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Obama: Christians need to act more like Pope Francis

gsa

gsa

Well-Known Member
Saint Frankenstein said:
Oh, so another in the parade of opportunistic liars and political whores using the image of a religious figure to sell their agendas which they themselves don't believe in. Typical.
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Are you talking about President Obama, or Pope Francis? ;)

I would have more sympathy for this position if the pope was not constantly inviting politicians to use his statements in this way. Nevertheless, I wish that President Obama and other American politicians would refrain from doing this. It does nothing to advance secularism, which is a fundamental value in this nation.
 
metis

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
Obama is a Christian and was speaking to other Christians, which I would suggest is his right. I honestly cannot figure out why encouraging moral behavior in the form of compassion and justice would somehow be wrong?
 
Saint Frankenstein

Saint Frankenstein

Here for the ride
Premium Member
gsa said:
Are you talking about President Obama, or Pope Francis? ;)

I would have more sympathy for this position if the pope was not constantly inviting politicians to use his statements in this way. Nevertheless, I wish that President Obama and other American politicians would refrain from doing this. It does nothing to advance secularism, which is a fundamental value in this nation.
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I'm not really interested in your opinions on this. Surprise, surprise.
 
YmirGF

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
DavidMcCann said:
So here's a quote on homosexuals from the Pope
Guy in a funny hat said:
If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?
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So who's the bigot, you or Francis? And how did homosexuality get into the original question?
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You do realize that the statement is conditional, right? In theory, based on the statement, this nod to homosexuals is only if they are both searching for the Lord and have good will. Rather than accepting diversity, it sounds more like he is side-stepping things by putting conditions on what he is saying.


Just as an aside, what programs has Pope Francis put in place that help the poor? I must have missed the news.
 
Saint Frankenstein

Saint Frankenstein

Here for the ride
Premium Member
A

Awoon

Well-Known Member
Vouthon said:
Yes, I know, another politician is using the pope for political means but at least they are good ones this time:

Obama: Christians need to act more like Pope Francis | Crux

Obama: Christians need to act more like Pope Francis

WASHINGTON — When it comes to fighting poverty, President Barack Obama wants American Christians to act a lot more like Pope Francis.

Obama called Francis “transformative,” saying the pope’s “insistence” that fighting poverty be at the heart of the Christian life has made him a global icon.

“That emphasis is why he’s had such incredible appeal, including to young people all around the world, and I hope it’s a message everyone receives when he comes to visit,” Obama said Tuesday, referring to the pope’s September visit to the United States.

During that trip, Francis will address a joint session of Congress and give a talk on the environment at the United Nations. Obama met with Francis at the Vatican in 2014, but this will be the Argentine pontiff’s first visit to the United States.

“When I think about my own Christian faith and my obligations,” Obama said, “it’s important for me to think what I can do myself, like individually mentor young people or make charitable donations.”

But he said it’s also important for Christian communities “to have a voice in the larger debate.”

The politics of Christianity, Obama said, have tended to focus around a narrow set of issues, such as abortion. He said he hopes that changes in time for the 2016 election.

“It would be powerful for our faith based organizations to speak out on this in a more forceful fashion,” he said.

Obama was speaking at an anti-poverty summit of Evangelical and Catholic leaders at Georgetown University.​
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Why doesn't The Pope act like Jesus and raise the dead, heal the sick and get up on a cross at Easter?
 
metis

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
ShivaFan

ShivaFan

Satyameva Jayate
Premium Member
Not everyone has the resources to act on behalf Pope Francis. Many have to save to pay for their children's expensive education, expensive Obamacare, pay excessive taxes, every minute their retirement funds threatened by unaccontable government largese and the government class own retirements taking front and center over hard working taxpayers, bills, fees, fines, on and on, ever put in more poverty to the benefit and power of "King George".

The Pope is a great person, many Christians appreciate his work for charity. For those who are just average people, their very ability to give to the charity of their choice is threatened by King George who only wants them to give to the central government to manage charity.

Christians have a big target on their back by King George. Christians need to be more like Paul Revere and not the Pope for all his goodness, if they want to survive the persecution that is coming.

And not just for Christians.

Christians need to get guns. Imho.

God bless you all. And Obama? He needs to go to live in a monastery. And leave the rest alone. And tell his wife to shutup.

The Pope is a nice guy. I like him.
 
Thana

Thana

Lady
Vouthon said:
Well it is the largest and oldest Christian denomination...:rolleyes:
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Largest at 1.2 billion yes, but that doesn't mean it's okay to just dismiss 1.1 billion Protestants and Orthodox and just generalize Christianity.
And oldest? Yeah no.. let's not get into that.
 
Vouthon

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Premium Member
Thana said:
Largest at 1.2 billion yes, but that doesn't mean it's okay to just dismiss 1.1 billion Protestants and Orthodox and just .
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Of course not, I don't think that was his intention either. The pope is beyond doubt the most visible and powerful Christian leader, which is I think his rationale as opposed to dismissing everyone else.

I would also suggest that more personal motives might underlie it:

Obama and the Catholic Church: How Pope Francis has changed the conversation | Christian News on Christian Today

Obama attended a Catholic school, while living in Indonesia for a short period during his childhood. More significantly, the President has spoken of the influence of his time spent working as a community organiser in Chicago in the 1980s on his spiritual and social views. His job as director of the Developing Communities Project was to take initiatives that were working well in Catholic communities and introduce them in poor black Protestant communities. He was funded through the Campaign for Human Development, the social justice arm of the Catholic Church and his office was in Holy Rosary Church, where he took smoking breaks with the priest, according to an article in the New York Times.​

He has a history vis-a-vis the social justice tradition within the Catholic Church.
 
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YmirGF

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
metis said:
Maybe check these out:

Report: Pope Francis "Secretly" Sneaks Out of the Vatican at Night…to Care For Poor People - Daniel Doherty

Serving the Poor, Pope Francis-Style - The Atlantic

Pope ramps up Vatican charity office to be closer to the poor and sick - NY Daily News

‘Pope Francis’ plea for gov’t to help poor, stop corruption a timely wake-up call’ | Inquirer News

Pope Francis urges Catholic priests to help poor, shun careerism | TVC NEWS

And there's plenty more.
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I've heard about all that, Metis, but I don't see any massive campaign to help the poor. It's not that the Vatican does not have immense wealth at its disposal to create continent-wide programs.
 
Thana

Thana

Lady
Vouthon said:
Of course not, I don't think that was his intention either. The pope is beyond doubt the most visible and powerful Christian leader, which is I think his rationale as opposed to dismissing everyone else.

I would also suggest that more personal motives might underlie it:

Obama and the Catholic Church: How Pope Francis has changed the conversation | Christian News on Christian Today

Obama attended a Catholic school, while living in Indonesia for a short period during his childhood. More significantly, the President has spoken of the influence of his time spent working as a community organiser in Chicago in the 1980s on his spiritual and social views. His job as director of the Developing Communities Project was to take initiatives that were working well in Catholic communities and introduce them in poor black Protestant communities. He was funded through the Campaign for Human Development, the social justice arm of the Catholic Church and his office was in Holy Rosary Church, where he took smoking breaks with the priest, according to an article in the New York Times.​

He has a history vis-a-vis the social justice tradition within the Catholic Church.
Click to expand...

The Pope is not a Christian leader, That's my point. He's a Catholic leader of the Catholic Church for, you guessed it, Catholics.
 
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