Republicans
Want Pope Francis To Sit Down and Shut Up
By Ann Werner
Congressional Republicans have had just about enough of that pesky pontiff, Pope Francis. He has been a thorn in their political side ever since he started spouting all that Christian nonsense about poverty and equality and Cuba and Palestine and global warming.
According to them, he should shut
his mouth except
about the really important stuff like how gay marriage is an abomination unto
the Lord and how abortion is a one-way ticket to hell.
Kansas
Rep. Tim Huelskamp says the church can’t fix poverty, so the Pope should say
nothing.
“How
do you deal with a poverty problem? There’s not a Catholic [fix], contrary to
the arguments of certain economists that work at the Vatican. But there’s a
Catholic view on life, on marriage, on the rights of parents and education. So
I hope he sticks to this.”
Texas
Rep. Louie Gohmert opined, “I’m surprised that the pope would recognize
Palestine when they’re still haters who want to eliminate Israel off the map
and don’t recognize Israel. The pope is the head of his religion, and he makes
those calls for himself, but I represent 700,000 from East Texas and a vast
majority agree with me.”
Note
to Louie: The Pope presides OVER A BILLION Catholics, so I think he’s got your
puny Texas contingent trumped.
Those who were against reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba were really pissed off, too. Mauricio Claver-Carone, director of the conservative U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, said, “I don’t want the pope running the foreign policy of the United States, just as I don’t think the president wants the pope running the social policy of the United States.”
One
can only imagine the outcry when his forthcoming encyclical on
global warming is released. In it, it is anticipated
that Pope Francis will urge Catholics to be mindful of the impact climate
change is having on our planet and her people.
He will remind Catholics – and
the rest of the world, because a papal encyclical is not an everyday occurrence
– that we are the stewards of the Earth and as such, are charged with caring
for the planet, its environment and the people on it. It’s sure to go over like
a lead balloon with the climate change denier crowd.
I
don’t agree with a lot of the pope’s stances: birth control, abortion, and the
fact that women hold no positions of power in the Catholic Church. BUT, I’ve
got to give it to the pontiff. He’s a different kind of bird as far as the
papacy goes.
He addressed the
child abuse in the Catholic Church head on and made no
excuses. I’ve never heard of another pope who goes out incognito in the middle
of the night to minister to the homeless.
As far as I know, no other pope has
ever owned a Harley Davidson
motorcycle and
auctioned it off to fund a soup kitchen, but Pope Frank did! He even gave a
couple of kids a ride in the Popemobile.
I mean, really, what other pope had a
previous job as a nightclub
bouncer? This is a man who understands the world in a
way that is unprecedented when it comes to popes.
The
fact is, Pope Francis does more than talk the talk. He walks the walk and is
the closest I’ve ever seen to a modern day Jesus. He’s the Mother Teresa of
popes and the right wing just can’t stand it. CANNOT! So they tell him to sit
down, shut up and keep his Christian views to himself, unless, of course, they
coincide with the misogynistic, prejudiced views touted by the right wing.
Republicans
in Congress can kick and scream all they want, but Pope Francis will continue
to admonish his flock, and anyone else who cares to listen, to walk the path of
the righteous, to be loving to one another and to adhere to all those good
things found in the New Testament. He’s the kind of guy who leaves hate at the
door. Not exactly the current Republican agenda.
For
those who wish to dismiss him, keep in mind that the Catholic Church is an
institution that is thousands of years old. No one, not even Pope Francis, can
effect sweeping change overnight. But this pope is doing a great job of
getting things started and really, what more can you ask of a man?
Ann Werner is
a blogger and the author of CRAZY and Dreams and Nightmares. You
can view her work at AnnWerner.info