Pope!"

F**k that guy.

[Censored by arbiter but you can probably guess what it said]

[Benshi]

According to my hazy understanding of Discordian doctrine, I'm automatically a Discordian Pope. And since Popes are infallible, even their most tenuous apprehensions of Erisian theology bear the force of universal truth. Therefore, I'm quite definitely and objectively a Discordian Pope.

Please count my vote as such, Chris!

[zenBen]

"what hope of the US Protestants ever leaving the 17th century? >:)"

Hopefully, extinction. >:)

[RedBull]

Nay Pope! I'm a "lapsed Catholic," not sure which way that counts. Until priests are allowed to marry, Catholicism will continue to wither and die.

[Peter Crowther]

Nay [Pp]ope! If we're lucky, Benedict ("good word" - why do people who name themselves that way least deserve it) will do something sufficiently stupid to indicate to all but the moust devout Catholics that the office of Pope is anything but infallible. If we're unlucky, his conservatism will harden the views of the Church even more, and put it even further behind the times.

I do not identify myself as a [Dd]iscordian [Pp]ope.

[Chris]

Holy Havoc, Batman - it's a drubbing! Will no-one come to Pope Benedict's aid? Is there no-one out there who sympathises with the difficult position he's been placed in (which is not to suggest that the Catholic Pope doesn't live in luxury), or perhaps some Christians who respect his skills as a Biblical scholar?

Also: I see many people voting on Catholic issues, and not on Benedict himself. That's your prerogative, I suppose, but it's a shame. The choice of a Pope to follow the hugely popular John Paul II was always going to result in a "Caretaker Pope"; I personally don't see this as a mark against the man.

I notice no-one has voted against him for his indelicate remarks that offended the Muslim community, which is about the only thing I've seen him do that was a major blunder - it makes me wonder how many nay votes have been based upon a kneejerk stance against Catholicism, rather than an assessment of the man himself.

Still, the contest continues!

RedBull: like Benshi, you have a choice: if you identify as a Discordian Pope, you'll score a point for the Discordians in the side contest, and if you don't identify this way you'll score a bonus nay point.

Peter: I think you misjudge Papal infallibility. It doesn't mean that a Catholic Pope can't make a mistake - Vatican II makes it clear that the Pope is still just a man, with all the failings that implies. Rather, Papal infallibility basically gives the Pope unrestricted freedom to interpret Catholic doctrine. It means that a Pope has, for instance, the capacity to overrule anything that a previous Pope has ruled without restriction - it's part of what gives the Catholic church greater potential for change, even though it doesn't seem that way because they naturally drag behind the times by quite a margin.

And yes, Benedictus XVI is a conservative choice - that's the nature of "Caretaker Popes", I'm afraid. :)

Alright, let's see if the yay side can rally in the days remaining...

[Peter Crowther]

To clarify: I wasn't implying that the Catholic pope was always infallible. I consider untenable the belief that there *could* be a man (or indeed a group of men, as in the magisterium) who can assume a mantle of infallibility about the world under any circumstance, no matter how rare. However, my view of that depends on my atheism - if you allow an omniscient, eternal, omnipotent god into the mix, then of course such a man or group of men could exist.

Note that this applies to the (presumed) physical world, not to fields such as mathematics where theorems may be proved and hence held to be true under all circumstances where their axioms apply.

[Neil]

Nay Pope!

I identify myself as an unknowing, but still just as fnordy Discordian Papal Human animal.

I would have a knee-jerk reaction to the Catholic PopeDude whether he was Benedict-y or some really ace dude in the pontiffy hat. He's head of the Catholic church ferchristssake ;-) and therefore is automatically tarred with the same brush (and feathered with the feather putter-onner, probably not a brush, but I'm not sure).

And, just to make it look like I am being relevant - also, he said that thing about the Muslim people which he shouldn't have of. Tut-tut. Don't they let the Pope in on the secret that it's only a little bit of the world they are talking to, but that the others can hear?

Maybe being that close to god's shiny arse (you have to imagine he would get it pretty shiny), makes a person forget his place on this much more down-to-earth...umm, Earth. :-D

Anyway, rambly rant over. Grr Christians of any sort (and I agree about the extinction event for those stuck in 17th C), and Yay the Discordians.

[Chris]

Updated the scores again. I think it's mean to wish extinction on the Young Earth Creationists - many of them are really nice people. A lot nicer than you, mate! >;)

[caller#6]

Yay Pope!

I do identify as a Discordian, but I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all answer. The world needs popes of all kinds,and declaring oneself the one true pope is kind of endearing, isn't it? Like Emperor Norton but with succession.

Besides, that is a cunning hat.

[Jules]

Nay Pope!
< sarcasm> Yes! Far more dignified to throw embryos in the trash than research potential cures for debilitating and life-threatening diseases!< /sarcasm>
It is sad to see a discordian pope exhibiting such foolishness. Perhaps he's joking?

[Moss]

ay Pope!

[Chris]

Peter: I guess you were typing that while I was updating the score... I appreciate the position you outline here. I guess personally I don't see the Catholic Pope as having been given that much more authority than (say) a Judge in terms of rulings (although certainly more influence...) They didn't have to couch this authority in terms of infallibility, but it suits the tone of the Vatican and vastly simplifies the process. :)

caller#6: now that's the authentic spirit of Discordianism right there - it would have been very disappointing if all the Erisians ended up on the same side of the fence. We Discordians must stick apart, after all. ;D I love the comparison to Emperor Norton - charming!

Jules: you do know that its now looking like adult stem cells are more useful than embryonic stem cells? >:) Personally, I'm glad there are people who feel queasy at the idea of making human embryos into a trading commodity - although I don't support the Papacy's position on abortion in general. Like Lord Bhikhu Parekh, I believe if the Catholic Church can think in terms of a just war, it should be able to think in terms of a just abortion.

Moss: "ay Pope" Ha! That's some mighty fine fence-standing right there. :D

Still weighing heavily against the pontiff. There's theoretically time for it to swing the other way, but I'm not holding my breath...

[Jules]

I'm delighted that there are alternative sources of stem cells being developed, but I'm furious that e.g. the American administration is now going to get away with a stance that is, as far as I can see, evil. There's no need to make embryos a trading commodity when so many are being destroyed in fertility clinics (Apparently over a million in 10 years in the UK), although I do share your concern in that department.

In an attempt to get back on topic, I'll admit that my Nay was knee-jerk (I'm a card-carrying SubG), but I note that it was remarkably easy to find some evidence to support it.

P.S. Yay Discordians! hail Eris ;)