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Again, the Pope does not have political authority over the United States or the United Nations.

And truly, even in the areas of faith and morals where he actually does have authority vis-à-vis self-identified Catholic Americans, he is mostly ignored. If that were not true, we would not have an elected President who supports live birth abortion. There were enough self-identified Catholics to reject him.

Indeed, should the day come that abortion, divorce, contraceptives, the death penalty, sexual deviancy and so on are outlawed in the U.S. based upon Catholic teaching (i.e. the majority of voters becoming seriously Catholic and living and voting their religious beliefs) - then I might be concerned that his political musings would have “teeth.”

As it is right now, his musing about what he perceives would be a perfect world - where benevolence is law, wealth is shared, no one is starving, swords are beaten into plowshares and every small nation of people is relevant - is as moot a point to me as the Muslim ayatollahs’ and imams’ dreams of an Islamic world under Sharia law.

In other words, I am not shocked when religious authorities dream of one world theocratic or quasi-theocratic governance wherein their morals and/or doctrines are, in their minds, vindicated. Nor am I shocked when they act on that dream. Indeed, world history suggests that political power and religious authority were often hand-in-glove. And it remains that way in those countries (e.g. Iraq and Iran) wherein a single religion is established by the nation and there exists no freedom of religion or freedom of speech.

But the United States is not at all like that. It is a representative democracy founded on unalienable rights granted by our Creator. Those inalienable rights are called self-evident; they are the axioms, the postulates that justify this form of governance.

The Constitution and Bill of Rights is infused with Calvinist political beliefs (e.g. the presbyterian structure of a representative democracy) and therefore without pitching the Constitution itself, the United States cannot become a theocracy.

Any lurkers who doubt that point might want to peruse The Primary Source Documents most especially the New England Primer which was “the” textbook from which children, including the framers, learned to read and write.

And to disturb those lurkers whose hopes are to pitch the Constitution in favor of some form of Marxism, communism, socialism or theocracy I aver here that the Second Amendment is designed as a reset button for the Constitution. Their dreams cannot come to fruition without a change in the very hearts and minds of the American people.

Or to put it another way, the greatest threat to the United States is not a politically powerless, mostly ignored, religious authority musing over a one world theocracy. The greatest threats are spiritual in nature.

The first threat is a ‘falling away’ of Christians such as in England wherein atheism has become the established “religion” by default. These people are “primed” to be convinced by a demonic force wielding power by signs. They are a blank slate.

The second is the demonic force itself, as prophesied for the end-of-days – where an anti-God, anti-Christ power indeed rises up to form, successfully, a one world theocratic governance based on a great display of signs and wonders.

If it happened, the first would mark the end of the United States as it was formed. And the second would herald the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ironically the one world theocracy resembling the one the Pope is dreaming about.

So, no, I am not troubled at all by the Pope’s political musings. I do however play close attention to his beliefs - faith and doctrine – as I do with other religious authorities, e.g. Islamic, Mormon, Eastern mystic, Judaic, other Christian.

The hallmark of the one I am watching for is – perhaps subtly – that he denies Christ and declares himself to be a “god.” He may have an aura of goodness about him, but he will deny Who Christ “is” – and he will perform signs that are convincing to many. When I see such a person, I will mark the calendar because Christ will be coming again, very soon.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Pope Benedict does not match that prophecy. He has not denied Christ. He does not oppose God. He has not called himself God. He has not performed signs and wonders that have people tearing down the doors of local Catholic churches, wanting to join up. He does not have the masses of people taking him seriously, much less believing him.

So no, his political musings are irrelevant to me.

Maranatha, Jesus!!!