Remember When Pope Francis Said Fear-Mongering Is Bad?

Remember When Pope Francis Said Fear-Mongering Is Bad? June 27, 2017

Yeah, so do I.  I thought of that as, once again, the reaction to a political bill is that millions will die and the earth will explode.

An old political trick of course.  That’s not to say I support the bill.  To be honest?  I’ve not read it.   I only have those opposed to or supportive of to listen to.  And guess what?  Those opposed to it before it came out will say it’s bad, those who pledged their support before it came out will say it is good.

Of course this whole ‘millions will die’ is something I’ve heard for years.  As I say, I became interested in politics in 1981, when the punditry said Ronald Reagan would promptly nuke the world and destroy humanity.  And that was before social media and cable news!  How could our country elect such a man?  I can’t say how happy I was that the hysterics turned out to be untrue.  That is, Reagan didn’t nuke the world and destroy humanity.

But through the years, I learned this type of rhetoric was par for the course.  The problem is, it was also BS.  It was just part of the game.  You accused your opponent of wanting to let criminals rape your daughters or throw your grandparents off a cliff, but then when it was all over you went out together for beer and pizza.

Somewhere, however, I fear that folks have forgotten  that.  I think some are beginning to believe the political BS.  That might be why Pope Francis said this about journalism that runs with ‘we’re all going to die!’ hysteria.  Fear mongering that is.  After all, if you really believe that the other side is hellbent on slaughtering millions, for some there can only be one logical course of action.  And one logical reaction.  Before we go there, we had best be sure that they not only will kill millions, but in the end, they want to.


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