The GOP and the Catholic Church had a cozy alliance, until Pope Francis came along and ruined everything. Right-wingers could count on Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to take conservative positions on most issues, and to spend a lot of time ranting about abortion.
But not Pope Francis. He keeps
stirring things up, telling Christian Fundamentalists they’re “no better than ISIS;” urging world leaders to address climate change; encouraging the US and Cuba to renew diplomatic relations; telling a sad child who has just
lost his beloved pet that all dogs really do go to heaven; repeatedly
criticizing capitalism; and bringing the Catholic Church much closer to fully accepting gay people.
And on New Year’s Day, Pope Francis
called for an end to modern slavery during his first mass for 2015, to mark the
Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace. Raw Story reports the pope urged people around the
world to unite in the fight against human trafficking and modern-day
slavery.
“All of us are called (by God) to be free, all are called to be sons and daughters, and each, according to his or her own responsibilities, is called to combat modern forms of enslavement. From every people, culture and religion, let us join our forces.”
And just in case conservative folks in the GOP, on Fox News, and around the world choose to misunderstand Pope Francis’ message and apply a very narrow definition of the word “slavery,” His Holiness makes it abundantly clear that he objects to anyexploitation of workers and our fellow human beings.
On Dec. 11, Addicting Info reported that Pope Francis released
his 2015 Message of Peace — titled “No Longer
Slaves, But Brothers and Sisters” — early, so he could urge business
owners and holiday shoppers to think twice before buying or selling products
produced by exploited workers who work in substandard conditions and don’t get
paid a living wage.
In his message, Pope Francis clearly
demands that nations not only enact laws that protect their own workers, but
also make it illegal for companies to employ slave labor abroad:
“States must ensure that their own legislation truly respects the dignity of the human person in the areas of migration, employment, adoption, the movement of businesses offshore and the sale of items produced by slave labour. There is a need for just laws which are centred on the human person, uphold fundamental rights and restore those rights when they have been violated.”
Pope Francis goes on to smack down
businesses that offshore jobs or contract work out to firms that employ
undocumented immigrants to avoid complying with safety and wage standards:
“Businesses have a duty to ensure dignified working conditions and adequate salaries for their employees, but they must also be vigilant that forms of subjugation or human trafficking do not find their way into the distribution chain. Together with the social responsibility of businesses, there is also the social responsibility of consumers. Every person ought to have the awareness that ‘purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act’.”
And then, Pope Francis gently but
firmly scolds us — the consumers — for buying all this slave-made crap.
“Let us ask ourselves, as individuals and as communities, whether we feel challenged … when we are tempted to select items which may well have been produced by exploiting others. Some of us, out of indifference, or financial reasons, or because we are caught up in our daily concerns, close our eyes to this.”
Whoa. That sounds an awful lot like
the pope wants us to boycott Apple, Walmart, and a host of other US companies.
As The Hill points out, Pope Francis’ liberalism is
creating a huge rift in the GOP-Catholic alliance. While Catholics have a
reputation for voting Republican, it’s actually only Anglo-white Catholics
who vote Republican. Pew Research polls reveals
that Anglo-white Catholics voted for Republicans, while Latino Catholics voted
for Democratic candidates.
Furthermore, Catholics are roughly
split down the middle in their voting habits:
According to Pew, Catholics made up 24 percent of the electorate in the 2014 cycle, voting for GOP House candidates over Democratic ones 54 percent to 45 percent.
And, amazingly, Pope Francis’
liberal message seems to resonate strongly with a huge majority of Americans.
Francis himself enjoys a high favorability rating of 78 percent among all Americans, with only 11 percent disapproving of him and the remaining having no opinion, according to a Dec. 11 poll from Pew. Among Catholics, his favorability spikes to 93 percent.
So much for that tired old myth
about America being a “Center-Right country,” Fox.
Author Elisabeth Parker is a writer, Web
designer, mom, political junkie, and dilettante. For more AI articles
by Elisabeth, click here.
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