Final Word from Tuesday, August 14, 2012
One tongue-in-cheek theory states that the Catholic Church is
no longer so enthusiastic about church restitution, because it
finally realized that after the politicians take their usual 30%
tithe, the current method of state funding for the Church will
become a sweet memory. Seeming to confirm this was the
decision to have Priest Tomáš Halík appear on Události,
komentáře on Fri. Instead of heeding Václav Klaus's advice from
earlier in the day for the Church and ČSSD to tone down their
rhetoric with regard to a controversial new anti-restitution
billboard from ČSSD, Halík added oil to fire by saying that much
more money has disappeared into the pockets of the corrupters
than is at stake in church restitution. He made it sound as if the
churches were doing the politicians a favor by agreeing to the
restitution law. Halík is a famous Klaus-hater, and anything he
says has the same effect on die-hard Klaus supporters as a red
flag on a bull. All it takes to kill the bill is for one or two of ODS's
MPs to get beet red and to vote No.[Czech Republic Czech TV Television]
Glossary of difficult words
remorse - deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed;
tongue-in-cheek - with ironic and facetious intent;
tithe -one-tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax to support the church;
to tone done - to soften, moderate;
die-hard - hardline, traditionalist;
to go/get beet red - to get very angry (as red as a beet).