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FRANCIS LIKES UP TO HIS NAMESAKE, SAYS ANIMALS GO TO HEAVEN … plus … BILL COSBY IS INNOCENT

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By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, DEC. 18, 2014, 2014) — You gotta love it. Pope Francis was recently asked during audience to comfort a little boy who had just lost his beloved dog. In St. Peter’s Square, Francis told the lad that “paradise is open the all God’s creatures.” The comments gave much-needed solace to a grieving child.

The Pope’s comments were welcomed by most of the world. To the rabid Catholic right, however, the Pope’s slam-dunk in favor of reason and against archaic Catholic theology (animals do not go to heaven because they have no souls), was apostasy. That’s why THE PLANET loves it. The Church’s stupid doctrine stems back to Pope Pius IX, who served as Holy Father from 1846-1878, a Pope for his times but not for modernity.

Pius drove home his agreement with the barren notion that animals (dogs, cats, and the entire population on Noah’s Ark) do not have consciousness and therefore cannot possess souls. Of course, THE PLANET must add that Pius was the first Pope with gonads big enough to match his ego, defining and declaring in 1854 the doctrine of papal infallibility.

Fortunately, Francis’ penultimate predecessor — St. John Paul II — made it clear that animals do have souls and, as JPII said, they are “as near to God as [humans] are.”

Do Animals Have Souls: ‘Absolutely’

Rick Gladstone in The New York Times quoted Fordham Prof. Charles Camosy and Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor of America, a Catholic magazine, on the pet topic.

From Gladstone’s piece:  Camosy “said it was difficult to know precisely what Francis meant, since he spoke “in pastoral language that is not really meant to be dissected by academics.” But asked if the remarks had caused a new debate on whether animals have souls, suffer and go to heaven, Camosy said, “In a word: Absolutely.”

And this: Martin “said he believed that Francis was at least asserting that ‘God loves and Christ redeems all of creation,’ even though conservative theologians have said paradise is not for animals.  ‘He said paradise is open to all creatures,’ Martin said. ‘That sounds pretty clear to me.’”

The larger issue is the prison of Catholic dogma (no puns on “dog) still serving (not well) in its attempt to keep the Catholic laity dumb, ignorant, and sheepish (no pun there, either). The Church, thus, is well served by a Pope who understands that the formal Past is dead and Tradition is its pall bearer.

Only such a man could have intervened between the United States and Cuba to help broker an end to the pointless blockade that has long outlived whatever usefulness it ever had.

Great work, Francis.

——————————————————————–

Bill Cosby Is Innocent. Period.

What is the smallest number in the universe? It’s the number that defines the count of women who have NOT accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault. This is a local story because of Cosby’s familiarity with the Berkshires. He lives in nearby Shelburne Falls, and he has visited the Berkshires many times. He is no stranger, for example, to the Red Lion Inn and the residents of THE PLANET’s beloved Stockbridge. He’s a local. That’s what gives his saga more of a bite than it would normally register at this address.

In this day of the 24/7 news cycle and in light of the recent disaster at Rolling Stone magazine surrounding a woman’s now-discredited claims of sexual assault against a fraternity at the University of Virginia, we can easily see that Cosby has been the victim not of a mob lynching but a hanging by social media. Yes, Cosby is the victim here.

A few points are worth noting.

  • To call Cosby’s accusers “victims” skates the thin ice of the libelous. These women have made accusations. They are not “victims.” Only a conviction in a court of law can make them that.
  • False accusations frequently occur (search “University of Virginia and Rolling Stone“).
  • How many of Cosby’s encounters with these women were consensual?
  • Cosby is a famous, rich man and a kingmaker in show business. Does that not attract a certain type of ambitious young woman, willing to do anything for her big break?
  • Why did so many women wait so long before speaking out with these accusations? The charges stem from alleged incidents that took place not years ago but decades ago.
  • Why did no one among the more than two dozen accusers press formal charges? Cosby has not been charged with a single case of criminal misconduct.
  • Why does Cosby’s wife of 50 years and his 38-year-old daughter support him without reservation?
  • There has not been one substantiated claim made.
  • There has not been offered into evidence one corroborated accusation or piece of evidence.

The Presumption of Innocence and the Denigration of Due Process

With this preamble, THE PLANET makes this central point. The presumption of innocence must hold true in all cases. Without the presumption of innocence, we have a denigration of due process. No society can hold together when such “inalienable rights” are so casually ignored.

Meanwhile, a man’s great reputation has been ruined, even though there has not been a single formal charge, let along a conviction based on evidence in a court — beyond a reasonable doubt.

The latest accuser is a former model and actress in reality TV shows. She authored an article for Vanity Fair magazine on her “newly-discovered-but-formerly-repressed” memories and also granted an interview with ABC News. No word on how much money she was paid for either or both of these gigs or if she, like others, plans to go after Cosby’s wallet with a civil suit. Cosby says the woman tried but failed to sell her story to the tabloids 10 years ago and that she is now claiming that she repressed the memory of what happened in 1974 … until recently.

Right.

