Top Catholic Archbishop: Americans ‘Increasingly Subject to a Soft Despotism’

CNS ^ | June 4, 2015 | Terence P. Jeffrey

[xzins]

The Grahams (Baptists) and the Catholics are saying these things. My Methodists are in public on the side of the tyranny.

I am a Catholic.

I am a Baptist.

I am on the side of persecuted Christians.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

And in the same breath they support the Welfare State and Open Borders. What the Catholic Church has never understood is that a huge, cradle-to-grave Welfare State with no concept of citizenship always results in despotism.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

I appreciate his comments.

However, as a Catholic, I take issue with the Church’s soft position on illegal immigration.

[onyx]

Same here, Trapped Behind Enemy Lines.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Wonderful, poignant speech.

Would have been a whole lot more helpful if delivered in September, 2012.

[NFHale]

Well...

SOME are, anyway.

And I don’t consider them “Americans”; they’re liberals.

Mutually exclusive terms.

[NFHale]

“...Would have been a whole lot more helpful if delivered in September, 2012....”

Would have been a whole lot more helpful if every Church preached it every Sunday.

But nope.

[faithhopecharity]

dictatorships or police states like we have now (and increasingly so!)... do not tend to dissipate into benign, kindly, benevolant do-good governments

ask any German, Russian, Cuban, Chinese, etc etc etc etc and etc

we are in deeeeeep doooooooo doooooooo, and sinking fast

[NYer]

Catholic ping!

[xzins]

I would prefer they base their support for illegal aliens in terms of biblical theology. That way I’d know they had not thoroughly thought through the biblical support for aliens. At least it would be a doctrinal difference. However, almost always it’s presented in political terms, and there is no rational political justification.

The bible says we are to be humane to aliens. It says to remember God’s people have often been strangers and pilgrims. All that is true.

That does not, however, mean a humane nation cannot humanely send them back to their home nation. My exception would be legitimate refugees in fear of death on return to their home country.....Syrian and Iraqi CHRISTIANS, for example.

[Alex Murphy]

I appreciate his comments. However, as a Catholic, I take issue with the Church’s soft position on illegal immigration.

As a non-Catholic, I take issue with his complaints about "soft despotism" while the USCCB continues to advocate for policies that actively encourage it.

[eekitsagreek]

Still waiting to hear from “black Christians” about this. Oh, that’s right...they are too busy going for their 30 pieces of silver from the democrats.

[xzins]

The catholics have had a number of lawsuits go forward based on religious intolerance on the part of the government. I cannot recall any from the reformed.

[VRW Conspirator]

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, ...American Christians “are being increasingly subject to a soft despotism.”

Shout it, write it, sing it, cite it! I hope the good Archbishop understands that it will take men on his station getting in front and in center, subjecting themselves to "hard despotism", for this message to ring true. The Christian leaders must stand up and boldly declare their beliefs.

[onyx]

You’re right.
God bless you, dearest xzins.

[Dqban22]

Unfortunately, Pope Francis is promoting a hard despotism anti-Christian government Cuban style. Then archbishop Bergoglio wrote after his visit to Cuba with Pope John Paul II in 1998 that the Cuban Stalinist regime “was the closest to the Catholic social doctrine.” Once as Pope, Francis, reinforced his admiration for el Che and the Castro tyrants by concocting with president Obama an accord to keep a float and to finance the regime using taxpayers’ money. Soon after his election, Pope Francis blessed the Marxist liberation theology that was proscribed by S.S. John Paul II and Benedict XVI for the perversion of the Gospel by using the main tenets of the Marxist ideology, an action that is in blatant disregard of the long established Magisterium of the Church condemning socialism as intrinsically evil from late 19th century by Leo XIII to the papacy of Benedict XVI

[DesertRhino]

“are being increasingly subject to a soft despotism.””

In other words, they wont walk you to the edge of a pit and shoot you in the neck. They are more refined today. They will cause you to lose your job, your livelihood, your happiness, etc. They will sue you, bankrupt you, expose sealed court records, attack your pizza restaurant or floral shop, etc.

Then you are, in poverty, with family and friends disgusted by you, having lost your worldly means of coping. No, they don’t use a 32 anymore.
Now its a soft tyranny. Doesn’t it feel soft?

[xzins]

I am, however, fascinated that this truthful message by a Catholic Bishop is being framed in terms of a person’s rejection of the Catholic Church.

The problem inevitably is some bugaboo in the minds of people, some chew toy that they just can’t stop gnawing long enough to look at what the message actually is. Our ‘troll’ last night had a similar problem in a different area. He simply couldn’t see past his chew toy...a candidate he wanted to insure was rejected.

The truth here that is said extremely well by this bishop is that we are being subjected to persecution by our government when we allow our faith to invade our lives outside the walls of our church building.

That truth has nothing to do with being Catholic.

But rather than admit the truth of the message, the polarized must insure that the chew toy gets attacked.

[xzins]

Excellent post, DesertRhino.

Soft? It makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’m certain that a Scotus ruling in favor of homosexual, unnatural marriage will open the floodgates of legal persecution with penalties included. That is no longer ‘soft’. It isn’t death, but imprisonment and impoverishment are hard punishments.