… and the winner is…
The conversation started with unwarranted comments from the Holy Father, Pope Francis. The Pope’s comments stirred the very roots of the mainstream media. It seemed all they could talk about on Thursday, February 18, 2016
“A person who thinks only about building walls, whatever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel.” —Pope Francis talks about Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall between the U.S./Mexican border, 2/17/2016
“It is hypocritical to teach one thing while concurrently supporting its opposite.” —Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, NewsWithViews.com, 9/27/2015.
I made the above comment September 2015 in an article that was an open letter to Pope Francis regarding the catechism of the Catholic church which teaches adherents of the faith that when adopting a new nation as “home,” the laws of the new nation must be followed. When someone enters the United States illegally, they first thing they do is violate our laws. Thus, it is hypocritical for the Catholic church to teach one thing and for the Pope to recommend something different from what the church teaches.
In addition to being hypocritical in his comments, the Pope ignored Biblical commentary that says “Judge not lest ye be judged” when he decided it was okay for him to declare Donald Trump a non-Christian without even knowing him.
Did he actually say Donald Trump is not a Christian? No. Read his comment above. He did not say that. The Pope was, however, responding to a specific question from the media about Donald Trump’s proposal to end illegal immigration. Thus, the comment was specifically directed at the Donald.
The media flew into immediate “we have a legitimate anti-Trump story… let’s see who can get it published first” mode. The problem is, it is not a legitimate anti-Trump story. It is a legitimate anti-Republican candidate story because every person running for the American presidency supports the building of a wall to stop the out-of-control flow of people entering freely into the United States across the Rio Grande River.
The media chose to make it a Trump story because it fills their need to help convince the American people that Donald Trump would not make a satisfactory President. They don’t like him. They want an establishment candidate like Marco Rubio or John Kasich.
So, what the media is telling you is untrue – no unusual surprise there. It is a lie that the Pope says Donald Trump is not a Christian. What the Pope said is far more serious than that.
The Pope, whether or not he intended to, said that all Republican candidates who believe a wall needs to be built to halt illegal aliens from entering our nation and bringing with them disease, poverty, threats of violence, and cowardly refusal to clean up their own governments (they prefer to run away) are not Christians. It is not Christian for Americans to want to stop the flow of illegal drugs – drugs that kill so many young people physically, mentally and, yes, Pope Francis, spiritually – into our country. It is also not Christian to do what we can to stop the murder of innocent American women on San Francisco wharfs, I guess.
The Pope also said I’m not a Christian – and neither are you if you believe we need a Trump-recommended wall to secure our nation from those who would enter illegally. If you are a Christian and you buy off on that pap… what’s wrong with you?
Some commentators just couldn’t resist the opportunity to stick it to the presidential candidate who they just don’t get. They are all shaking their heads… what Trump says should be (from journalists’ perspectives) turning off the American public. Instead, his poll numbers go up every time they say “Well, he’s done it now… his numbers will go down.”
The media is insulated from the true and deep anger of the American people. They do not understand that when Trump says “There were no weapons of mass destruction,” many millions of Americans believe he’s right. Journalists do not have the slightest idea that those millions of Americans also believe the U.S. Government is somehow complicit in 9/11; so when someone mentions it, journalists think it’s being said by a conspiracy nut. They don’t understand that when the Pope says all people who believe we need a wall to secure our nation are not Christians, it upsets more than a little bit those who believe themselves to be Christians but think we need to stop illegal immigration.
“You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans – I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists, and they’re coming into this country,” Trump told Jake Tapper at CNN last June. It is a message that resonates with the American people because it is true. Trump has previously stated that the Pope has no understanding of the dangers of America’s open border with Mexico. He is right.
Prior to the Pope’s departure for Mexico, Trump called the Pope “a very political person.” Frankly, I think the Pope should return to the Vatican and straighten out all of the money laundering and other banking problems in the country where he controls policies before he tells America how to run ours and defines for us who is a Christian and who is not.
Bear in mind as you read this material, there is no nation-state in the world with higher walls around it than the Vatican. Those walls kept the Nazis out of the Vatican during World War II just as they would keep drug-dealing criminals out of America today.
