Sunday 19 September 2010

Protesting against the Pope

Richard Dawkins does a remarkable shakedown. Brief, to the point and utterly true.

Richard Dawkins' Speech at Protest the Pope March


<rant> Perhaps this should have been today's Sunday thought... My use of the English language is far from perfect; but I protest against something, or I protest in favour of something. Or if someone makes a statement with which I disagree, I can say "I protest" in reply.

I do not protest something!

I do not protest the Pope. I protest against the Pope and will never protest in favour of him. </rant>

3 comments:

NobblySan said...

I'm hacked off in equal measure by the attention given to Ratzinger's propaganda tour, and the creeping Americanisation of our language.

For the first point, see my post on Peter Reynold's blog, here....

Regarding the incorrect use of 'protest'; It's not alone, unfortunately, as the internet is an incredibly good vehicle for spreading such lazy corruptions of the english language.

Andy Holroyd said...

To me it's a matter of trying to be clearly understood. If someone says "I protest oranges" I don't know if they are ‘for’ or ‘against’ and I have to work it out from the context. It’s poor communication.

As for the Ratman, he deserves no special treatment unless he does some good in the world. To come here and start lecturing about how secularism = Nazism just shows how backwards his thinking is. Fuck him!

NobblySan said...

The thing is, Andy - it isn't just him. all his speeches must be written by (or at the least vetted and approved by) a bunch of spin doctors and advisors.
Tthey a re either so far out of touch with reality, or simply don't fucking care that they think it's acceptable for him to spout such offensive bullshit.