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Pope: “No religion is immune from its own fundamentalism,” and fundamentalists “kill, destroy and defame”

Sep 14, 2015 12:11 pm By Robert Spencer

Where today do Christian fundamentalists “kill, destroy and defame”? Where are there mobs of Christian fundamentalists lynching innocent Muslims for perceived “blasphemy,” turning mosques into churches, and forcing Muslims to submit to them and pay them a special tax?

There is an escalating Muslim persecution of Christians that makes this moral equivalence at best, disastrously out of focus. At best. Do the suffering Christians not warrant any consideration at all? Any realistic discussion of what has happened and is happening to them?

Pope

“Pope says no religion immune from fundamentalism,” ANSA, September 14, 2015 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSA) – Vatican City, September 14 – Pope Francis warned Monday that no religion could consider itself safe from fundamentalist elements. “No religion is immune from its own fundamentalism, every confession has a group of fundamentalists, whose job is to destroy in the name of an idea, not reality,” Francis told Buenos Aires FM Mileniium 106.7, an Argentine protestant radio station. “Fundamentalists distance God from the company of His people, they transform him into an ideology. In the name of this ideology, they kill, destroy and defame”.

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Filed Under: Catholic Church, Featured, moral equivalence Tagged With: Pope Francis


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Comments

  1. Mac-101 says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    This Pope is a NWO stooge and bein a Jesuit lives up to da name of da “Black Pope”. It also appears he is workin for da title as the False Prophet!

    • EYESOPEN says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 8:47 pm

      I believe you are right Mac-101.

      • Wellington says

        Sep 14, 2015 at 9:25 pm

        Way too much of a religious “take” on things here, EYESOPEN. Mac-101’s comment was replete with silly anti-Catholic sentiments. Please, you are too smart and informed to descend to such ignorance.

  2. john spielman says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    I am sorry Pope Francis, you are WRONG! and know nothing of Christ and His teaching ( despite being the head of the Catholic church). According to the teachings of Jesus, the only Son of God, a radical fundamentalist Christ follower would look like YOUR OWN Mother Theresa, or Franklin Graham , or CS Lewis

    • CogitoErgoSum says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 4:05 pm

      …….. or like St. Francis of Assisi. I am becoming simply exasperated with some of the conflicting notions of this Pope.

  3. bobm says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    what fellowship light with darkness Mr. pope?… islam ISIS antichrist. 1 john 2:22.

  4. Robert says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    He does have a point. His religion is leftism and leftist fundamentalists have murdered more than anyone else in history . . .

    • spot on says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      Absolutely. Left wingers, Marxists all, are today in bed with the Islamic killers. Leftists have killed 100 million in the past 100 years and the Islamists are now trying to break that record with the help of leftists like Pope Francis. Pope Francis himself says he is with the leftists. He is dead wrong about fundamentalist Christians aligned with Islamist killers. That is crazy. No record of deaths from Christian fundamentalists to my knowledge. Pope Francis makes makes no sense.

      • Anthony says

        Sep 14, 2015 at 7:02 pm

        The Pope’s very existence is a farce and an imposture. He has no authority nor credibility, he presides over the greatest imposture in history, the corruption of Christ Church, known as the Roman Catholic Church. The Church is the congregation of the redeemed, not the congregation of phony professors of the religion of self righteousness.

        • spot on says

          Sep 15, 2015 at 12:24 pm

          I am sure your message resonates with a significant number of people. However, I do not dislike the Roman Catholic Church by any means. I do have a problem with this particular Pope.

    • Western Canadian says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 9:59 pm

      Close, but not quite….. Leftists murdered over 100 million in not much more than a century… muslims have murdered 20 million on average, per century. For 14 centuries. islam over leftism, by a ratio of 2.8 to 1…. And now, they are in league with each other..

      • Mazo says

        Sep 14, 2015 at 11:01 pm

        The Philippines engaged in rape and slaughter of the native Moro Muslims on Mindanao after America invaded in violation of the Bates Treaty and annexed the Moros to the Philippines.

        The Philippines started the war agsinst the Moros with the Jabidah massacre and consqeuntly slaughtered, raped and cannibalized tens of thousands of Moro civilians.

        The Moro Muslim leader Nur Misuari was a University Professor involved in a Marxist group before he took up arms and led the Moro revolt against the Philippines. He founded Moro National Liberation Front. He personally was acquainted with the founder of the Communist NPA insurgents who also fought against the Philippines while they were both at Univesity together. Misuari incoporated some leftist ideas into MNLF and was accused by fundamentalist Islamist detractors of being a closet Marxist but he denied it.

