The Outside Scoop on a Communist Pope

Howdy -- this is not a religious commentary, as I leave that (mostly) to the members of their respective organizations.

The Pope exists in the real world and is an influential force in human affairs, and so this atheist feels more than qualified to comment on that basis. This is the same basis on which I approve of Protestant reforms (raised Protestant) despite having no religious charter for my views. Also, I find some Protestantism more agreeable than others. So much for my preferences -- that's not the point. Wars have been fought over this stuff, nations dissolved and founded, and from my admittedly atheist perspective, most religious wars are just ordinary wars for power and security (or personal glory) using a different label than the other options of race, ethnicity, nation-state, geography, or "vocation" (meaning a given people's way of getting on).

I remember when liberty had a great ally in a sturdy and forthright man of a Pope. Reagan, Thatcher, John Paul II -- those were heroic leaders united in a global crusade against the pure evil of Communism, winning WWIII without plunging the planet into fire.

I don't care about a whole lot of Latinate terms and special pleading to principles that I do not recognize. To me, it's all just so much of one organization claiming primacy over others, and within that organization, people claiming dominion over others. It reminds me of the scene in Braveheart where the squabbling Scots insist that fictional Will Wallace recognize these documents, no these documents -- all of equally fictitious value -- while the real value slips away. Or "Game of Thrones," where the very present, pure, and unadulterated evil gains ground because the good guys are infighting. GoT is absolutely good vs. evil, and is a tale about losing sight of the actual evil while trying to get your foot on somebody else's face to ascend the greasy pole.

So all this talk of sedevacantism and Magisteria and a lot more Latin words means nothing to me. I recognize that it means a great deal to some here, which is why this is not a comment on a different thread more oriented to that point of view.

The Communist Pope has fired a stalwart Bishop in the US, and Catholics propose to pray about it from within their respective dioceses, and to keep going to Mass because to not do so is haram. That is internal stuff to be sure, and I don't much care about the why and the wherefore.

So I simply hope (which is prayer in my book) that Catholics are able to bring pressure to support the good guys in this continuing fight against Communism in additional ways that might not require divine action or sub-divine intercession. The Communist Pope is a man on the planet who sticks his infernal commie nose into politics all the time, and as such, is answerable to we who feel an interest in world events as such, without reference to beads and smoke and wine and wafers.

There are priests and Popes and Bishops and nuns and pews full of the faithful who are made of magnificent stuff, and who (historically, and no doubt presently) endure much, beyond what most can imagine. Their struggle is real, and I gratefully appreciate the civilizing force that religion, specifically including Catholicism, exerts on the progress of human affairs. Just as with the immense overlap in fortunes between Christians and Jews (despite a lot of unfit members under each label), there is immense overlap between the religious and your secular allies.

This Communist Pope doesn't sound very Catholic to me, and it doesn't surprise me that he fires good men. I do not wish him well, and if I had a prayer to offer, it would be for the welfare of those who have to deal with him more than I do, and for his swift replacement for whatever reason.

I do not care how he goes or why, just that he does so and soon. His effect on this world is an unalloyed evil -- whatever his good points may be, they will easily fall under the bare minimum you might expect from somebody in his clothing. His bad points in contrast are his alone, have been on display for years, and do not get better. Good riddance whenever he goes.

The Pope occupies a position of real power in the real world. The real world is entitled to express its disdain without reference to any religious particulars.

And so it does.