A previous accuser has filed suit against Cosby claiming that the comic sexually molested her 40 years ago. Cosby responded in court saying that the woman first tried to extort $100,000 from him for her silence. As more women piled on, Cosby says the woman upped her ante to $250,000.

Bill Cosby, these women owe you an apology.

————————————————————————————————–

“Live, love, laugh, be happy. Live and love, your whole life through.”Mick Valenti, “Mick’s Ocean,” from his album Beatlesque, (2011).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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giacometti
giacometti
9 years ago

Bill Cosby has done nothing wrong and has done everything right….he has refused to become a target by commenting on any of the many
accusations made against him. His confidence in himself and his family speaks louder than anything his accusers say about his conduct. The statue of limitations makes all of the claims against him
null and void. I feel sorry for his accusers who have little or no chance
of any kind of success. Confidence in oneself means a great deal.

Charles Kronick Berkshire
Charles Kronick Berkshire
Reply to  giacometti
9 years ago

Trial By Media leads me to suspect the accusers are in it for money.

No point to going to heaven if there aren’t any animals there. It’d be like moving into an apartment in NYC.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  giacometti
9 years ago

Maybe because Bill does not fit the mold of the racist Left?

He is an educated man of african decent. He has not or ever did play the race card.

He has said blacks do not succeed in many cases as they prefer to be thugs. Mr Crosby is black but NOT a THUG.

Further he loves America and american ideals. That is not the same as our current IM-POTUS and queen Michelle

Jonathan Melle
Jonathan Melle
9 years ago

The Roman Catholic Church is moving in a good direction under Pope Francis. The Church is transforming itself from a right-wing fascist group of moral hypocrites to a bottom-up institution who helps the most vulnerable people in society. I still disagree with any person or institution that does not protect Human Rights, including the Bush II White House’s use of torture and bald faced lies to invade Iraq for its oil. Or, Wall Street’s economic domination of our economy that screws the average American. Those without rights have rights under me. Those without power have power under me. I will always speak my good conscience as long as I live!

Silence Dogood
Silence Dogood
Reply to  Jonathan Melle
9 years ago

fascism is purely a left wing thing……..the first fascist revolution was the french revolution……check the derivation of the word fascist….it’s a reference to collectivism of a sort……Mussolini was a leading European socialist until world war 1…..then he tried to control markets but still allow private ownership with strict government control and the result was fascism….the result was recognized and praised by American leftists.

Jonathan Melle
Jonathan Melle
Reply to  Silence Dogood
9 years ago

o.k., rush limbaugh! “only liberals were fascists”. Hitler must of been a bleeding heart who cared about humanity….and pigs have wings and fly!

Silence Dogppd
Silence Dogppd
Reply to  danvalenti
9 years ago

the German National Socialists cared deeply about Nordic Humanity but at the expense of all other humanity. In his book Meim Kamph Hitler did make bleeding heart statements but blamed Jews for the plight of the German people. Jonathan I reccomend that you do some historical research.

A profit isn’t greed. A business owner desires more than covering the basic essentials of life and so does a worker. If a business does not make a profit then where does a workers pay come from?

Totalitarianism is a term coined by Mussolini…… Totalitarian governments along with Authoritarian government is either left wing or religion based.

charles Kronick Berkshires
charles Kronick Berkshires
Reply to  Silence Dogppd
9 years ago

Well written, SD.

But what’s lost in brevity also contains the fact that totalitarian style government run through history. The British monarchy prior to the British revolution as well as the Sun Monarch Louis IX sported tyrants though neither knew left nor right. In modern times, some political models link far right and far left as potential allies, but those models predate the importance of religious tyrants that run the gamut from the PA to the Indian border.

DV. Karl Marx was diving into the very difficult question that asked whether cash and wealth are tied directly to social class which ultimately attains ‘Ruling Class’ status. He never lived to answer the question, and neither has anyone else.

Totalitarianism describes government that is intimately associated with all portions of private life. Think the NYS legislature. Nanny-State is the contemporary term, and jack-booted thugs are last in line to enforce it.

GMHeller
GMHeller
9 years ago

Funny how when Bill Cosby was the doyen of Liberals in the 1960’s thru 1990’s, nothing was ever made of allegations made by various women back then (some of the same women coming forward today).
Yet, now that Cosby has been speaking-out publicly to rapt audiences regarding black communities taking responsibility for black-on-black crime, about the high rate of abortion amongst black women, about the large numbers of fatherless black children, now that Cosby has publicly shamed black leaders and main stream media for ignoring these statistics, Cosby is suddenly held up as a pariah by the same Liberals who used to fete him.

Wilson
Wilson
Reply to  GMHeller
9 years ago

If responsibility was a recognized concept Coakley would be in jail for using her office to blacklist Cosby

Edconnect
Edconnect
Reply to  Wilson
9 years ago

Not only was Bill Clinton the first black president he was also the first white Bill Cosby.

