Friday, February 19, 2016
Saturday Politics : Pope Francis Should Abandon His Liberation Theology Mindset
Saturday politics is rarely about a Pope. But, on Thursday when Pope Francis accused Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of being "not Christian" if he wants to build a wall on the US-Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants, the Holy Father stepped onto forbidden political ground. Trump reprimanded the Pope, calling his comment "disgraceful." ~~~~~ In a wide-ranging session on his flight home from Mexico, Francis told reporters, "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian." Asked if American Catholics should vote for someone with Trump's views, Francis said : "I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt." ~~~~~ Republican Catholics support Trump more than other Republicans do, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling since the start of the year that shows 43% of likely Republican Catholic voters support Trump, compared to 38% of Republican voters generally. ~~~~~ Trump observed that : "If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President," Trump said in a Thursday speech in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Trump has often said, and said again on Thursday, that he is proud of being Christian : "I am a very nice person. And I'm a very good Christian. Because the Pope said something to the effect that maybe Donald Trump isn't Christian, ok? And he's questioning my faith. I was very surprised to see it, but I am a Christian. I'm proud of it." Evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr agrees. He has endorsed Trump and spent time with him, and he described Trump as generous to his employees and family, adding, "I'm convinced he's a Christian. I believe he has faith in Jesus Christ." ~~~~~ Last week, when asked by Fox Business Network about the Pope's plan to visit the U.S.-Mexican border, Trump said Pope Francis doesn't understand the issues involved. Trump accused the Mexican government of making disparaging remarks about him to the Pope "because they want to continue to rip off the United States, both on trade and at the border...and they understand I am totally wise to them. The Pope is a very political person. I think he doesn't understand the problems our country has. I don't think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico...the crime, drug trafficking and negative economic impact Mexico's policies have on the United States." ~~~~~ Dear readers, there is no excuse for Pope Francis' labelling Donald Trump "not a Christian." Trump's Presbyterian faith is his own affair with God. Francis was both unjust and unkind to a person he has never met. Further, Francis cannot be treated as an unlettered addleminded parish priest. Francis is the Pope. He is a Jesuit. He knows he should not meddle in politics. We Americans have overlooked his rapprochement with the blood-drenched Castro brothers. We have smiled at his rancorous attack on our free market system that provides the bulk of the world's funding for poor and mistreated people and for his Church. We have forgiven him for bring surprised that we are nice people. We have even tried to deal with his calling the terrorist-ridden Palestinian Authority President Abbas "an angel of peace." But, trying to influence who we vote for is one step too far. ~~~ You, Holy Father, are the human face of Christendom in a world that desperately seeks its love and mercy, as you have said yourself. Show that face of Christendom. "Judge not." Apologize to Mr. Trump and America. Then, give up Marxist liberation theology and its politics -- you are no longer defined by your socialist struggle with the fascist Argentina colonels. Leave politics to your flock. Become what you have been chosen to be : The Vicar of Christ.
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Not in defense of Pope Francis particularly but in defense of the truth and honor we must keep in mind the background, the upbringing, the streets that were Pope Francis's playground and possibly cut a little slack.
ReplyDeleteMuch like the office of the Presidency of the United Sates - most who come to that Oval Office have little preparation for the scope of what lies in front of them.
I think Pope Francis speaks with an honest heart that is unaware of the real world outside of his background.
But he was/is wrong to insert himself into "party" politics in the United States.
Pope Francis would be more attuned to speak of the religious convictions of those that he knows best, not of a single person that he has never meet or had any correspondence with about religion. Instead the Pope ventures into his know-all verdict that Donald Trump is not a Christian.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope should be concerned with the multitude of Catholic in his native Argentina and within the vastness of the Southern Hemisphere that are “Sunday Only Catholics” and the rest of the week live a very non-religious life.
Pope Francis seems to believe in using a very wide brush to paint with. The last I looked he has NO DOG in the political arena in the United States. Pope Francis has mistaken his initial Worldwide acceptances and a ticket to be profoundly judgmental except on his native Argentina that is vacant of Human Rights and Rule of Law, and only tolerable of religious freedoms due to the size of the Catholic voters population.
Pope Francis be as judgmental as you wish – but do so evenly and fairly with knowledge.
It is interesting to consider that Francis is all “who am I to judge?” when it comes to gays and lesbians, but is willing to read people out of Christianity for opposing open borders to immigration.
ReplyDelete“In Mexico on Monday past the pope prayed before the tomb of Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, former prelate of the diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, a controversial figure famous for his perceived support for neo-Marxist movements in the state of Chiapas, where a military uprising allegedly inspired by his highly politicized pastoral approach took place in the mid-1990s.
The pope’s embrace of one of the major figures of liberation theology in Mexico follows his eyebrow-raising acceptance of Marxist symbols mixed with the figure of Christ in July 2015, when President Evo Morales of Bolivia gave the pope an image of Christ crucified on a hammer and sickle, the traditional symbol of communism embraced by the former Soviet Union. The pope, who brought the image back with him to the Holy See, explicitly acknowledged in a press conference during the trip that the image was the creation of the neo-Marxist Fr. Luis Espina”
Where Pope Francis stands on any non-church issue is open for change. I think being called “not a Christian” by this Pope, however conditionally, can only help Trump. Chances are that American Catholics of the political right who are inclined to support Trump will see his denunciation by Francis as a sign that he (Trump) is on the right path.