I Don't Believe in Father Timothy Radcliffe, Either

Father Timothy Radcliffe is considered by some to be England's "leading Roman Catholic monk," whatever that means.

Radcliffe used to be the chief poohbah for the Dominicans, but now is "an itinerant preacher" and author, and some think he will be named to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Conner as Archbishop of Westminster when the good Cardinal retires.

Radcliffe doesn't think much of today's atheists. He accuses Richard Dawkins, the brilliant British scientist, of "being stuck in the 19th century."

Radcliffe says the biggest problem facing the church today has nothing to do with Dawkins, or atheism, but rather is the need to restore hope in the young. Our world, he claims, is configured by a loss of hope. "It is tempting for people to see no way forward. The two main stories the young encounter are the 'war on terror' and ecological disaster."

Our youth are afraid of the future, for themselves and for their children.

Atheists, according to Radcliffe, had some influence in the 19th century, but they're old hat, now. That's because they have nothing to say to people looking for hope for the future.

"People have seen in many parts of the world, particularly China and the Soviet Union, what the effects are of trying to live in a world without God."

I think Mr. Dawkins would have fun with that one. It would behoove the Rev. Radcliffe to shut his mouth when he doesn't know what he's talking about.

We haven't been living in a world without god, we've been living in a world where god reigns! Hitler was a Catholic, one of Radcliffe's own, right up to the end, and he went to church and prayed and saw what he was doing as fulfillment of God's mission.

Stalin came out of an Orthodox background.

The events of 9/11 were carried out by strong believers in god. They were certain they also were doing the will of god. They knew they would be rewarded in heaven for killing so many infidels at once and striking such a profound blow in the heart of the Great Satan.

The war in Iraq was instigated by a man who has a personal relationship with god. It is such a close relationship that god tells him what to do. The war in Iraq was one of god's instructions to George W. Bush.

Now, George is getting more instructions from god about striking Iran nuclearly. Some of that is coming through god's mouthpieces, like John Hagee and the creep from Ohio, Rod Parsley, but it's from god nontheless.

And then, we have the problem of priestly abuse - a horrific scenario that has infested almost every nook and cranny of soon-to-be Archbishop Radcliffe's church! Were not these priests and nuns all believers in god?

A final example has to do with the environment. Whole bunches of religious fanatics, true believers in god refuse to believe that the environment is in trouble. Furthermore, even if it is, it doesn't matter because their belief in god includes the belief that his son is coming back soon to save the faithful and that will mean the end of the world, so why worry about things like environmental degradation?

Don't tell us that Dawkins is so 19th-century, Father Radcliffe. That won't wash.

The truth is the the Roman Catholic Church has never really moved out of the 15th century, and even as this is written is slithering back out of its forlorn place in the 21st century - witness the move to reinstate the Latin mass.

Too often, contrary to what the monk thinks, the problem has not been the absence of god, but the presence of god.