Pope Francis Is Immune to Limbaugh's Bullying

I don't need to defend Pope Francis, because he is more than capable of defending himself. He is a Jesuit, after all, that community of priests who are considered the intellectual elite and the frontline soldiers of Roman Catholic Christianity. And Pope Francis has already responded to conservative criticism that his economic and social ideas 'smack of communism.' What Pope Francis wrote in a long document last month, which is considered as the agenda for his papacy, is that unfettered capitalism is "a new tyranny" and that an "economy of exclusion and inequality" has proven to be deadly for many people around the world. Francis said in an interview in the Italian newspaper La Stampa on Sunday that he is not a Marxist but that even Marxists can be good people. He also denied reports that he would name a woman cardinal, saying he wants to empower women, not 'clergify' them. He went on to say there was good progress in cleaning up Vatican finances and confirmed that he would visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2014. ~~~~~ Marxist? Last month, American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the darling of the extreme right who has a huge following in the United States, railed against the Pope's economic comments. Limbaugh, who is not Catholic, said that parts of the document were "pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope" and suggested that someone else had written the papal document for him. He also accused the Pope of going "beyond Catholicism" and being "purely political." Asked about the accusations, which sparked a debate in the media last month, Francis said, "Marxist ideology is wrong. But in my life I have known many Marxists who are good people, so I don't feel offended." He has also been criticized by other conservatives, but Francis said he was not speaking "as a technician but according to the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and this does not mean being Marxist." He said he was just trying to present a "snapshot of what is happening" in the world today. “The only specific quote I used was the one regarding the ‘trickle-down theories’ which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and social inclusiveness in the world. The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefiting the poor. But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger and nothing ever comes out for the poor,” he said. In another document last week, Francis said huge salaries and bonuses are a symptoms of an economy based on greed. On Sunday, the Pope also reaffirmed his commitment to aid the poor and the starving in the world. The outspoken, may I add brutishly uncouth, US rightwinger Rush Limbaugh, a radio talk show host, attacked the Pope for his statement that it would be impossible to overcome global poverty until the structural causes of inequality and financial speculation were resolved. "Unfettered capitalism? That doesn't exist anywhere," Limbaugh said. This week Glenn Beck, another conservative American media commentator, rejected Time magazine's decision to name Pope Francis 'Person of the Year' because of his concern about what he described as the pontiff's "Marxist tendencies." ~~~~~ Dear readers, let me talk directly to Rush Limbaugh. ~~~~~ Dear Mr. Limbaugh, you are a college dropout and self-declared drug abuser who has been married four times, once to a college student ten years younger than you, although this did not keep you from recently calling another college student "a slut" because she chose to testify before Congress about her pro-contraceptive position. You say you are a Methodist but you never go to church and apparently don't believe that doing so is necessary. As best I can calculate from public records, you make close to $100 million a year, and have denied a media report that you paid a famous singer $1 million to sing at your fourth wedding. Your charities give about $1 million per year to good causes, but not to the poor. That is 1% of your income - not even close to the 10% tithing that your conservative Christian creed recommends. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT, MR. LIMBAUGH? Pope Francis has already forgiven you and would ask you to try to connect with God - and he is praying for you. The Pope would undoubtedly also ask you to lower your rhetoric - to abandon your racist, anti-female, politically and socially bigoted ravings and try to connect with humanity a little, too. I cannot help but think, Mr. Limbaugh, that you are so filled with hate that you cannot see the saintly character of the holy man you are attacking. Pope Francis has dedicated his life to helping people, especially the poor, and to spreading the love of God among all people - but even Francis may have his work cut out for him in bringing you around to becoming a real human being. And unlike your sheltered life story, Francis, as a priest, lived through the most viciously anti-Christian anti-human regime since Hitler's. And like Hitler, the Argentina junta was not Marxist. It was fascist. You may recognize yourself in that term. Fascism refers to an extreme rightist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition, a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control and brutality (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Francis survived and even helped others to survive the fascist junta. ~~~~~ So, Mr. Limbaugh, I suggest that you stick to attacking those who are weak or who have no means of defending themselves. That will suit you better, as it would any bullying fascist. But from now on, you will have to live with the fact that a saintly Pope is praying for your soul. I hope you feel the pinch. And just like Francis, we are praying for you, too, and would honestly like to welcome you into the human community, as unlikely as that may be.