When, Pope Francis, will you open your doors… or, at the very least, use your influence to get governments around the world to open buildings owned by the Catholic Church so Muslim immigrants can move in and enjoy freedom and Muslim worship services?
When will the Vatican begin accepting immigrants who run away from chaos and tyranny, from death and destruction, to seek asylum in a country safer than the war-torn piece of land they seek to leave? Surely the Pope would not suggest other nations make sacrifices that are unacceptable to him? That, too, would be hypocritical. What will the Papal reaction be when Muslims – most of the ones departing the Middle East appear to be young men, not families – demand “their part of the Vatican” (or Detroit or London or Paris) be governed by Sharia Law?
I may be wrong, but wasn’t it the hypocrisy of the highest-ranking Jewish authorities that allowed (or even perhaps encouraged) the purchase of doves and “soul-saving” memorabilia to be sold on the steps of God’s Temple in Jerusalem? It caused Jesus Christ to display righteous anger and throw the merchants who would market the Lord as if He were a product made by Proctor and Gamble or Microsoft from their Temple lemonade stands. “Oh, ye hypocrites!” were, I believe, Christ’s exact words.
Since the Pope spoke words about anyone who builds walls rather than bridges not being a Christian, and since the Vatican has some of the highest walls around it I’ve ever seen, and since the Pope isn’t inviting the starving masses from the Middle East into the Vatican – there can be no other definition of the Pope regarding this matter: “Hypocrite!”
As a former Catholic, I find those words difficult to say. They are, however, the truth.
Unfortunately, by supporting people who flee tyranny rather than supporting them to effectively fight it, the Catholic church supports a lack of responsibility for fighting tyranny and the tyrants who seek to enslave us all – politically, spiritually, and economically. I believe that is not only wrong, but immoral.
We all need to ponder the words “legal immigration” and “illegal immigration” and the negative impact of illegals on the lawful citizens of all nations… often threatening the survival of the lawful so the unlawful can survive. Is that the Catholic objective? If so, the Pope should make clear his views on this issue so Catholics can, as all members of all religious sects do, re-evaluate whether the Catholic church represents their beliefs.
Do the Pope’s views represent the views of all Catholics? Or, just the Jesuits?
In all humility, the Pope should stop telling others to do that which he is not prepared to do. It damages his and the church’s credibility.
All of the above is based on facts, not opinions… yes, even the use of the word “hypocrite.” One is defined by what one does. But here’s a bit of a conspiracy theory for you to ponder.
Remember St. Malachi? What if St. Malachi’s dream is true? He said there would be 112 more Popes and that the final Pope would lead the Catholic church into apostasy — meaning the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief. Pope Francis is the 112th Pope since St. Malachi had that dream.
What are the necessary elements of a New World Order?
First, the establishment of an international monetary system (the central banks are working hard on that one). Second, some form of international “currency;” (I don’t believe it will be a currency, I believe a system of non-currency will be visited on us worldwide – more on that in another article). Third, an international religion is needed. As the communists once said, religion is an opiate for the masses.
Could it be that Pope Francis is leading the church to apostasy? Does he support illegal immigration and a North American Union as step one in forming an international church and does he envision himself at the head of this “church”?
Pope Francis has certainly raised some interesting questions, some well-deserved anger, some strange judgments about who is and who is not a Christian, and what his possible motives for raising such issues are.
Did Donald Trump err by responding against Papal comments as strongly as he did?
All you need to do to answer that question is to answer this one: Until Trump responded to the Pope, what was the number one news story on Thursday, February 18, 2016? It was South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s announced support for presidential candidate Marco Rubio. After Trump’s comments, I heard nothing about Haley choosing to support Rubio. I heard only about how Donald Trump responded to the Pope’s comments.
If you doubt this man is brilliant, you need to look at the facts. He not only got a great deal of support from all Christians – Independents, Republicans and Democrats – for standing up to a Pope who decided he gets to define who is a Christian and who is not – but he took the number one news story away from Marco Rubio and made it his own.
That is brilliant.
2016 Marilyn M. Barnewall – All Rights Reserved
