This is what leadership looks like

by Pistoff 10 Replies latest social current

• 

  Pistoff

  Since the day Pope Francis told catholics to stop obsessing about abortion and gay marriage, and get to the business of helping the poor, I have been afraid for his life.

  In one statement, he pierced 2 sacred cows of catholic and evangelical thought, and he has not stopped.

  He has lectured the world on real evils, mentioning capitalism in particular as a system that has left billions in desperate poverty.

  He has now said that global warming threatens the world, particularly the poor, and is calling on the world to change it's lifestyle to save the planet.

  I can't remember ever, in my entire life, when someone in as powerful a position as the Pope, actually speaks out loud and in public the actual truth of the world's environment and calling the world to action, without regard for the consequences.

  Hard line catholics don't like him; Fox News HATES him, one pundit telling him to leave science to the scientists (of course, Fox News doesn't leave global warming to the scientists) and today this from Greg Gutfield, Fox News:

  "“The most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries. And that is what the Pope is doing,” said Gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with Catholicism. “He doesn’t want to be your grandfather’s pope, he wants to be a modern pope. All he needs is dreadlocks and a dog with a bandana and he could be on Occupy Wall Street.”

  So no discussion of the issues; just accuse of the Pope of trying to impress people, and imply that concern over global climate change and pollution is only the territory of kooks and hippies.

  What we are seeing from the Pope is real leadership; he could easily ride out his tenure, already having made astonishing statements about modern culture and social inequity.

  Instead, he is about to release an encyclical that tells the truth about the environment and what we are doing to it, and lays the blame where it belongs, a lifestyle of consumption that cannot be maintained.

  This is not a pope who is content to speak only to the faithful; he has used his position to actually talk about issues that threaten the planet.
  

  (FYI, I am not and have never been a catholic, am probably atheist, so no, not a catholic fanboy)
  
• 

  oppostate

  He's got cojones. Unlike the whiny Fox News political eunuchs with their ineffectual, head-in-the-sand stance towards climate change.
• 

  _Morpheus

  "He has lectured the world on real evils, mentioning capitalism in particular as a system that has left billions in desperate poverty."

  
  😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
• 

  FayeDunaway

  This pope is almost enough to make this good Protestant girl turn catholic!! The issue Morpheus mentions above, is more complex than that...a balance between capitalism and socialism is best...but I mostly agree.

  This guy DOES show true leadership. What does the insignificant GB have to say, what is their epic statement? Gays like tight pants? They 'show leadership' by saying follow everything we say, or else.

  as soon as he was elected, a catholic friend of mine said he feared for his life, thought the hardliners might try to have him assassinated. I think chances of this happening are getting stronger by the day. He definitely has cojones!
• 

  Heaven

  And yet, he said that people who speak out against religion should expect to be punched.

  Seems he talks out of both sides of his mouth.

  Has he said anything yet about birth control?
  
• 

  done4good

  "The most dangerous person on the planet is someone who is seeking strange new respect from their adversaries. And that is what the Pope is doing,” said Gutfeld, implying that the recognition of the existence of man-made climate change is fundamentally at odds with Catholicism. “He doesn’t want to be your grandfather’s pope, he wants to be a modern pope. All he needs is dreadlocks and a dog with a bandana and he could be on Occupy Wall Street.”

  Typical ad hominem from Fox. Unfortunately, their viewers are mostly way too uneducated to even know what an ad hominem is, let alone spot one when they see it. The plutocrats that control that network, are not so uneducated and know exactly what they are doing.

  Btw, even as an atheist I like this pope. He is a human being.
  

  d4g
  
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  I'm an agnostic who dislikes organised religion intensely. I've never been, and never will be, a Catholic.

  But I, too, quite like this Pope. He genuinely seems to care and to be doing his best.
• 

  Vidiot

  LoveUniHateExams - "I'm an agnostic who dislikes organised religion intensely. I've never been, and never will be, a Catholic. But I, too, quite like this Pope. He genuinely seems to care and to be doing his best.."

  Ditto.

  I keep asking - incredulously - how the f**k did this guy ever manage to get elected???
• 

  _Morpheus

  Funny you should ask heaven... Heres a quote from the same speech the OP is citing:

  "Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion," the encyclical says. "How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?"
• 

  JWdaughter

  Don't always agree with him but I quite like this pope.