        Mari Alkatiri was an Arab Muslim involved with the Marxist FRETILIN East Timorese resistance against Indonesian rule. He became the Prime Minister of East Timor after independence.

        Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurd from Turkey, was a Marxist and founded the Communist Marxist Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) to fight against Turkey.

        Guess what the only thing the countries they were opposed to had in common.

        The countries were all backed by the west. The west supported the Philippines in raping and slaughtering Moros. The west supported Indonesia in East Timor. The west supported Turkey in massacring Alevis and Kurds and even provided direct support to racist Turkish ultra nationalist fascists like Grey Wolves to carry out the massacres. And guess what, the west also hated Marxism which is what caused its massive spread.

        People become Marxist or adopt aspects of their idelogy because their opponents and oppressors are anti-Marxist. Not for any other reason. They adopt what their enemies hate.

        • sinantara says

          Sep 14, 2015 at 11:34 pm

          Sooooo… It is Capitalism, brother. That is why the Saudi’s are in bed with the US. And now we are all confused like the animals in The Animal Farm. Who is pig and who is human?

        • gravenimage says

          Sep 14, 2015 at 11:36 pm

          Notice that even when Muslims are slaughtering people, Mazo believes it is the fault of the filthy Infidels.

          And why not? As he sees it, Mohammedans can do no wrong.

          Never mind the millions they murdered before the West was around to blame it on…

        • Angemon says

          Sep 15, 2015 at 7:50 pm

          So, mazo, have you ever been on the Philippines? USA? East Timor? Remember, it was you who said that no one was allowed to speak of countries they never set a foot on. Or does that just apply to infidels discussing atrocities done by muslims?

        • Mazo says

          Sep 15, 2015 at 8:43 pm

          Analmon, your friend with the mail order bride is the one, whom after I mentioned the fact that China sold DF-21 missles to Saudi Arabia, started screaming about how I have never been to Saudi Arabia, implying that knowing that China sold missles to Saudi Arabia requires physically being in Saudi Arabia.

        • Angemon says

          Sep 16, 2015 at 7:26 am

          Mazo posted:

          “Analmon, your friend with the mail order bride is the one, whom after I mentioned the fact that China sold DF-21 missles to Saudi Arabia, started screaming about how I have never been to Saudi Arabia, implying that knowing that China sold missles to Saudi Arabia requires physically being in Saudi Arabia.”

          Dumbass, your smokescreen won’t get any traction here. You’re the one who’s been, on several topics, raging and screaming at JW regulars that they’re not allowed to talk about countries they, according to you, never set a foot on. Like you did here:

          http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/09/kenya-muslims-arrested-with-mall-ied-in-nairobi#comment-1292714

          So, mazo, you’ve never been to Saudi Arabia, so why are you talking jack about a country which you know nothing about? Again, I’m using your *ahem*, “logic” and holding you to your *ahem*, “standards”. And I have to use those terms in a very loose way, since your whole goal here is to bully people into not discussing islam and what it has in store for non-muslims, and you’ll say just about anything to do so.

          Also, I’m still waiting for you to point out what part of what said about Kenya was factually wrong. You never got back to me on that because you realized, too late, that there isn’t anything wrong with what I said.

        • Angemon says

          Sep 16, 2015 at 7:28 am

          So, mazo, have you ever been on the Philippines? USA? East Timor? Saudi Arabia? Remember, it was you who said that no one was allowed to speak of countries they never set a foot on. Or does that just apply to infidels discussing atrocities done by muslims?

        • Incek Mahallesi says

          Sep 16, 2015 at 8:48 am

          “Mazo” aka “Sandthrower”:

          “Analmon, your friend with the mail order bride is the one, whom after I mentioned the fact that China sold DF-21 missles to Saudi Arabia, started screaming about how I have (sic) never been to Saudi Arabia, implying that knowing that China sold missles (sic) to Saudi Arabia requires physically being in Saudi Arabia.”
          _______________________________________________

          I assume you’re speaking of the Illustrious Philip Jihadski?

          Please give a link to where he said the things you claim he did. Please provide proof that Jihadski was/is married to a “mail-order bride”. Also, please provide proof that the Illustrious Philip Jihadski is gay.

          Regards,

          Incek Mahalessi

      • AnneM says

        Sep 15, 2015 at 6:23 am

        Can there be a full tally please in the way of numbers of how much Islam kills. Thank-you!

  5. jayell says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    If you take ‘fundamentalism’ to mean taking things down to the bare essentials (as prescirbed by the respective founders of the two prominent religions referred to here, you get things like ‘don’t make friends with the infidel’ and ‘strike the Unbeliever in the neck’ for Islam, but ‘love the Lord your God, and your neighbour as yourself’ for Christianity. Bit of a difference????

