Pope Kiss!

A kiss is just a kiss, unless you are the pope. Last month Benetton was forced to pull one of the images from its “Unhate” ad campaign down, after Vatican lawyers threatened to sue them in an effort to block distribution of the “offending” image.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

The Vatican contends that image offends “not only the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also the sensibilities of believers,” their statement said.

That is about the only thing that the Vatican and I agree upon. The statement acknowledges that followers of Catholicism are “believers.”

There it is in black and white.

Believers are not necessarily rationalists. Nor are believers independent thinkers. Believers believe. They accept as true the religion of Catholicism and the godly status of the pope – regardless of endless mountains of concrete evidence to the contrary – including this very campaign.

I mean, the fact that the ad came out at all – and that the pope who supposedly regularly talks to God – didn’t get a full update from God, tells me that the pope full of crap.

If I know anything, I know production. And I know that an ad like this takes a long time to work through the approval chain, and then execute. God had plenty of time to give the pope a little courtesy “heads up.”

But what is so “undignified” about two guys kissing anyway? All these nutty religious leaders play dress up pretend all the time. Is a kiss on the lips such a far stretch?

And who knows, maybe God likes the advertisement, or at least, unlike the Vatican, has a sense of humor.

After all, it is kind of funny to watch the pope get his papal-panties all in a bunch over two adult men kissing.