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Pope Benedict XVI: Anti-War, Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice, Anti-Reform
Naomi Klein On The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Should U.S. Troops Withdraw Now From Iraq? A Debate Between
Naomi Klein & Erik Gustafson
Pope Benedict XVI: Anti-War, Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice,
Anti-Reform
Conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is chosen
Pope. We get reaction from the editor of a journal of theology
that Ratzinger founded, a woman theologian who helped launch
an open conclave and wants more involvement of women in the
church, Rabbi Michael Lerner, and a reporter with the world
opinion roundup. [includes rush
transcript - partial]
Conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected
Tuesday to succeed Pope John Paul the Second to lead the Catholic
Church. He took the name Pope Benedict XVI and became the
265th leader of the world's most powerful Christian institution
with 1.1 billion members.
Shortly before 6pm Rome time yesterday, white smoke indicating
the Pope's election puffed from a chimney atop the Sistine
Chapel. Onlookers started to cheer and five minutes later,
the great bell of St. Peter's began to toll.
After his name was announced, Benedict the sixteenth addressed
the thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square and millions
more across the globe. He said, "The cardinals have elected
me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard."
The selection of Ratzinger came on the second day of balloting
by cardinals -who met for less than 24 hours - making it one
of the quickest conclaves of the past century. During the
past year, as Pope John Paul the second's health declined,
Ratzinger was increasingly perceived as the pope-in-waiting.
Ratzinger was born in Germany in 1927. At 78 years-old, he
is the oldest man to be elected pope in three centuries and
he is the first German pope in a thousand years.
In his teens, he was briefly a member of the Hitler Youth,
drafted into the army and eventually deserted. He served time
in a POW camp. In 1951, he was ordained and became a Cardinal
in 1977. In 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed him head of
the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, where
he has served for the last quarter of a century.
He is widely viewed as a conservative theologian and a hard-line
enforcer of Catholic Church doctrine. In the 1980s, Ratzinger
was a fierce opponent of liberation theology.
He strongly opposes abortion, an increased role of women
in the church, artificial birth control and homosexuality.
In 2003, Ratzinger's office issued instructions to Catholic
politicians to vote against gay marriage. During last year's
presidential election campaign, he advised US bishops to deny
Communion to politicians who support abortion rights - who
many saw as directly targeting Catholic presidential candidate,
John Kerry. Ratzinger also publicly cautioned Europe against
admitting Turkey to the European Union stating that the continent
is essentially Christian.
At the same time, Ratzinger has been credited with being
a vocal critic of war and capital punishment. Two years ago
he questioned if any war could be considered a just war.
Today, we take an in-depth look at Pope Benedict XVI and
the future of the Catholic church.
- Jefferson Morley, writes the "World
Opinion Roundup" column for washingtonpost.com.
He wrote the recent piece "Hopes for a Third World
Pope," available at the above web page, and is currently
working on a column about the global reaction to the election
of the new Pope.
- William Portier, Mary Ann Spearin chair of Catholic theology
and professor of religious studies at University
of Dayton.
- Michael Lerner, Rabbi Lerner is rabbi of Beyt
Tikkun and the editor of TIKKUN
magazine, a Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture
and Society.
Naomi Klein On The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
"If the reconstruction industry is stunningly inept
at rebuilding, that may be because rebuilding is not its primary
purpose," writes Naomi Klein in the cover story of this
week's Nation. "If anything, the stories of corruption
and incompetence serve to mask this deeper scandal: the rise
of a predatory form of disaster capitalism that uses the desperation
and fear created by catastrophe to engage in radical social
and economic engineering."
- Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist and author of Fences
and Windows: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Globalization
Debate and No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. She
has the cover story in this week"s Nation magazine
called, "The
Rise of Disaster Capitalism."
Should U.S. Troops Withdraw Now From Iraq? A Debate
Between Naomi Klein & Erik Gustafson
Within what could generally be called the anti-war movement,
there is a debate on whether or not to continue the demand
for the US to pull its troops out of Iraq or to press for
change in the role the military is playing within the country.
We speak with Nation reporter Naomi Klein and Erik Gustafson
of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center. Two years ago this
month, the Iraqi capital Baghdad fell to US ground forces
as they spread out across Iraq. Today, with more than 140,000
US troops on the ground the question of where this occupation
is headed is one that is being hotly debated in Congress and
in many communities in the US. The body bags continue to come
home, Iraqi civilians continue to pay the highest price and
the resistance hold power in significant portions of the country.
Following the elections in Iraq earlier this year, a number
of people and groups that were opposed to the invasion began
to speak positively about the prospects for some positive
developments.
And within what could generally be called the anti-war movement,
there is a debate on whether or not to continue the demand
for the US to pull its troops out of Iraq or to press for
change in the role the military is playing within the country.
Last month, when demonstrations were held across the world
to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq,
a small number of peace groups criticized the protests, particularly
the ones on military bases, saying they were aimed at the
wrong target. The Education for Peace in Iraq Center issued
a statement saying that the protest organized by United For
Peace And Justice was not about ending the war in Iraq, saying
instead it was about pulling U.S. forces and abandoning the
Iraqi people.
To debate this issue, we are joined by Naomi Klein. She is
award-winning journalist and author of Fences and Windows:
Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate
- and - No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. She has
the cover story in this week"s Nation magazine called,
"The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." In our Washington
DC studio we are joined by Erik Gustafson, a Gulf War veteran
and founder and director of the Education for Peace in Iraq
Center.
- Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist and author of Fences
and Windows: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Globalization
Debate and No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies
- Erik Gustafson, a Gulf War veteran and founder and director
of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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