    • TH says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 4:10 pm

      Protestant fundamentalism began in America in the early 20th century as a reaction agains liberal protestantism which tended to water down many of the major tenets of Christianity. It had a lot to do with the application of the historical-critical method to the Bible, which brought some to refect the historicity of many parts of the Bible. Of course, the historical/critical method has its place and if properly used is positive. However, to make this kind of fundamentalism equivalent to what is now called islamic fundamentalist is way off. Discussing the historical basis of the life of Jesus etc. is a far cry from what muslims are ordered to do in the Qur´an. The truth is that the Bible is better understood if it is studied historically and the whole cultural milieu of the epoch studied and taken into account, but if anyone dares to do that with the Qu´ran, he will have his head chopped off.

      • Kepha says

        Sep 15, 2015 at 5:49 am

        I freely admit to being a “fundamentalist” who believes that the Bible came from holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit himself (it’s in II Peter).

        The so-called “historical critical” method of biblical study is not immune from criticism itself. It has its roots in German Hegelianism, and came up with some wrongheaded conclusions which, alas, have crept into popular [mis]conception. One is that the New Testament as we have it “had to be” the result of a century-long evolution involving a “Jewish” Petrine church in conflict with a “Pauline” Gentile church with a mid-2d century synthesis represented by Luke-Acts. This is what Ferdinand Christian Baur taught in the early 19th century; but the idea was put paid by Von Harnack’s study of other early Christian literature, which suggested that virtually all of the NT was well-established well before the date allowed by Baur.

        As for the higher criticism of the Old Testament, Solomon Schechter, a father of American Conservative Judaism, once called it the “Higher anti-Semitism”, with some justice.

        As for the Pope, his willingness to conflate everyone’s “fundamentalism” shows he is a shallow creature of the late 20th century Left.

  6. abad says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    Pope Francis is way too liberal, that’s his problem.

    So much for papal infallibility.

  7. Paul says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:02 pm

    Nicely worded you coward. I’m sure the Islamic State will now
    therefore reconsider wanting to conquer Rome and kill you.

  8. jihad3tracker says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    I am not a psychologist, but it sure sounds like he is in a severe conflict between the part of his mind that thinks logically based on history (“Islam is unquestionably more violent than Christianity”) and the other region emotionally committed to wishing for the impossible.

    In other words, in the same basket as vast numbers of elderly persons who still retain a small percentage of clarity yet return to sentimentality often. Unfortunately, he can wreak havoc which those persons are incapable of.

  9. Jaladhi says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    So where are those millions of Christian fundamentalists who kill, destroy and defame. Equally, the Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist fundamentalists are missing in action and not following the Islam followers who are committing the raging mayhem all over the world! Is Pope, blind, deaf and mute to tell the truth??

    • EYESOPEN says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 8:49 pm

      No, just dumb – in the “idiotic” sense.

  10. Jay Boo says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    Islam’s greatest weapon is possibly — grievance mongering.

    This is where Muhammad hides waiting for awareness of Islam’s filth to subside.
    The only potential positive in Pope Francis’ behavior that I can hope for is if it pulls the prayer rug out from under grievance mongering.

    The power of the Muslim costume.
    When Muslims dress up in their full-on Muslim outfits and self-identify as Muslims they take on a persona. When Islam is criticized, they in particular take it as a personal attack and get very defensive like bees defending a hive. CAIR exploits this fear of us by Muslims, especially those who play the dress up game.

    If we think of “them” as being all the same, then we foolishly play into their narrative.
    It becomes about the subhuman “monsters”
    The obvious filth of Islam then slithers away unharmed and unexamined.

  11. donnie newell says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    Just a politically correct utterance from the politician pope. Meant to appease the Muslims. We don’t want to make them angry for gods sake. Who knows how many people will die if we do.

  12. Wellington says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    He sounds like Obama. No Pope should sound like Obama.

  13. somehistory says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    He is doing some heavy duty defaming of Christians…and other religions that have members who live peaceful and quiet lives…and enabling the killers …those devoted to islam’s beast…to keep killing Christians and destroying what they cannot sell or enslave

    When a bank robber robs a bank, anyone with him is guilty of the same crime. If he kills, the ones with him are guilty of murder. Afterward, anyone who helps or hides the killers is also guilty of criminal conduct. If the criminal is aided before he commits his crime…by one who advises on how to commit or aids in any way, that one is also guilty of any crime committed due to his aid.

    This pope is aiding those who are murdering Christians and defaming Christians by saying there are those who leave God and then kill for their own ideas. Despicable in the extreme.

