France suffered more than others because it was more betrayed than the others. That is why it is France that must make the gesture of pardon....It is only I who can reconcile France and Germany, because only I can raise Germany from its decadence.

The pope s words suggest that homosexuality is a kind of lifestyle choice, a form of modern decadence a secular, even blasphemous act against God and nature rather than a fact of birth. This is a common belief among religious believers, be they conservative Catholics, Protestants, Jews, or Muslims.

When Mao Zedong purged his most senior Party boss, Liu Shaoqi, during the Cultural Revolution, Liu s wife was paraded through the streets wearing ping pong balls around her neck as a symbol of wicked decadence and extravagance. After Mao himself died, his wife Jiang Qing was arrested and presented as a Chinese Lady Macbeth.

I remember when I started practicing Buddhism 14 years ago, and I was told that the end of this practice was to be happy, I said, How could you be happy and live in this world of suffering and live in this world of pain? I mistook happiness for a lot of other things, like numbness or decadence or selfishness.