Would that criticism apply to politicians who want to flood war areas with weapons, or are they exempt from his criticism? I heard one presidential candidate say that if elected he would supply weapons to the Ukrainian government. I heard another politician say that she would supply weapons to the Syrian resistance.
That is absolutely untrue, actually. On the surface it may seem that way, but in fact munitions manufacturers and arms dealers have a long and rich history of fomenting discord, creating wars out of thin air, selling weapons to all sides involved and profitting enormously for their evil. The Pope is absolutely on point with his “Judas of today” characterization. But of course when we talk about “shadowy figures,” no one is more shadowy than these individuals. My favorite example from the last century is Sir Basil Zaharoff, a kind of real-life Keyser Söze figure who would make Satan himself blush.
The Holy Father is right. Arms dealers need the business of war and death to keep going. They betray Christ by destroying life.
Nobody quotes that prophet more, or more directly, than the Islamist jihadists.
Hearing Allah Akbar is sort of like seeing a swastika now. All former meanings and associations become secondary to the evil that these words and symbols now have attached to them.
My post above related to Muslims and the Church’s authoritatively stating that they worship the one, true God.
This article would be a great start. They only one I would change is #6. Go back to the pre 1963 immigration laws.
You will have to understand Pope Francis’ delicate position. If he attacks ISIS or any other violent Islamic groups verbally, at the very least rebuke them even a little, these violent groups will take revenge on the beleaguered Christians in the Middle East. This is why he tries to make his point about the dangers of fundamentalism without setting off violent reactions. Christians already have it bad but the Pope is painfully aware that he may inadvertently make it worst for them by his words. He has to take care of his flock in the Middle East too.
Yes. Pope Francis did not condemn all arms dealers, only those who “want blood, not peace.”Doesn’t the Vatican Swiss Guard buy their arms from…arms dealers?
The Vatican probably doesn’t buy it’s Sig Sauers from arms traffickers, no. It certainly isn’t your fault for not knowing that though, because the ignorance surrounding “arms dealers” is intentionally fostered. And the hypocrisy of the issue is all pervasive: we’re all guilty of it in a sense, collectively, as Americans. The war machine is all around us - we live inside of it. If we pay taxes then we are directly, personally responsible for a portion of the Pentagon’s murderous crimes around the world. Let that truth sink in. Ask yourself, for instance, is Charles Manson a murderer? He’s in prison for murder, yes, but he’s never been proven to have actually killed anyone. What’s even stranger is, you and I have murdered more people than Charles Manson, because we pay taxes and Charlie never has. The problem is, as a species we seem to have an innate compulsion to lie to ourselves, to automatically and unconsciously justify everything we do, and to be as deliberately blind to these facts as we can. And we’re very, very good at doing all of those things. It’s all gently implied in what the Pope says on an actual daily basis, but we choose ignorance and obliviousness as a matter of course. Read the Nick Turse book I linked to in post twenty-two. It is impossible to go a single day without contributing to the Pentagon, which is the world’s largest arms dealer. Do you brush your teeth, use deodorant or toilet paper? Do you drink coffee or soda? Do you ever eat fast food? Do you drive a motor vehicle? Virtually everything we do contributes to the military-industrial system, because that’s how our world is set up; it’s all pervasive. Arms dealers have their tentacles in everything. The Pope is reminding us that all men are literally brothers, and people, even Catholics, act like he’s crazy, when he’s actually one of the few people with a sane perspective.Doesn’t the Vatican Swiss Guard buy their arms from…arms dealers?
So, all of us who work at/for the Pentagon would be even bigger murderers, correct?
“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’ s”
It is either pay taxes or rot in jail. Paying taxes is not something done willingly or freely in most cases.
But no one ever said living in a secular world like ours, as a christian, is supposed to be easy or comfortable…in fact, I think its actually the opposite, but sadly, many people ‘settle’ and go along with the flow so their lives are not impacted to an extreme degree.
Actually, I was trying to suggest that Americans are collectively guilty for the Pentagon’s crimes. A huge number of people work at the Pentagon, so I would think that one’s guilt or innocence would depend entirely on the individual. Is the guy cooking breakfast in the Ground Zero Cafe as culpable as Ashton Carter? There are all kinds of people who work there, and at the War College across the street, too, and most of them are undoubtedly very good and decent people, but that doesn’t change the categorical fact that the Pentagon is the largest arms dealer in the world. And I’m not so naive as to believe that America doesn’t have a need to defend itself, but I agree with the Pope, too. These foreign adventures have nothing to do with protecting Americans from terrorism, because clearly our war economy is the root cause of a god portion of the human misery which breeds and fosters terrorism in the first place. And I do apologize, by the way, if I’m coming across as harsh toward you individually, because that’s not my intention. Anyway, I take it you disagree with Francis’ statements regarding the arms trade. It’s not cannon, pun intended.