  14. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    No religion is immune from its own fundamentalism, every confession has a group of fundamentalists, whose job is to destroy in the name of an idea, not reality.
    — Pope Frank

    Hey check a fact, Frank. By its nature there can be no Islamic fundamentalism; Islam is intrinsically about killing and destroying. Have one of your scholars over there in the Holy See take a quick glance at the Holy Ko-Ran, it’s bound to jump off the page and into his face.

    Pathetic, self-delusional, irresponsible, dangerous.

    If you’re gonna play the equivalency card, Frank, then at least have the human decency to point out where Catholics are killing in the name of Jesus and the Gospels. I can think of plenty of groups of Catholics who got involved in mass murder takeover programs, but most all of them did that in the name of globo-socialism.

    You cower as Catholics are being slaughtered, enslaved and gang raped in the name of Islam. Don’t lecture us; please just shut the hell up.

    • EYESOPEN says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 8:51 pm

      Well said APF! I concur absolutely.

  15. duh_swami says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    What happened to, ‘Everything in moderation’? That would include religion…;
    That can cause you to wear all white and spout nonsense…

    I do make an exception for ice cream, but that’s it…

  16. Mo says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Are you KIDDING me?! How dare this man claim to speak for Christianity and then speak such lies and defame the religion he supposedly follows?

    Well, if anything, perhaps this will wake up some Catholics to stop believing in the anti-biblical teaching of papal infallibility!

  17. parousia says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    Pope Francis you are wrong on this point.

    To say so insults the memory of the Pope and the people who called the very first crusades because I know that’s exactly where he is going to point if he is asked to cite examples.

    I identify as a Catholic but I know for sure that he cannot spew such nonsense Ex Cathedra.

    What is wrong with this guy? Wasn’t he alive when Ratzinger was pope?

    • bobm says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 10:25 pm

      Ratzinger ; wasn’t he the guy that began speaking truth concerning islam ? only to have a holy slipper stuffed in his mouth?.. got him outa there didn’t they…. research islams connection to Rome right from mohammeds youth.

  18. voegelinian says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Pope Francis is just reiterating one of the main tenets of the PC MC Ten Commandments: Equivalencism (which also takes the form of the Ego Quoque fallacy, a perverse variant on, and mirror image of, the Ego Quoque fallacy).

    Equivalencism is the doctrine that “all cultures/all religions are the same”. Behind or beneath this blandly sweeping and indiscriminate idiocy lies an ulterior doctrine: that the West (and its Judaeo-Christianity) is worse than non-white non-Western cultures. Along has come (or returned with a vengeance) Islam — the Mother of all Others, to become the #1 Other Culture we must “respect” and kowtow to (I’ll let a grammar nazi behead my dangling participle there…).

    • voegelinian says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 3:05 pm

      Further Reading:

      The problem with cultural equivalencism
      http://hesperado.blogspot.com/2011/07/problem-with-cultural-equivalencism.html

      The Logical Fallacy of Ego Quoque
      http://glossaryhesperado.blogspot.com/2008/05/logical-fallacy-of-tu-quoque-and-ego.html

      Morosophy and the Mother of All Others
      http://hesperado.blogspot.com/2010/05/morosophy-and-mother-of-all-others.html

    • voegelinian says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      correction:

      “… the Ego Quoque fallacy, a perverse variant on, and mirror image of, the Ego Quoque fallacy)…”

      should be:

      “… the Ego Quoque fallacy, a perverse variant on, and mirror image of, the Tu Quoque fallacy)…”

  19. Angemon says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 4:21 pm

    “Fundamentalists distance God from the company of His people, they transform him into an ideology. In the name of this ideology, they kill, destroy and defame”.

    Yeah, McDonalds has a whole paramilitary group to protect itself from extremist Hindus… sarc./ off

  20. gravenimage says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    Pope: “No religion is immune from its own fundamentalism,” and fundamentalists “kill, destroy and defame”
    ………………………

    Um…no. A Christian might sell all of his goods and join a charity aiding people in troubled places. Mother Teresa was a pretty “fundamentalist” Catholic. Did she go on to “kill, destroy, and defame”?

    • EYESOPEN says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 8:54 pm

      Excellent example Graven! I wish someone would throw that at this pretender pope when he “graces” (BIG sarc) the U.S. with his visit later this month.

  21. Georg says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    It seems to me the Amish are some sort of “fundamentalist” and the worst they ever do is leave some errant horse poop on the road; considering how little pollution they create it hardly makes them a menace…

  22. vlparker says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    This guy is an idiot. Just like all the rest of the leftist loons on the planet.

    • EYESOPEN says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 8:54 pm

      Yep.

