Pope says those who invest in or manufacture weapons are hypocrites

**maximus83** · 06-21-15, 23:38

http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/...ristian-406704

The incoherence of this pope is jaw-dropping. In one and the same address, he argues that you can't call yourself a Christian if you manufacture weapons or invest in them. And then turns around and asks why the Allied powers didn't bomb the railway lines leading to death camps during WWII.

For the record: I am a devout Christian and certainly as pro-life as the pope is. And yet, with a concept of right-to-life, I see the natural corollary of a right to self-defense and with that, a concept of a just war. If there's such a thing as legitimate self-defense and just war, it would seem legitimate to build, invest in, and sell, the MEANS of self-defense and just war, namely weapons. Provided it is done ethically and humanely, I see no contradiction whatsoever in the concept of a Christian who is a weapons maker, seller, or investor. I'm pretty sure we have some in this forum.

**T2C** · 06-21-15, 23:43

I would not take it personally. The Pope is the head of one of the largest religious organizations in the world and he has very strong religious views. Of course he would oppose anyone who owned a company that produced weapons that could be used for war. I also believe he would pray for them and their families.

**SteyrAUG** · 06-21-15, 23:45

If he's really worried about the death camps he should really look into Pope Pius XII and the involvement of the Catholic Church in Odessa and the assistance to other nazi war criminals.

Thankfully I don't really care what the Pope thinks about anything. He could be an ardent anti communist, advocating scientific reform in the church and preaching self determination and I still wouldn't care.

**Sensei** · 06-22-15, 00:24

Originally Posted by T2C

I would not take it personally. The Pope is the head of one of the largest religious organizations in the world and he has very strong religious views. Of course he would oppose anyone who owned a company that produced weapons that could be used for war. I also believe he would pray for them and their families.

For a man with such strong religious views, he certainly does not seem to express them very much. Instead, he is far more concerned with material things such as global social justice, climate change, and now gun control. At a time when Christians are being burned to death or beheaded across the ME, this clown sees climate change as the biggest threat to our spiritual wellbeing.

**FromMyColdDeadHand** · 06-22-15, 00:31

There were Catholic Martyrs in WWII against the Nazis including the heroic Max Kolbe, but saving Jews from concentration camps isn't a strong suit for the Vatican.

I swear, it's like he doesn't understand evil.

**ggammell** · 06-22-15, 00:50

As soon as one thread about the Pope/Catholicism gets closed, another starts....

**SkiDevil** · 06-22-15, 00:55

The Pope should concern himself with his Priests abusing children and the Church covering it up.

Link:http://www.economist.com/news/intern...ooming-shadows

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refere...ses/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/c...h-child-abuse/

**MountainRaven** · 06-22-15, 01:04

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism includes not buying/selling/dealing in weapons.

But I suppose that the Buddha has been dead for 2500 years, so it's not exactly news.

Originally Posted by Sensei

For a man with such strong religious views, he certainly does not seem to express them very much. Instead, he is far more concerned with material things such as global social justice, climate change, and now gun control. At a time when Christians are being burned to death or beheaded across the ME, this clown sees climate change as the biggest threat to our spiritual wellbeing.

What good are religious views if they don't offer a practical application? It's not like the Pope is making these things up from whole cloth, here.

**Moose-Knuckle** · 06-22-15, 01:12

So I need to give away everything my wife and I sweat and toil for to those that choose not to work for a living, "climate change" aka "global warming" is the single greatest threat to mankind, and if you invest in firearms you cannot enter the gates of heaven?

Meh, what's not to like about this guy? He replaced Pope Benedict XVI (aka Joseph Ratzinger), perform a Google image search with that name and the worlds "Hitler Youth".