Dartblog

Today, I was offended. Trust me, it’s an unusual occurrence as I tend to be less sensitive to politically incorrect statements. Yet I found it extremely distasteful that Italian comedienne Sabina Guzzanti said the following about the leader of my church:

“Within 20 years the Pope will be where he ought to be — in Hell, tormented by great big poofter devils, and very active ones, not passive ones.”

While I find this speech unsavory, however, I think the Italian government is going a bit overboard with their prosecution of Guzzanti under the 1929 Laterna Treaty which criminalized insults to the Pope on the same level as insults to the Italian president. I doubt that would go over well in our own country since American president bashing seems to be a source of entertainment for a large swath of the population. Thankfully, our Constitution protects that speech. Interesting how Europeans tend to think they are so much more advanced then Americans, but feel threatened by a little obnoxious speech. Her words may be insulting and rude, but they harm no one. Faithful Catholics won’t suddenly turn from the faith because of her remarks and the Pope will carry on as their highly respected leader. Once the case falls from the headlines, Italians will move on with their lives. Only the Italian government stands to lose face by overreacting to this insensitive, but ultimately unimportant remark.

Italian senator Antonio Di Pietro got it right when he said: “You can agree or not agree with what she said — and personally I didn’t — but to put people in prison for what they think is reminiscent of a time when those who thought differently had castor oil poured down their throats” — a reference to the Fascism-dominated 1920s…