Borders and Lines in the Sand

I have written over and over how important it is to not let snark take over the way we communicate as writers and/or speakers and right at this moment I am having remember that and not let my snark take over. I am the kind of person that defends those who I love. I will defend them to the death without even blinking an eye. It’s how I roll.

I have been distracted during the Pope’s visit to Mexico because my newest grandbaby was born last Friday. (YEY!) So when I was catching up today I saw that Papa had said something about Trump on the plane and then Trump responded. I had to take deep breaths and not cuss online (which I am really trying to stop doing so much.. no promises that this post won’t have cuss words, I said that I am trying). I also had to not go and see what Trump said because I already knew if I heard it and he was calling my Pope disgraceful, I would have to take my earrings off.

Then came the evening news….. can’t hide from it anymore.

This is what Pope Francis was asked and his response:

Phil Pullella, Reuters: Today, you spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigration. On the other side of the border, there is a very tough electoral battle. One of the candidates for the White House, Republican Donald Trump, in an interview recently said that you are a political man and he even said that you are a pawn, an instrument of the Mexican government for migration politics. Trump said that if he’s elected, he wants to build 2,500 kilometers of wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, separating families, etcetera. I would like to ask you, what do you think of these accusations against you and if a North American Catholic can vote for a person like this?
 
Pope Francis: Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as ‘animal politicus.’ At least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. And then, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.

You can read the rest of the transcript here….

I have seen the Pope’s answer chopped up with added commentary, which makes people say that they are “confused” by his answer and he isn’t “clear”. Bla Bla Bla Listen, he is very clear to me. He is saying that building walls and not building bridges is not Christian. It’s simple. Blocking people out rather than helping them is not charitable, it is selfish. He isn’t saying we need to have open borders and he isn’t saying that Trump is not a Christian, in fact he said until we “see if he said things in that way” he will give him the benefit of the doubt. Which is a lot more than I can say people give the Holy Father!

Then Trump responded. This is where I have to get my snark in control because I do not like Trump. At all. I have asked my husband for a Trump pinata for my birthday. I don’t like the man. I think that he is the walking, living, breathing example of a rich spoiled bitch baby. He loves to throw insults but can’t take any criticism at all from anyone about anything.  He questions the Christianity of Cruz day in and day out in South Carolina and then says that anyone questioning his is a disgrace. He’s a brat. End of story.

Trump is like a lot of Americans, he is confused by what the Holy Father said because Catholic theology is deep. Very deep and it’s full of both/and’s rather than either/or’s. We like either/or’s because then we know where the line is and which side of it we are on and we can declare whichever side we are on as the “good side” and everyone on the other side as the bad guys, the enemies, the ones that we need to defeat. That is why we love the story of the Alamo where the line was literally drawn in the sand and people choose which side they would fight on.

Jesus doesn’t draw lines in the sand other than to say that He is God and we are not. He is God, He is Savior and we are sinners who need to see our sins and be saved. Trump seems to think that he’s campaigning to be a god. And people seem to think that they need him to be their savior. If not him, then one of the other candidates. We have made the race to be POTUS into a race to who can be god-like.

When we are confused by Pope Francis, most of the time it is because he shatters this either/or love affair. But not because he set out to shatter it, but because he follows Jesus who was the first one to shatter it. Read the Gospels, it drove people bonkers back then too. They were confused, they grumbled and they walked away from Him.

It is possible to secure our borders and have compassion for the suffering of those who want to come here to make a better life for themselves and their families. Not only is it possible but as Christians, it is what we are supposed to do. Pope Francis is only reiterating that.

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