  23. kay says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 8:45 pm

    smh

    “My dear Kepler, what shall we do? Shall we laugh or shall we cry?’
    — Galileo Galilei to Johannes Kepler

  24. mortimer says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 9:33 pm

    Robert Spencer wrote: “There is an escalating Muslim persecution of Christians that makes this moral equivalence at best, disastrously out of focus.” Agree.

    Pope Francis is seeing the moral issues in a funhouse mirror…with complete distortion of the proportions.

    The pope’s lack of proportion is a result of his inability to count! How many atrocities are committed against Christians by Muslims and vice versa? Many great errors are avoided by merely counting. The pope is grievously in error.

    Pope Francis seems to suggest that religious polemics are unacceptable. This is dangerously close to ‘indifferentism’ against which his predecessor Pope Benedict protested. Religions not only have different goals, but different means. Islam does not have the Golden Rule and treats ‘others’ as the ‘worst of beasts’ deserving of extermination.

    Protest is a good thing. Without protest, we cannot improve anything. Protest requires freedom of expression. Pope Francis is dangerously close to suggesting restrictions on expression. That will result in restrictions on Roman Catholic missionaries and preachers warning against religious error. The pope is standing by as Muslims cut the throat of critics. The pope is virtually saying: ‘They had it coming to them.’

    The pope thereby aids the throat-slitters.

    • kay says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 10:49 pm

      Re: “‘They had it coming to them.”
      ————————–

      That’s what Pope Francis expressed concerning Charlie Hebdo AFTER the slaughter!
      He’s anti free speech and pro-blasphemy law. His stand against Charlie Hebdo and for Sharia blasphemy law was an absolutely huge blow to the West.
      Pope Francis massively LEGITIMIZED Islamofascist Sharia law in a non-Muslim country.
      At the worst possible moment.
      Pope Francis betrayed France and he betrayed western civilization to the Enemy.
      This is a non-recoverable error. It is a big breach in the dam which holds out evil, darkness and fascism.

      That is one of he main reasons I’ve had to work so hard on free speech and human rights this year. The good guys get attacked from all directions.
      Plus, Pope Francis kisses the Koran and he sees Muslims as co-religionists!
      With “friends” like Pope Francis, who in the West needs more enemies?

      We will have to rely a lot on thoughtful, informed people like Dr. Sam Harris.

      Sam Harris on Islam as a contagious death cult:
      “This is an expression of a world view. And this world view is contagious…We’re talking about the spread of ideas…The point we cannot ignore…is that we are at war with a global phenomenon of jihadism. And there can be no compromise with this death cult.”
      — Sam Harris

      Sam Harris actually makes sense. And he’s one of the good guys. We need more people like him. Today I gave Sam Harris some more social media support.

    • Wellington says

      Sep 14, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      “The pope thereby aids the throat-slitters.”

      He certainly does, mortimer. He sure has. The man is a disgrace and I put this to every Catholic reading this: Why in the Hell would your God allow such a fool to become Pope in the first place, assuming, as Catholics should, that Roman Catholicism is the true faith?

      • CogitoErgoSum says

        Sep 15, 2015 at 12:33 am

        Wellington, I sometimes wonder that too. My explanation to myself is that God allows human beings to make their own choices by way of free will ….. and many times we human beings use our free will to make a bad choice which can lead to bad results. Pope Francis is a man just like any other man. He is infallible only when he puts forth an official document concerning matters of faith. He can still make mistakes in ordinary conversation and say things obviously wrong …. and I can disagree with him as long as I don’t contradict official Church doctrine He is still just a human being and not a god. However, he is the man in charge of the Church on Earth and a religion without someone in charge to make tough decisions on matters of faith would be like ……. well, like Islam.

        So as for me, I have to trust that the Holy Spirit will ultimately take care of things and everything will turn out right in the end.

        • Wellington says

          Sep 15, 2015 at 1:00 am

          You are a man of faith, CogitoErgoSum. I might add, if you don’t mind, that the College of Cardinals when electing a Pope is supposedly guided by the divine will and so it is not a matter of human beings, in this instance cardinals, making their own choices——or somehow is it still? Perplexing, no?

          And I also have to wonder why “only” a two-thirds majority of the College in conclave is sufficient respecting the election of a new pontiff. What about the minority of cardinals voting for someone else in a vote where the threshold has been met? What’s God up to here? A puzzlement, no?

        • CogitoErgoSum says

          Sep 15, 2015 at 1:26 am

          Wellington, indeed it is a puzzlement. You would think that God would show up at each conclave in the form of a tongue of fire that burns above the head of the man he wants to be Pope …. but I’ve not heard of that happening. It does come down to faith, does it not? I’ll have to ask God about that when I see Him.

