The GOP’s absurd anti-Pope crusade: The bizarre spectacle of ...

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/22/the_gops_absurd_anti_pope_crusade_the_bizarre_spectacle_of_republicans_turning_on_a_religious_leader/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow


Tuesday, Sep 22, 2015 05:59 AM EST
The GOP’s absurd anti-Pope crusade: The bizarre spectacle of Republicans turning on a religious leader
Conservative are up in arms over the pontiff's impending visit to the nation's capital
Patricia Miller


Faced with the distinct possibility that the man who is currently the world’s most beloved and respected moral authority will publicly shred their governing ideology and rebuke their position on issues from immigration to climate change, conservatives are responding by having a complete meltdown over Pope Francis’ impending visit.

In the equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears and singing “La! La! La!”

Republican Catholic Congressman Paul Gosar announced that he will boycott Pope Francis’ Thursday speech to Congress because the pope may talk about climate change. As he writes in Time, he was super psyched to hear Francis talk about the persecution of Christian minorities in the Middle East, the “enslavement, belittlement, rape and desecration of Christian women and children,” and the “condoned, subsidized, intentionally planned genocide of unborn children by Planned Parenthood.”

But, to his eternal disappointment, Francis reportedly “instead intends to focus the brunt of his speech on climate change—a climate that has been changing since first created in Genesis.” Even worse, according to Gosar, is the fact that “this climate change talk has adopted all of the socialist talking points, wrapped false science and ideology into ‘climate justice’ and is being presented to guilt people into leftist policies.”

snip//

But Gosar’s objections seem positively statesman-like compared to the stream of anti-Francis vitriol unleashed by Washington Post columnist George Will, who accuses a man beloved for his humbleness and sincerity of “embod{ying} sanctity” but “trail{ing) clouds of sanctimony” and embracing “ideas impeccably fashionable, demonstrably false and deeply reactionary.”

snip//

At the root of the venom directed against Francis is the fear that he will decouple the carefully cultivated alliance between free-market, anti-government conservatives here in the U.S. and the leadership of the Catholic Church, which for decades has assured Catholics that they could merrily back anti-redistributive, anti-environmental, and anti-labor policies as long as they opposed abortion. The removal of the anti-abortion trump card is an existential threat to the existing political alignment and the free reign of the free market. As Mullarkey warns, the “endgame” of Francis’ view is a “transfer of wealth”—and that’s an endgame that conservatives can’t tolerate, even if a comes from a leader they once considered infallible.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

1. I think these RWNJ/pretend Christians are outraged because

So many of the Popes positions are an affront to the one true God, Mammon.

[Wounded Bear]

2. What he said ^^^^

Amen, fellow traveler. Pope Francis has some ideas I still don't agree with, but he's really going to town on the capitalists and corporate executive class.

[Hortensis]

7. They're certainly trying to ignore that 45% of CONSERVATIVE Catholics

thought well of him as of a Gallop poll in July. That was after severe drops due to his challenging obstinately held conservative positions on a bunch of knee-jerk issues, but particularly the encyclical instructing them to alter their beliefs and behaviors on climate change. The last poll prior to that one had dropped to 72% approval among conservative Catholics.

We all, but conservatives especially, need time to recover from reactionary mode and "come around," so these numbers suggest eventually majority American CONSERVATIVE Catholic support for several important Democrat positions. Or probably a lot more accurately, a LOSS of support for GOP positions.

About 22% of all Americans are Catholic.

[BlueJazz]

3. I have to say: If I knew absolutely nothing about the Pope, I would welcome him with flowers and..

...opened-arms plus I'd hire flower-girls/boys to lead his glorious path...Simply because the Republicans have a problem with him.

On Edit: Spelling.

[MattSh]

4. Anybody that can evoke these types of reactions among conservatives...

deserves a rec. Or three!

[Hortensis]

5. My guess: This Pope's calls to 1.2 billion Catholics linking religious moral and

secular social issues are going to change just about everything for the worse for the worshipers of Mammon and War. The effects should spread well beyond just those 1.2 billion to influence even larger populations around the planet. We're probably already seeing major effects that just can't be quantified at this point.

If even half correct, the GOP's string pullers aren't over-reacting at all. They're in trouble.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. George Will Called Somebody Reactionary?

Really? Like me calling someone a aloof and arrogant jerk, when that really describes me! Just ask my wife!

[Baitball Blogger]

8. This does not surprise me.

In the nineties Repubs put down the "good works" aspect of religion. Didn't fit in with their agenda of greed. Unfortunately, we didn't have Pope to stand up to them, the way that Pope Francis is doing.