For the first time in U.S. history, the leader of a major religion was invited to speak before a joint session of Congress. (No. Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t count.) Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals--along with the national news media--are all praising the pontiff’s congressional appearance.
But wait just a doggone minute! How is the pope’s speech before Congress NOT a violation of the separation of church and state? Everything he talked about was both political and religious based. His left-wing theology permeated what can only be regarded as a blatantly political sermon. Where are all of the folks who demand that Christian pastors not get involved in politics? Furthermore, why is no one threatening the Catholic Church with the loss of its 501c3 tax exempt nonprofit organization status? The Internal Revenue Code is pretty plain about pastors of 501c3 churches (of which, the Catholic Church is the largest) being forbidden from engaging in political activity during their official duties. And when Pope Francis spoke before Congress, did he appear in the attire of a private person? No! He spoke in full papal regalia--meaning, he appeared before Congress in the official capacity as a religious head.
“The Vatican is a state,” you say. In that case, the hypocrisy of Pope Francis to lecture the United States about tearing down our borders and allowing illegal aliens to pour in at will is as obvious and odious as it can possibly be. Before he lectures us about how we should accept any and all illegals into our country, he should set the example and tear down the forty-foot wall surrounding the Vatican City State.
Then there is his pet socialist (yes, Pope Francis is a longtime socialist and Marxist) talking point regarding how rotten America is because of our material success. BARF! Why is no one willing to point out to the pontiff that the Roman Catholic Church is the richest corporation in the entire world? As if he needs any reminder. No corporation is even a close second. Without a doubt, the Catholic Church is the biggest hoarder of wealth on the planet.
But not only is Pope Francis a Marxist/socialist, he is also a globalist. His remarks regarding globalism could have been written by Henry Kissinger. Who knows? Maybe they were.
The history of this pope is one of a lifetime of involvement in Marxist, globalist activities. I strongly recommend readers to take a look at this report:
“Washington’s Pope”? Who is Pope Francis?
When I watch--and listen to--Pope Francis, it reminds of Piers Morgan.
With all due respect to my British friends, when I watch--and listen to--Piers Morgan, I want to fight the War for Independence all over again. And with all due respect to my Catholic friends, when I watch--and listen to--Pope Francis, I want to fight the Reformation wars all over again.
Thankfully, not all Roman Catholics are enamored with this pope. No more than I am enamored with many of our evangelical “popes” such as Joel Osteen and John Hagee.
It constantly amazes me how so many people are so willing to live their entire lives, and predicate the principles of their lives, with ideological, sociological, and theological biases--biases that have nothing to do with truth and everything to do with the advancement of private parochial agendas. And liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, Christians and secularists are equally culpable.
When President Bill Clinton lied to the American people, liberals and Democrats looked the other way and defended him in every way possible. And when President G.W. Bush lied to the American people, conservatives and Republicans looked the other way and defended him in every way possible.
Too many Catholics defend the pope regardless of his Marxist, socialist ideals. Too many evangelicals defend their denominational leaders regardless of their Marxist, socialist ideals. Even though they claim to reject globalism, too many secular libertarians refuse to deal with the way Bernie Sanders sidesteps the perpetual exploration into global hegemony by Democrat leaders in Washington, D.C. And even though they claim to detest and oppose terrorism, too many religious conservatives refuse to deal with the way that Benjamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel are up to their eyeballs in the sponsorship of all kinds of terrorism--including giving assistance to ISIS and terrorizing the Palestinian people.
Too many people are in a “protected” class, while those sharing alternative ideologies are marked for isolation, persecution, incarceration, or annihilation.
Public schools around the country are making prayer rooms available for Muslim students to pray in during school hours. Colleges and university campuses across the country provide prayer rooms, foot baths in bathrooms, and holy days for Muslim students. And no federal judge suggests that such conduct violates the SCOTUS rulings banning prayer in public schools. No school principal or college president or dean is put in jail. No mayor or city councilman of a “sanctuary” city that openly defies federal immigration laws is thrown in jail. But a Christian clerk in a Kentucky county is sent to jail by a federal judge for refusing to sign her name on a same-sex “marriage” license.
Liberals ignore the injustices and crimes against humanity by Sunni Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, while conservatives ignore the injustices and crimes against humanity by Talmudic Jews in Israel. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson ignore black-on-black crime, while Franklin Graham ignores police abuse. Conservatives ignore Ben Carson’s biggest big-government scheme of all the presidential candidates so far: government-mandated vaccinations, while liberals ignore the crimes of the biggest criminal in the field: Hillary Clinton.
But, inviting the pope to speak before a joint session of Congress has to take the all-time prize for hypocrisy and for the most glaring double standard of the entire media and political worlds.
Our founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights) were written to protect us all from despots from both the left and the right, from both secular and religious zealots. As human beings created in the likeness of our Creator, we all have the same intrinsic, Natural rights. The purpose of government is to protect those Natural rights.
Now, all rules are off. There are no safeguards and no protections. Nothing is secure and nothing is sacred. The rule of law has been replaced with the rule of whatever one can get by with. Nothing is wrong, only politically incorrect. The Rights of Man have been replaced with the rule of government.
This isn’t America anymore.
For the first time in U.S. history, congressional leaders from both parties invited the head of a major religious institution (Pope Francis) to use the U.S. Capitol building to promote a blatantly leftist, globalist agenda IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. This one cannot be blamed on Barack Obama. He has no control of Capitol Hill. This was the collaboration of John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, and Harry Reid.
So, pardon me while I laugh the next time someone accuses the pastor of a small church on Main Street, USA of violating the separation of church and state when he delivers a message supporting the right to life of unborn babies or traditional marriage or the lawful right of self-defense.
Pastors who relate Biblical principles to our country’s political affairs have NEVER violated the “separation of church and state.” Had Colonial preachers adhered to the modern interpretation of Thomas Jefferson’s personal letter to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptists (from whence the phrase “wall of separation between church and state” has been taken--but which appears in NO official U.S. document), we would still be a Crown colony of England.
But after this week, we can all say, “Separation of church and state? What separation of church and state?”
P.S. I am once again featuring my 15-message, 7-DVD series The Israel Package. This is one of the most requested series we have ever offered. Questions addressed in this series include:
*Does Genesis 12 (“I will bless them that bless thee…”) refer to the modern State of Israel?
*Is the modern State of Israel synonymous with Biblical Israel?
*Are modern Jews “God’s chosen people”?
*Should U.S. foreign policy favor the modern State of Israel on scriptural grounds?
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The Israel Package
© Chuck Baldwin
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