      • Ginger says

        Sep 15, 2015 at 6:24 am

        The electing cardinals are supposed to be guided by the Holy Spirit in making their choice. But being merely men, and exercising their free will, they can and do ignore that guidance and the result is Pope Francis. Being quartered far away in Argentina and rarely visiting Rome, the Vatican politicking slate was clean. Unfortunately, no-one looked closely enough at his behaviour in his home country; an out-and-out martinet with a bad case of foot in mouth. More fool them.

  25. mortimer says

    Sep 14, 2015 at 9:35 pm

    Robert Spencer wrote: “There is an escalating Muslim persecution of Christians that makes this moral equivalence at best, disastrously out of focus.” Agree.

    Pope Francis is seeing the moral issues in a funhouse mirror…with complete distortion of the proportions.

    The pope’s lack of proportion is a result of his inability to count! How many atrocities are committed against Christians by Muslims and vice versa? Many great errors are avoided by merely counting. The pope is grievously in error.

    Pope Francis seems to suggest that religious polemics are unacceptable. This is dangerously close to ‘indifferentism’ against which his predecessor Pope Benedict protested. Religions not only have different goals, but different means. Islam does not have the Golden Rule and treats ‘others’ as the ‘worst of beasts’ deserving of extermination.

    Protest is a good thing. Without protest, we cannot improve anything. Protest requires freedom of expression. Pope Francis is dangerously close to suggesting restrictions on expression. That will result in restrictions on Roman Catholic missionaries and preachers warning against religious error. The pope is standing by as Muslims cut the throat of critics. The pope is virtually saying: ‘They had it coming to them.’

    The pope thereby helps the throat-slitters by failing to protest.

  26. Kepha says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 5:56 am

    Wellington and Cogito: Loved your exchange.

    Now you know why Uncle Kepha sticks to the Evangelical principle as elucidated by the Reformation: it is Christ himself who saves by the working of the Holy Spirit with the Word, not the institution doling out little doses of sacramental grace administered by its properly ordained ministers.

    Let me further add my voice to those who are sorely disappointed by this Pope.

  27. Michael Carpenter says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 5:57 am

    No where in the New Testament are Christians directed to kill anyone. The Qur’an has multiple directives for Muslim’s to kill infidels of all persuasions, Jews, and Christians. So where does the Pope draw his conclusions from? Fundamentalist like to have a point of reference to support their argument. There is nothing in the New Testament to support a murderous activity. The Old Testament is a point of history for Christians, since Jesus fulfilled the laws of the Old Testament and gave Christians the Gospels to follow and lead their life by.

  28. Baucent says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 6:14 am

    I’ll be charitable and believe he was having an dig at Islam in this little discourse. But the problem with this Pope is he is suppose to be the guiding voice of the Catholic Church not speculating on the effects of “fundamentalism” on ALL religions. Can he really talk with authority on fundamentalist challenges in Buddhism? That’s a little outside your brief Francis. Like speculating on Climate Change and Free Market capitalism. I’m beginning to feel nostalgic for the German Pope, at least he knew where the real fundamentalism danger comes from.

  29. Mirren10 says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 7:00 am

    When this disgraceful and wicked sack of shit comes to America, I hope some enterprising journalist, (are there any ?) asks him the exact same question Mr Spencer does.

    I wonder what he would say in reply ?

    • Peggy says

      Sep 16, 2015 at 10:55 pm

      Maybe they should stop electing really old men to be Popes. Old people sometimes have trouble rememering their own name let alone what is taking place around them.
      He could be suffering all sorts of things.
      Or maybe he’s just really stupid but how did he get to be the Pope if he was that stupid?

  30. Paleologos says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 7:11 am

    As a Catholic, I find it very disheartening to have the great Benedict XVI, who looked evil islam in the eye, and called it out for the evil that it is, … (Regensburg speech … conversion by the sword) … be followed by the dangerous moron, Francis.

    R/

    Paleologos

    • Annak says

      Sep 15, 2015 at 7:54 am

      I understand ( am myself a former RC and have left all established churches to worship and take communion at home) RC’s and really all Christians have to somehow get rid of this faker.
      His eyes always gave me the creeps. Yes, as soon as Benedict was hustled away and Francis was “smoked in” ( complete with lightning over the Vatican !) he got a visit from commie Kirchener of Argentina..they got on famously and discussed politics ! The first big warning sign and so many signs followed.
      Remember he kissed the feet of Muslim criminals during his first Easter service. ? Another clue. He biwedvery low, and gave a powerful message there. Jesus never kissed anyone’s feet,yet the world marveled at this gesture of Francis.

