talking to Bill Maher just outside of Vatican City in Bill's documentary film Religulous after Bill was thrown out of the Vatican, this Vatican priest whom the Swiss Guard allegedly referred to as il benzinaio (the gas-station attendant) because he chose to wear simple working man's clothes instead of a priest's habit, this priest who in Bill Maher's movie agreed with very much of what Bill had to say about the Vatican and Catholicism -- this guy is Reginald Foster, who for almost 30 years lead the Vatican office which was responsible for writing official Vatican documents in Latin or translating them into Latin, Reginald Foster, whom many regard as the world's foremost living Latinist and teacher of Latin, Reginald Foster, the most prominent exponent of Living Latin, which places as much emphasis on speaking and writing Latin as on reading the language, as opposed to many others who concentrate on teaching reading comprehension and have given up on treating Latin as if it were still alive.
What a shame that all Bill wanted to talk about were his banal objections to the Vatican and Catholicism, so banal that a priest who had worked in the Vatican for decades didn't disagree with anything he said. What a shame that he missed the opportunity to talk to perhaps the world's foremost living Latin scholar about -- Latin, a subject about which Foster has a great deal of interesting things to say.
What a perfect example of the sorts of things which New Atheists could learn if they broadened their horizons just a little bit. What a heartbreaking example of missed opportunities to share wonderful things with their audiences of millions, because they can't stop repeating their mantra of "RELIGION IS WRONG AND STUPID AND RUINS EVERYTHING!" for one goddamned second any time they're within shouting distance of any place of worship, let alone the actual Vatican.
*sigh* So anyway, back to the interview as it actually was. I agree with Bill Maher and Reginald Foster that the grandeur and opulence of the Vatican are at odds with Jesus' message of simplicity and renunciation of worldly things. Unlike both Foster and Maher, however, I don't particularly care what Jesus said or thought, and I think it's a real shame to let something so silly deprive you of enjoying the grandeur and opulence, of, for example, the Vatican, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful man-made places on Earth.
I also wonder what sort of jackassery Bill Maher perpetrated to get himself thrown out of the Vatican. I don't think that's actually shown in the film. Bill claims that he was well-known to the Vatican as one of their great enemies. I wonder whether that's an example of Bill Maher giving himself way too much credit. Maybe I'll get to ask him about that someday. Maybe I'll be able to talk to him and his audience about Latin some day. I'd be a very poor substitute for Reginald Foster for that, though.
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