On his August 2002 trip to the Americas, Pope John Paul blamed humanity for the September 11th, 2001 attack on the U.S. Pentagon and World Trade Center.  His assertion speaks volumes about the power of the Christianity Meme over the Pope and the Catholic Church.  While he happily blamed babies, Buddhists, and Eskimos in his sweeping accusation, consider what things the Pope didn’t blame for the attack but should have:

• He didn’t blame blind faith, but he should have.  We seriously doubt that if the attackers weren’t deep believers they wouldn’t have been so eager to follow the murderous plan.  Christianity is in the business of faith, so how could the Pope blame faith?
• He didn’t blame worship of a mass-murdering god, but he should have.  Worshiping such a god devalues human life.  But the Pope promotes this worship, so how could he blame it?
• He didn’t blame religious institutions that indoctrinate belief in a glorious afterlife, but he should have.  Without appropriate religious indoctrination, the terrorists would have never been so motivated to give up their lives. Christianity is deeply tied to the notion of heaven and hell, so how could the Pope blame religious indoctrination?
• He didn’t blame murder for the cause of moral purity, but he should have.  The attackers did not value the lives of their victims, so it was easy for them to kill.  Christianity has a long history of murdering and denigrating others who do not subscribe to the Christian faith, so how could the Pope blame that?
• He didn’t blame martyrdom, but he should have.  Without the elevated status of martyrs, the attackers would have been less likely to blow themselves up.  Christianity is based on the martyrdom of Jesus and various saints, so how could the Pope blame martyrdom?
• The Pope didn’t blame Islam, but he should have.  Those who subscribe to a set of beliefs must take responsibility for them.  Christians avoid taking responsibility for their beliefs many different ways.  Consider how the beliefs that “Jesus died for your sins” or that “we’re all sinners” are just ways of evading responsibility. So how could the Pope blame Islam for not taking responsibility when Christianity rarely does?

In blaming “humanity” for the attack, the Pope defamed humanity while trying to draw attention away from his own contributions in the creation of mindless religious nuts.  It’s amazing to me that anyone considers the Pope a moral leader when he and Bin Laden are cut from similar cloth.