      This man is a traitor to Christianity. He LIES saying all religions have fheir extremism. Religious people might, breaking their own rules, not following their religion but only Islamic ideology commands its followers to be extremist following an extremist savage ” prophet”
      Francis insults Jesus here openly !
      He has to either be a Muslim or in some other occultic sect for sure. He is dangerous. More dangerous than any pope in centuries, and all fits in with prophecy.
      I feel for good Catholics. But the writing is on the wall , now surely very obvious.

      • Screeminmeeme says

        Sep 26, 2015 at 10:18 am

        Pope Francis has said this before. In June while addressing a group of catholics, he said many things that are in conflict with the Bible. ….like……

        ”The Quran and the spiritual teachings contained therein, are just as valid as the Holy Bible.”’…but Jesus said that His Father’s Word is truth…..and that Word is contradicted by the Quran. (John 17:17). Shouldn’t the Pope know that?

        Jehovah God said: Psa 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

        Shouldn’t the Pope have the same regard for Gods Word?

        He also said that Jesus, Jehovah, and Allah were the same God and that because we all worship that same God, all faiths should ”merge”!

        Shouldn’t the leader of the Roman Catholic Church KNOW that the God of the Bible is a polar opposite of the god of the Quran and differs in every way possible?

        The Bible teaches that Christ gave up His life on the cross so that sinners might have eternal life, while the Quran says that Christ was never crucified. The Quran commands its adherents to kill non-Muslims….considered enemies….. while the Bible tells Christians to love their enemies. HOW THEN can they both be true? (1 Co 15:1-4)

        And the idea of merging Christianity with any other faith so that God’s Truth is contaminated by lies is a frightening specter that could only come from the ”father of lies”, the Devil, who spends all of his time attempting to confuse, deceive, enslave, and destroy humanity by altering God’s Word. The Bible says that God is not the author of confusion and its His unadulterated Truth that sets us free. (1 Co 14;33, John 8: 32,35).

        Anyway, how do you consolidate faiths…..all of which teach various and often conflicting ways to salvation/nirvana/paradise…..when Jesus Christ claimed that HE was the ONLY WAY to the Father? (John 14:7)

        Paul taught…..2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and WHAT COMMUNION HATH LIGHT WITH DARKNESS?

        The Pope said ”…..we are ALL GOD’s CHILDREN, regardless of what we call Him.”’ but the Bible says that only those who trust Christ as Savior are the children of God. (John 1:12)

        While the Pope’s habit of mixing with the hungry crowds, glad-handing and blessing them appears to be Christ-like, its clear his message is from another spirit. Since he professes to follow the God of Truth, Jesus Christ, maybe truth should be more important to him.

  31. Mary Eid says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 8:47 am

    This Pope NEEDS TO GO. HE IS DESTROYING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

    God help us. I have had enough of him.

  32. Jeremiah says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 8:53 am

    The Pope was actually referring to the Catholic Church. Between 800 and 1800 the Catholic Church killed some 20 million Christians in Europe. During that time, it kept the Crusaders from opening the Bible. So it was fundamentalist sectarian during those years; Perhaps the Pope will now apologize for killing Christians? His predecessors have ignored it.

    • Annak says

      Sep 15, 2015 at 10:23 am

      Here we go again. 20 million ??? Where do you get that figure from ? (not as bad though as other estimates I have heard some have assumed 50 million.! So exaggerated.)

      As history my subject I always knew that could never be true. Was shocked at how people lie or simply assume the truth.
      Were there that many people around then ? In a FEW inquisition countries ?
      We know i.e.in UK in around 1066 before the Norman invasion there were about a million people living there.
      There werent even enough Crusaders around to properly fight the Jihadi’s !! It was the middle ages.!
      (AND by the way just as a point of info theRCC did not object to people translating Bible. Maybe under a pope or two. But The first bible in a language other than latin was the Gothic translation in 4th century. The Dutch language bible was printed around 1477. For sure in 15th century before the reformation anyway. Nobody objected.
      HenryV111 put Tyndale to death for English translation of Bible, not the RCC and Luther survived ok in Germany didn’t he ? was ” just ” ex-communicated and never intended to leave the RCC just wanted the corruption that had crept in dealt with.
      And the RCC gave us the Bible to start with !

      Are you referring to the Spanish and/or medieval inquistion ?
      The inquisition books and scrolls were opened in Vatican! i think in 1999 under was it then John Paul? and yes he DID apologise but not for what didnt happen, the myths !
      Scholars were invited to see everything. Every trial transcript still there. Inquisition was meticulous. More cases came to trial than were actually killed or tortured

      scholars concluded ” it wasn’t as bad as was always assumed” the inquisition killed between 4 and 8000 in 350 years ( bad enough I agree) and the tortures got worse ONLY when NON-churchmen got involved.!