Ron Kitterman
Ron Kitterman
9 years ago

I would have to agree with you on the Cosby thing For some reason , this is going to come out wrong, but the victim is becoming more important in the equation than the facts. Cambridge professor, Travon Martin, Ferguson, Garner, UVA, media lynch mobs of sorts are replacing grand juries, and the facts are thrown at us at a 30 second sound bite to determine guilt or innocence. So just by looking at 30 second news clip we can replace the justice system and cherry pick out the parts we like, – no wonder everyone is throwing their hands in the air yelling hands in the air don’t shoot, no justice no peace , kill the cops, since when is it the responsibility of the victim to decide punishment , guilt and innocence. I don’t know sorry for the rant. not a perfect system by any means but trial American idol style is coming to a neighborhood near you soon

Scott
Scott
Reply to  Ron Kitterman
9 years ago

Ron excellent post kill your tv!

dusty
dusty
9 years ago

So i am sitting here thinking about dogs going to heaven and I wonder if that means they also could go to hell if they are bad bad dogs. And if so, is it the same hell that people and politicians go to or do they have a special doggie hell all their own?

The reason I am curious is because I had this vision of George Bush and Dick Cheney being in the same hell as all the pit bulls that fell from grace.

Kevin
Kevin
Reply to  dusty
9 years ago

Dogs do not go to hell since they have no free will to choose between good and bad. They are always good. I would say. There is no hell except for the one that keeps believers in line.

Ed Shepardson
Ed Shepardson
9 years ago

News media outlets around the globe, including The New York Times, published articles in recent weeks quoting Pope Francis as saying “Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” The pope reportedly uttered the words during his weekly general audience on Nov. 26 to a sad little boy mourning the death of his dog.

Oops. Wrong pope. Wrong time in history.

Religion News Service reported late on Friday that it was apparently Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) who once comforted a child on the loss of his pet with the assurance, “One day we will see our animals in the eternity of Christ.”

spagirl
spagirl
9 years ago

I would like to go off topic….and say, for all the cozy, corrupt underlings we have hanging together in Pittsfield….. I believe we have one of the Best Governor’s ever in Deval Patrick. I certainly hope he has continued success after he steps out.

Shakes His Head
Shakes His Head
Reply to  spagirl
9 years ago

He will have to go lease his own Cadillac after he leaves office.

joetaxpayer
joetaxpayer
9 years ago

I think he was and is one of the worst governors in MA. history. I thank god he is leaving, unfortunately leaving our state in deep debt.

Still wondering
Still wondering
Reply to  joetaxpayer
9 years ago

Prince Deval was a middling governor at best. He was propped up by the media and adored by party faithful who fawned on him to show to the world that they are not racists.
Deval raised taxes several times and eased welfare rules.
He leaves almost no “legacy” because several of his actions have been or are about to be overturned by the people (voting in referendums) and the next (thankfully Republican) governor.
Deval was a blip on the radar screen and will soon be gone and heard from no more.

Bull Durham
Bull Durham
9 years ago

Every dog I’ve ever owned has had more claim to a soul than most people I know. Francis is right, time to toss the old dogma of the outdated Catholic Church, on this and many other topics.

Ed Shepardson
Ed Shepardson
Reply to  Bull Durham
9 years ago

An old bartender friend of mine had a saying, “never f**k up a good bar story with the truth.”

charles Kronick Berkshires
charles Kronick Berkshires
Reply to  Bull Durham
9 years ago

My dog pees on the bookshelf when no one is in the room and vomits on the sofa to boot.

How does he have more soul than I who uses the bidet?

GMHeller
GMHeller
9 years ago

Mr. Shepardson,

So if dogs goes to Heaven, do cats go to Purrrgatory?

GMHeller
GMHeller
9 years ago

And just where to dead ants go?

Ed Shepardson
Ed Shepardson
Reply to  GMHeller
9 years ago

I’m a pantheist, Mr. Heller. All life forms are recycled back to the earth equally and without discrimination. The ol’ ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

GMHeller
GMHeller
Reply to  Ed Shepardson
9 years ago

Once upon a time, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Club put on a theatrical production entitled “Keep Your Pantheon”.

Scott
Scott
Reply to  Ed Shepardson
9 years ago

Ed but your soul is energy. Your body (matter) gets recycled but your soul goes somewhere else.

charles Kronick Berkshires
charles Kronick Berkshires
Reply to  Scott
9 years ago

Powers my fish pond pump.

eddiep
eddiep
Reply to  GMHeller
9 years ago

To Pink Panther heaven..

Silence Dogood
Silence Dogood
Reply to  GMHeller
9 years ago

the same place as dead uncles

Silence Dogood
Silence Dogood
9 years ago

Cosby sometimes makes conservative common sense statements. This makes him an enemy of the far left moon bat religion.

BeaBreef
BeaBreef
9 years ago

Dogs go Heaven for sure. Dead ants are carried away by worker ants, they would know, for sure. Is the Planet Live! Tonight? Hope It is.

PopKornSutton
PopKornSutton
9 years ago

Dungeon skull was able to do a show?

Scott
Scott
9 years ago

Americans are stupid. Not all obviously but we have an ever increasing supply of morons. The media is out of control and are enemies to liberty and freedom. It’s time to first take history books and start whacking people in the head with them until they’re unconscious then when they wake up forcing them to read.

CosbiesladiesPlanet
CosbiesladiesPlanet
9 years ago

HEy Hey HEy!