If those Evangicals could read they'd be very upset.

PSALM 140

1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 2 Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set traps for me. Selah

6 I said to the Lord: “You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. 7 O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have [a]covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah

9 “As for the head of those who surround me, Let the evil of their lips cover them; 10 Let burning coals fall upon them; Let them be cast into the fire, Into deep pits, that they rise not up again. 11 Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

12 I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor. 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence

Sounds like the opposite might be true, and it's OK to pray for the death of evil men.

Religion can be fine. It is and always has been the idiots who ruin shit, just like with everything. I have churches around me that help the community, are open to all sorts of people. So the leader of one of the largest churches finally doing what he can to denounce nonsense is a step in the right direction for sure.

Unfortunately, the idiots will most certainly be heard.

To a degree. When he visits the States, that shit gets wall to wall coverage. It's pathetic.

The only good thing they ever did

Sad-funny part is that it was in the name of "bringing the armageddon" alongside money.

There was decades of propoganda calling all forms of self-defense "just religious extremism" and we find out it was mostly projection.

That only takes us to 1991.

Reagan bombed Libya, and IIUC, Carter tried a rescue mission in Iran.

God supports atrocities as long as they're perpetrated by followers, rather than against them.

The more entrenched conservative US christians would undoubtedly dismiss the pope's message, but those who are less affiliated might give it some thought.

I think he knows being from the US himself...

There’s an evolving strain of US Catholicism, exemplified by weirdos like JD Vance, who like the aesthetic of Catholicism (especially the Deus Vult thing) without really caring about any of the actual Catholic beliefs. It’s more like they have a childish misunderstanding of Catholicism as just being a more serious Christian. Which is not uncommon a misunderstanding in the south/Midwest, oddly enough - the desire for fundies to create a coalition to fight abortion in the 70’s/80’s really ended a lot of the more typical anti-Catholicism of the south.

Similar to the “American Orthodox,” which is the same idea with more of a Russian flavor.

American Protestantism was a huge mistake

He probably knows better than to shake hands with Vance, curse or not.

The Israelites were YAHWEH’s special people, so when they are oppressed it’s bad, but they are obligated to genocide anyone that stands in their way. Even babies and animals.

This should sound familiar even you have never read a line of a Bible or Torah.

No no no. That was the Old Testament which doesn't count anymore.

The New Testament is the one that we care about (except we've we don't)

Or God simply doesn't exist and we as a species need to deal with our own problems

Evidence based religion 😂. Good one.

Maybe, but I think sociopaths have a real "ok, well fuck you, too, then. I'll do/get it myself!" mentality when it comes to God.

The leaders don't care but a lot of the people who voted for them allegedly do.

Dunno, Hegseth mentions a lot of God in his speeches about this war

These guys may not care about God, but they sure do invoke him a lot. Hegseth and other commanders are catching a LOT of complaints from officers and troops about the constant barrage of religious rhetoric coming from the top. And Israel and Iran are doing everything they're doing in the name of the same God as us.

So it's good that Pope Leo is speaking out directly against those hypocrites. I don't believe in any of that hogwash, but Pope Leo has a lot more credibility as a man of God than any of those other psychopaths.

I think the Pope was responding to this:

Pete Hegseth prays for violence ‘against those who deserve no mercy’ while hosting first Christian service

There is a theological debate happening for the soul of the country happening, and there has been for centuries. You can not want that to be true, but I find the more effective solution is to recognize that it's there and try to empower the good ones to go in and have the conversations I most certainly am not going to have. Let them go argue about it on my behalf. Challenge laws using that strategy. We need the religions that have sway here to be good, friendly, just religions because they have real sway - the catholic schism has not been this pronounced in modern memory and it's good the Vatican is issuing wholehearted decrees about very specific things and people. This comment was about Pete Hegseth, by the way, telling people he prayed to God for the violent destruction of his enemies. Yeah go Mr. Pope, tear that up. I'm here for it.

Blasphor-me, blasphor-you, blasphor-everyone in the room.

Kind of yeah, one of the reasons for the pope existing. That's why they keep doing the whole voting thing

It does, and will continue to do so.

The bishops responsible for ejecting the Pope are likely aware of this, and is by in large why Leo was chosen. The church really doesn't get to set the cultural trend as much as nudge it in a particular direction. It's the bumpers in a bowling alley, not the ball.

People are going to find something they don't like,then seek justification for not liking it.

Two dudes fuckin, ew! I would never do that that's so gross. Oh look, here's this passage in this book I like saying that's actually evil! Hell yeah!

When it looks like 'Christians' cherry pick passages to support whatever nonsense they're on about, that's because they are, always have done so and always will. Because the nonsense was always more important to them than the Bible. It just so happens that the Bible says a lot of shit that's very easy to take out of context to support whatever nonsense you want.

The Pope is reading the room, and providing justification. Or rather, the Cardinals elected a Pope that aligns with the current climate and he's just saying whatever God tells him to comes to mind. He might swing a few people but if he pushes too hard what he'll just alienate some Catholics and they might break off and do their own thing, again.

To keep it short: yes. That's the point of a pope and a church.

Remember the ban on ranged weaponry?

He needs to get back to important things like determining what genital conformation people have!

Trying to stop wars is so, like, irrelevant to the worship of the Prince of Peace.

https://youtu.be/tVD44sE2KGE

What are you talking about?

... Leo isn't fictional.

Yeah, it only takes like six chapters in that book to get to what is very nearly the most complete genocide possible. Has the Pope read his own holy book?