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{"id":7294,"date":"2016-11-12T12:13:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T16:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?p=7294"},"modified":"2016-11-12T10:40:34","modified_gmt":"2016-11-12T14:40:34","slug":"comrade-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/11\/comrade-francis.html","title":{"rendered":"Comrade Francis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This ought to be good<\/a>. \u00a0So reports are trickling in that Pope Francis has, for the second time at least, given a subtle nod and thumbs up, not to Capitalism or Capitalists \u2013 heaven forbid \u2013 but to that good old human tradition known as Communism. \u00a0At least he\u2019s given a high five to Communists, which seems to be how he frames the complements. \u00a0When I was in my graduate days, I remember a fellow student who had lived and studied in S. America describing liberation theology to me. \u00a0He said that the best way to understand liberation theology is to believe that Adam and Eve may have sinned because of Satan, but Satan sinned because he was a Capitalist. \u00a0By and large, the rage and focus is so channeled that the Western Democracies and Capitalist economies are seen as the singular cause of evil and suffering in the world, with the foibles and failings of all other human traditions and cultures being seen as the result of the West\u2019s interference and exploitation.<\/p>\n

I always\u00a0imagined there was\u00a0some dramatic license on his part, and yet the more I watch and listen to Pope Francis, the more that appraisal keeps coming back and buzzing around my mind. \u00a0It wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he was a tried and true example of such a caricature. \u00a0It isn\u2019t as if popes in history weren\u2019t guilty of jumping on the latest temporal bandwagon because it happened to tickle the papal fancy. \u00a0So we\u2019ll see. \u00a0 No pope is perfect, and some less so than others. \u00a0I\u2019m sure Francis Fans will see no problem in this and, if need be, will adorn their domiciles with hammers and sickles and sing the Hymn of the Russian Federation to show how much better they are than us simple folks who are scratching our heads about this. \u00a0It\u2019s what Catholics do, all too often.<\/p>\n

Could it be because he\u2019s trying to soften resistance in China, and therefore trying to find something positive to say about a nation that continues to oppress religious minorities with abandon? \u00a0Maybe.\u00a0Anything is possible. \u00a0And if he was less harsh and negative with his appraisal\u00a0 of the Capitalist West, or a little less conciliatory with any and every sin that tacks left of center, I\u2019d be more willing to accept that spin on things. \u00a0As it is, the whole of his papal discourse\u00a0makes me think more of that old description of liberation theology than anything else.<\/p>\n

FWIW, if the people who attend my wife\u2019s Orthodox Church have taught me anything, Christians who suffered and died under Communist rule (or continue to do so in China), have all the warm affection for Communism that Jews have for Nazis. \u00a0That Francis continues to reserve fire and brimstone for the Capitalist West (and the mafia), while reaching out an olive branch to all of those pesky problems left of center including, but not limited to, Communism, will no doubt give them something to talk about. \u00a0If that\u2019s hard to imagine, consider the reaction from the Jewish Community if a Pope said \u2018sure fascism\u00a0had\u00a0its problems, but there were some good fascists, too.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"