Ask TSJ: Pope John Paul I

Question: I don't remember a lot about him except that he seemed like a very nice man. Why would the Vatican have wanted him out, assuming there's something to the assassination rumors? Was he theologically liberal?

Answer: Hey got old, sick and died Nobody knocked him off.

Better now?

Ask TSJ: The Trinity

Can someone please explain to me the difference between these three? Are they the same being? Or are they distinct? WTF?

Father Peter answers: I would first forward you to the Athanasian Creed which I'm not gonna print here because its long but just to be clear, the word 'trinity' never appears in the Bible anywhere, nor is it ever mentioned or discussed directly. The "Trinity" concept was invented because Jesus is rather specific in saying He is not God Almighty in several places in the Gospels.

This, of course, presented a problem to former Jews who like to think they only worship one god.

So, God and Jesus were amalgamated.

This, however, led to unfortunate consequences like when Jesus is depicted as praying to Himself, an undertaking that suggests appalling mental health.

Think of it like the Supremes:
The Father - Diana Ross, always the most important
The Son - Flo Ballard, the one that was sacrificed
The Spirit - Mary Wilson, the one still with us

Look, christianity is a mish mash of judaism and paganism. They borrowed from various mythologies including egyptian, greek, persian, etc. added a dollop of judaism and came up with the gobbledy-gook people call christianity. The unwashed masses were basically illiterate and uneducated so they weren't too interested in asking too many questions about this nonsense. If you ask them to explain it to you they'll usually say 'it's a mystery', which really means 'I've got no fucking clue'. Don't try and make sense of nonsense.

T.G.I.F. Saint Gregory, TGIF

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son "Friday" and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on.

"I think it is ridiculous they even opened a case about it," the family's lawyer, Paola Rossi, told Reuters by telephone from the northern city of Genoa Tuesday.

Friday/Gregory Germano was born in Genoa 15 months ago. The parents registered him as Friday in the city hall and a priest even baptized him as Friday -- unusual in Italy since many priests insist that first names be of Christian origin.

"We named him Friday because we like the sound of the name. Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday," the boy's mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters.

When the boy was about five months old, a city hall clerk brought the odd name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving "ridiculous or shameful" first names to children.

The tribunal said it was protecting the child from being the butt of jokes and added that it believed the name would hinder him from developing "serene interpersonal relationships."

The Germano family appealed but lost their case this month and the story was carried on the front page of a national newspaper Tuesday.

When ordered to change the name, the parents refused and the court ruled the boy would be legally registered as Gregory because he was born on that saint's feast day.

"I really doubt this would have happened to the child of parents who are rich and famous," the boy's mother told Reuters, recalling that some famous Italians had given their children unorthodox names such as "Ocean" or "Chanel."

The appeals court ruled against Friday because it recalled the servile savage in Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe and because superstitious Italians consider Friday an unlucky day.

"I am livid about this," the boy's mother said. "A court should not waste its time with things like this when there is so much more to worry about."

"My son was born Friday, baptized Friday, will call himself Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory," she said.