See my post # 9. Remember: Do not trust CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN to give an honest report on anything Christian and especially any interview with Pope Francis.
good point
AMEN! I've seen the secular media misrepresent the reports from all manner of religious groups.
Nice try to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. This Pope is going to be a liberation theology liberal disaster. I smelled it from the beginning and every day it’s being proved more true.
Not when it comes to religion or God. The MSM always report that faithfully.
You’re correct, of course, but it’s always baffled me why the reporting is always so side ways since most of them show up on Good Friday with a smoky thumb print on their fore head. They give cafeteria Catholics a bad rap.
I’m not Catholic but do recognize Catholics as my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Having read the article in context I do agree with you that this is not the Pope endorsing homosexuality or abortion.
However, I do think there is a legitimate criticism of his recent speeches and interviews. He seems very comfortable with proclaiming forgiveness, which is good, but not giving equal time to the requirement of repentance. In essence he is highlighting the part of Jesus that everyone likes...that he forgives our sin and remembers it no more, that he loves all of us and accepts us as we are, and THANK GOD that he does and that the Pope speaks of this. But we do a disservice when we don’t also remind people that there is a directive to change, to repent or literally, to turn and go the other direction. The provision of grace is not an excuse to wallow in our sin.
Again, I am not saying that the Pope is saying this, but I do feel that he is omitting saying this which is leading some to infer that Christianity and homosexuality are compatible. Note, he said he was asked if he approves of homosexuality, not homosexuals. The answer to “do you approve of homosexuality” must always be specifically, directly and unequivocally no. The answer he gives is the correct answer to “do you approve of a homosexual person”, but not homosexuality. Likewise, God loves atheists, but unless they repent of their rebellion against God, how can their be salvation. We can not compromise here as Christians, from the Pope to the low churchman like me. Acts 17:30 tells us that “he commands all men everywhere to repent”.
The Pope is not alone in this omission either. Ask most people what they know about the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, and they will tell you “ye without sin, cast the first stone”. We like that part...specifically I like that part. But those same people forget that Jesus turned to the woman then, after the forgiveness and grace were bestowed, and told her that she was to “go and sin no more”. Jesus didn’t approve of her sin, he accepted her and forgave it, but he also expected her to change as a result. I don’t think the Pope was meaning to excuse homosexuality or atheism...but he needs to be much clearer in drawing the distinction that while we should go overboard in loving these people in our dealings with them, we must never fool ourselves or allow them to be deceived about our position on the sin.
Good post. We would be wise to take this report with a grain of salt.
Absolutely. For those who’re not yet attuned: the MSM is doing a classic “divide and conquer” attempt, in that it’s bending over backwards to portray Pope Francis as “good, nice, warm, low-key, poor-in-spirit, sensitive, understanding, reasonable [read: LIBERAL] breath of fresh air”, as opposed to that “mean, vicious, stodgy, rule-bound, living-high-off-the-hog, liberal-bashing meanie [read: CONSERVATIVE] whom he replaced”.
They’re hoping that the big lie, when repeated enough (and with an eager MSM to twist, edit, misquote, strategically place quotation marks to blend Pope Francis’s words with those of a CNN editor, etc.), and when combined with some carelessness in Pope Francis’s casual way of answering interviews, will become so entrenched in everyone’s mind that NO ONE—not even fair-minded people—will be able to read/hear Pope Francis without becoming wary either of Pope Francis or of Pope Benedict XVI.
Can we say “fait accompli”? It’d really be best if conservatives didn’t fall for this, hook, line and sinker.
So you just want to bury your head in the sand and pretend he never said any of the stuff that the MSM is reporting?
If there is some context that you know of that the rest of us are missing, please, enlighten us.
When I have read the articles following the surprising headlines, I have mostly found that his words were twisted to mean what the “journalist” wanted them to mean. I haven’t read this one yet, because I doubt it’s much different from the last few I’ve read.
I just hope the Pope continues to believe in God and not in his press coverage.
I agree, the press often has been caught cherry picking what this particular Pope says to find their liberal agenda.
It is disturbing though that so many FReepers fall for the liberal trap time and again as if the Press is going to be anymore ‘fair’ with the Pope than they are with republicans.