POPE FRANCIS ON GUNS AND HYPOCRISY: CASTING STONES IN A GLASS HOUSE?
Perhaps Pope Francis needs just a little more introspection …
Pope says weapons manufacturers can't call themselves Christian
TURIN, Italy, June 21 (Reuters) - People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday.
Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin. "If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address. "It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause. He also criticised those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the currency of today ... they say one thing and do another."
<Source: Reuters>
The Church is mired in hypocrisy …
What does that say about a Church that claims the moral high-ground in its teachings, yet appears to have accepted widespread pedophilia and child abuse – covering it up at the highest levels of the church. Paying hundreds of millions of dollars to those who were brave enough to come forward and confront their abusers? Or the institutionalized nature of the cover-up that saw high-level church officials obstruct justice, refusing to report abuse to the legal authorities, moving child molesters around to molest even more children.
While gun-related deaths are tragic, so are the thousands of souls killed by pedophile priests and those church officials who enabled them to commit their heinous acts.
The Pope is stretching his moral authority very thin … going beyond the theological into secular areas like guns and climate change where he appears to be ill-informed or ill-advised.
Truth be told, he should be condemning evildoers and those of his parishioners who commit crimes using weapons rather than those who provide legitimate tools for self-defense, law enforcement, and the defense of society.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS