Pope v. Ghandi

Prompted by my friend's tale of getting stuck behind the Pope's motorcade today, I brought up Pope Benedict declining President Bush's dinner invitation. Shocked, my friends thought about who else could get away with saying no to the President. Ultimately this led to the question: Could Ghandi turn down a dinner with the Pope?

This question basically turned on which leader had more stature, more influence, had more of a following, etc. Being the philosophical, intelligent, and mature law students that we are, here were some highlights from our debate:

• Ghandi has a much larger following, as evidenced by the number of Ghandi quotes on Facebook profiles.
  
• In a physical battle, the Catholics have an upperhand having gone through the Crusades. However, not all Indians practiced civil disobedience, remember what happened to the Sikhs.
  
• No one has ever won an Academy Award for portraying the Pope.
  
• The Pope has the Pope-Mobile. Perhaps if Ghandi had a Ghandi-Mobile, he would not have been assassinated. (We are horrible, I know).
  
• Ghandi could turn down dinner if he was on a hunger strike or the Pope was serving beef, but the Pope would be more considerate than that.
  
• The Vatican has a lot more money, and their own postage stamp.
  

Amazing how nerdy we can be without even referencing the law.

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