      Germany a non -inquisition country ( inquisition was only operative in a few lands anyway, so how could they kill ” millions”???) murdered more “witches” in 350 years than the inquisition killed in 350 years, the inquisition SAVED many lives. Threw most witchcraft cases out. Were a rule of law.

      Calvin lived in an inquistion country. How come he survived then ? He had to be careful but seemed to get on fine with them.
      But maybe you are referring to some other killing of millions by RCC ?

  33. DiMu says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 10:19 am

    The church was doomed from the time that Augustine said its spiritual power was determined, not by the holiness and purity of its priests, but by the sacramental forms themselves. That gave us the wars, corruption, the inquisitions and the sexual abuse scandals. However, Pope Benedict was a truly holy man. This idiot is a typical partisan Marxist South American radical who blames neo-colonialism for all the world’s problems and will do everything in his power to stick it to the former (white) colonial masters. The Muslims are not white, so they are worthy in his eyes!

    • Paleologos says

      Sep 15, 2015 at 11:44 am

      DiMu,

      I agree with much of what you and Annak have said here.

      The importance that Francis comes from Argentina, and that South America is a cesspool of dangerous Leftists … (… and oh yes! being infiltrated by islam!) … should not be lost on anybody!

      I would love to know what the electing cardinals are thinking now … something like … “Jesus Christ! We really blew it this time!”

      R/

      Paleologos

  34. Pathfinder0100 says

    Sep 15, 2015 at 11:11 am

    This “Pope” is rowing with only one oar!!

    • AnthonyMastroianni says

      Sep 15, 2015 at 1:01 pm

      After these vicious puerile satanic coments on the Pope I’m out of here.I don’t agree with him on much either.The lack of class these comments reveal that this is a desperate operation.

  35. More Ham Ed says

    Sep 16, 2015 at 1:48 am

    No other “religion” has a 10,000 to 1 kill ratio. Some would even say 10,000 to zero. But even if you throw in a few references to abortion clinic bombings, which are not inspired by the New Testament, it’s 5000 to 1 at best, which is not good. So you see, it IS NOT MORAL EQUIVALENCE at all.

    26886 deadly terror attacks since 9/11

    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com

    • kay says

      Sep 16, 2015 at 4:57 am

      Re: “26886 deadly terror attacks since 9/11”
      ————————–
      Hah. Well done. You’re introducing facts and evidence and reasoning into ( an initially ) ridiculous discussion. As tho standard theology ever had anything to do with real reasoning. And you’re right. I push TROP web site a lot.
      The Pope’s statement-fragment suffers from the Sweeping Generalization Fallacy, the Straw Man Fallacy, and so forth. See
      http://www.logicalfallacies.info/presumption/sweeping-generalisation/

      Never woulda ‘spected this nonsense from a Jesuit. It’s cringe-worthy and am still stunned by this unaimed shotgun blast kinda “statement”. Thought Jesuits had game.
      Fact is, we need TROP desperately and we need to really push TROP as much as we can out to the public. My basic push list is small and simple:
      http://www.politicalislam.com/
      http://www.jihadwatch.org
      http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
      http://pamelageller.com/
      http://counterjihadreport.com/

      Musta done ten social medial pushes for this list in the last two days.
      Am working hard on damage control and fightback on social media.
      There are some tough customers online who basically just pull swindles and cons. Arrogant pseudo-educated sociopathic Islamic scum.
      For those people and for fence-sitters TheReligionOfPeace is one of the most important tools. In short, TROP is what we all desperately need, not absurd history-of-theology confusion.
      The situation on social media is simple. The Islamic apologists are really ignorant, they lie a lot, and they don’t know how to argue, except use logical fallacies. But they are very persistent. And in a public match all you have to do is hit them repeatedly with specific responses that deliver powerful evidence. For which TROP is great.

      Lots of these apologists immediately dismiss JW and Pamela Geller references as right winger nonsense. But you can’t dismiss the ROP counter, nor Bill Warner’s Why We Are Afraid video. And then “right-wingers” like RS and PG become very relevant.
      Even very skillful lawyers like Hillary Clinton and President Obama can’t actually give an effective response to the concrete evidence. Once it’s presented.

      So our task is to present the evidence over and over and over again. Maybe it’s like knitting. I repeat myself a lot. Whether or not the apologists and bad guys make direct response, we win by showing up and presenting a powerful case. Or we lose.
      Looks like this papal statement is running the ball backwards for a reverse touchdown ( or goal ) against his own team. I score points against the other team, the Enemy.

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