"A second important task for verhuetungsmittel is the vorbeugung of sex diseases such as AIDS and other sexually transferable diseases."
They seem to be particularly sharp on this subject.
"Where a diseased or at least misdirected sexualitaet can lead, exemplary in the almost fanatischen searches for many years of the Sonderermittlers K. Starr against president Clinton showed itself. This man explained for example that he before his marriage never with his current wife danced would have, since that would have been sin."
Entertaining stuff, no? I learned something there: an Ermittler is a prosecutor apparently. I've been thinking of going into law. Maybe I should study in Germany (or, better, Austria).
I was having a little trouble understanding what Herr Paul was saying in this post on the death of Pope John Paul II, so I thought I'd enlist Google's Language Tools. They made me feel smart.
You have the link to the post, so here's what Google did to the Die Zeit quote:
The person of the Krakauer of archbishop alone could not have managed these changes without the institution, in whose point it. (certainly also this applies: Even this institution would have many less been able, if not straight this man at their point had confessed.) Men make history - if they get power lent. Without power also the largest man goes down regarding history. Yes, the size of a shape shows up in handling power. And the faint of power!
Ya got that?
Oh, the title of the post? In German, "Kirche: Wer schreibt Geschichte? Und was macht Personen zu Gestalten?"
Google: "Church: Who writes history? And which makes persons shapes?"
You get the idea that I think I can do better, even if some meanings are ambiguous to me.
Those who know me should know what's coming. I'm going to translate this entire post. As best I can. And I invite knowledgeable criticism. I know I'm a piker.
[Working... I will update as I complete significant portions.]
Oh, I should give my best understanding of the title, eh? [He said, in his best Cheesehead/Canuckian. (Though "I been ta college!")]
The Church: Who Writes History? And what makes Individuals into Forms? (Get the Platonic reference there?)
Time [Die Zeit]
The person of the Archbishop of Krakau alone could not have managed these changes without the institution of which he was the head. (Certainly it must be said: even this institution would have been much less able if this particular man had not been at its head.) [Google was actually quite helpful here, though probably not if you didn't know any German. Their direct translation was succinct, if not very accurate. Though it is so uncolloquial, if that's a word, as to be nearly gibberish. This is true throughout, and no further comment is required on that.] Men make history - in as much as they are granted power. Without power, even the greatest man in history will go under. Yes, the greatness of a Form [role-model?] is shown in its relationship to power. And the weakness [of the Form] in the face of power!
And the Power in the face of weakness! [Maybe I should go closer to Google here: "And the weakness of power!" "And the power of weakness!"] It is exactly because the Catholic Church is no longer in the position of having to convert its ideas into the practice of "real power" that it has a so much greater "virtual power." It is when ideologies, coming to the point of needing release, aquire real power that we end up with the ascension of a [Völkervater? Anyone? Is there a good Russian word?] Joseph Stalin. The kind of icon one can become, however, if one is prevented in time from practicing real power (for instance, by a timely assassination), can be well observed by that ersatz-Jesus of the political left, Che Guevara. Which of the two has greater virtual power today, might be out of the question. It's not Stalin, anyway.
The Pope knew thoroughly how to use his virtual power, and did it straight in the face of his critics (of whom many, upon his death, praise him to the skies), and not always to the disadvantage of humanity. If I had to name three people who prepared the way for the well-deserved end of Communism, then, after Reagan and Gorbachev would certainly come Karol Wojtyla.
You may have noticed that I named five people, and didn't include Gorbachev. His efforts should be included. Though, if you're not aware that ending Communism wasn't among Gorbachev's intentions, you are woefully misinformed.
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You've all been waiting for more of this, I'm sure. I'm finding it a good mental exercise. The paragraph continues:
That is his lasting legacy, as much as his efforts in the long overdue reconciliation with the Jewish people, to whom he referred in almost revolutionary, considering the conditions of the Church, terms as "our older brothers," and asked for forgiveness for the crimes committed in the name of Christianity.
Thus, one can gladly forgive the often unworldly opinions on themes such as celebacy, birthcontrol, abortion, and homosexuality. Ultimately it is not the role of the leader of a religious community to run around after the Zeitgeist, whether it is right or wrong.
[ed. note: on that, see Mark Steyn, "Why progressive Westerners never understood John Paul II"]
Quite the contrary! If something belongs to the fundamental principles of a faith community, it would be a betrayal of the believers to sacrifice it to values determined by pollsters. Whom that doesn't fit may leave the Church at anytime. This persistent cleaving to longstanding traditions in the midst of an ever more rapidly modernizing world surely contributed substantially to John Paul's II popularity.
Significant point to stop and post.
