Pope Francis Takes Aim At Ideologically Obsessed Christians, Says They Have Illness (VIDEO)

Pope Francis Takes Aim At Ideologically Obsessed Christians, Says They Have Illness (VIDEO)

AUTHOR: STEPHEN D. FOSTER JR. OCTOBER 21, 2013 3:17 PM





Clearly, Pope Francis isn’t fond of the extreme ideals of the Christian Right. Now, he’s calling right-wing, fundamentalist Christianity an “illness.” Photo of Pope Francis@@CatholicEWUK

Pope Francis has been very clear about how he feels about ideological purity in religion. He’s been particularly critical of right-wing Christian fundamentalism. Pope Francis has shifted the focus of the Catholic Church to issues facing the poor and the sick. He has railed against economic inequality and has criticized the anti-gay and anti-abortion strains that have come to dominate the Christian Right here in America. Such ideological extremism is dangerous, not only to Christianity, but to the world. And Pope Francis said as much last Thursday.


Pope Francis called right-wing Christian fundamentalism a sickness.


During a daily Mass last week, Pope Francis called ideological Christianity “an illness” that doesn’t serve Jesus Christ. Instead, it “frightens” people and pushes them away from religion.


According to Radio Vatican, the Pope said:

Quote :

“In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them:

‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements. The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people. But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh?”

Here’s the video via Raw Story:

Based on past statements, Pope Francis’ remarks were aimed mostly at the Christian Right.


While Pope Francis did not specifically mention Christian right-wing ideology during the Mass, his past remarks suggest he was talking about that ideology most of all.
In September, Pope Francis attacked “savage capitalism” and took up the plight of the unemployed against a system that worships money. Earlier that month, the Pope also criticized conservative Catholics for focusing so much on abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. And in July, Pope Francis put the brakes on hating gay people, saying that we shouldn’t judge or marginalize them.


Clearly, Pope Francis isn’t fond of the extreme ideals of the Christian Right. He supports helping the poor. He believes in economic fairness. He denounces hatred of gay people. He thinks the war against abortion and birth control has gone too far. Considering all of these things, it’s pretty obvious that Pope Francis was mostly talking to right-wing Christians on Thursday. Their ideological fanaticism has damaged religion. They have abandoned the true teachings of Jesus to pursue an extremist agenda. And Pope Francis just called them out for it. Cue right-wing rage in 3, 2, 1…

Pope Frank Thinks You Are Insane For Taking Your Faith Seriously

10/22/2013


During a Mass last week, Pope–Petrus Romanus–Francis called ideological Christianity “an illness.” According to the Encarta dictionary, Ideology can mean 1) an organized system of beliefs, values, and ideas forming the basis of a social, economic, or political philosophy or program.
 2) a set of beliefs, values, and opinions that shapes the way a person or a group such as a social class thinks, acts, and understands the world. When considering Christianity then the second seems most applicable but it is not necessarily negative. It seems to me it means one tries to live consistently with what claims to believe. Pope Francis finds that unacceptable:






Interestingly, the Pope also criticized conservative Catholics for protesting abortion and same-sex marriage. When asked about homosexual priests who had infiltrated the Roman system he replied, “Who am I to judge?”  startling words from the so-called vicar of Christ.  As a result, secular humanists, abortionists and homosexuals are beside themselves with joy over the pope’s position against the hated fundamentalism. The term “fundamentalist” has been given a bad spin and I would like to correct it.


In 1846, the Evangelical Alliance was formed to unite all believers who saw liberalism as a denial of the faith. At a meeting in Niagara Falls, New York, they listed the five “fundamentals” that could not be denied without falling into the error of liberalism. These were: (1) inerrancy of Scripture, (2) the divinity of Jesus, (3) the Virgin birth, (4) Jesus’ death on the cross as a substitute for our sins, and (5) his physical resurrection and impending return. These doctrines are what separate the sheep from the goats. The church I attend affirms all of them. If yours does not, consider finding a new place to worship. While it is argued here that they are all essentials, two, four and five cannot be denied while in any meaningful way remaining a Christian. After all, Christ is the center of Christianity, the Gospel is His death and resurrection and the great hope of the believer is in Jesus’ promise to return ([url=http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Heb 9.28]Heb 9:28[/url]; [url=http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Tit 2.13]Tit 2:13[/url]).


Even the outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens has better understanding of Christianity than Pope Francis. This is an excerpt from an interview of Hitchens by a Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell concerning his book God is Not Great:

Quote :

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.[1]

It is terribly unfortunate that an ardent anti-theist like Hitchens understood Christianity better than a minister like Sewell and, apparently, even the pope himself.

all hail poop fran, hopefully w/ hail that weigh an hundred talent...

We're in the end-times al-right.

if roman catholics are serious about the word of God, would'nt they come out of a religion that deifies mary and makes her equal to our savior as to worship her ?

Not necessarily Murray Leslie,,,,sometimes the Lord keeps them there so they can be an example to others for what ever reason.....I have a delightful daughter in law who is a born again Christian but she still goes to the Roman Catholic church.

Wow, the Catholic Hierarchy really hasn't changed at all, they just took a break. Now it seems the break is over, time to start hunting Protestants again. I got a kick out of the first story, all this makes me as happy as a clam. Even with all this, Obama, our impending persecution (and dang it's coming fast) and world changes, threats by Nuclear powers etc. I can't be down! I am so happy! I'm finding my voice finally and I say......
 
 
 
Jesus is coming! We are being prepared for this!   

Delfi wrote:

Wow, the Catholic Hierarchy really hasn't changed at all, they just took a break. Now it seems the break is over, time to start hunting Protestants again. :)I got a kick out of the first story, all this makes me as happy as a clam. Even with all this, Obama, our impending persecution (and dang it's coming fast) and world changes, threats by Nuclear powers etc. I can't be down! :)I am so happy! I'm finding my voice finally and I say......
 
 
 
Jesus is coming! We are being prepared for this!   

I could not agree more.

hey del, that boy would put the fear of God in any sane person...