This is too funny. And indicative of the times we live in. A member of Parliament, a black man, scolded the BBC for racism because they asked whether the smoke coming out of the Vatican chimney would be black or white yesterday.
The BBC tweeted:
“LIVE VIDEO: Chimney of Sistine Chapel as conclave votes for #Pope – will smoke be black or white?”
This so enraged MP David Lammy that he tweeted back:
“This tweet from the BBC is crass and unnecessary. Do we really need silly innuendo about the race of the next Pope?”
What?
I love this because it shows two things:
1) A crazy hair trigger on injecting race into any and every issue and conversation.
2) A complete ignorance of not only Church traditions but current events.
After a number of folks pointed out to him that the smoke coming out of the Vatican had nothing to do with race, he apologized by tweeting: “Note to self: do not tweet from the Chamber with only one eye on what you’re reading. Sorry folks, my mistake.”
Maybe next time the Church is looking for a Pope they could have rainbow smoke so nobody gets offended.
March 14, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Symptomatic of a culture desperately seeking ways to be offended. Ways to cast themselves as victims. And then to react in such a vindictive way that can't be refuted because…hey, I'm the victim here, I'm just reacting to the offense.
In his defense, at least he didn't rationalize or justify his obvious hypersensitivity ….he just apologized.
March 14, 2013 at 2:14 pm
Apparently the U.S. isn't the only place where the capacity for learning and thought seems to have disappeared.
March 14, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Twit.
March 14, 2013 at 3:16 pm
If we end up having rainbow smoke, will that be mistaken for gay pride?
March 14, 2013 at 5:24 pm
I'm choosing to limit my remarks to one thing, and in that I must join with Proteios1 in noting this man did something so totally uncharactistic of left-wing politicos here in the States: he actually apologized – unconditionally.
None of the usual "if I offended anyone" dodging for this MP. There are more than a few Democratic (and even a handful of Republican) elected officials in the U.S. who've evaded accountibility that way.
Ordinarily I'd make a remark similar to that made by Spartacus, for this man's initial behavior is quite deserving of the tag "twit."
However, his genuine apology is so redeeming I actually wish I had a Twitter account so I could compliment him directly for his strong sense of personal responsibility.
Phil Steinacker
Of course, even this is not a good enough reason to set up a Twitter account :-)!
March 14, 2013 at 6:20 pm
did you see Larry D's recommendations (The Official AoftheA Papal Conclave Smoke Guide) for the next conclave? It may alleviate (or confound) this type of problem.
March 14, 2013 at 6:21 pm
How or why should any Catholic pay any attention to anything the BBC or any secular network or press says or writes and then be surprised by it. The whole Global Media IMHO has lost its relevance and they and their followers know it. Most of them had assumed that when the Pope Emeritus retired than somehow the Church would collapse like a house of cards. WRONG! We ended with a new Pope because of Christ's promise