Blog

by Bill Seng

“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” ~1 John 2:18

Do not be dismayed, those of you who might be offended that I am referring to Pope Francis as the antichrist. I am merely using a profound Scripture to catch your attention and point out that there are many antichrists in the world today. Can the pope be included in this rapidly growing bunch? I am going to cut him some slack today, but who knows? The ones I am referring to are the media elite and their incredible ability to sell false images on a global level. I do not know if I believe this or not, but it is possible that he has become a victim of worldwide media.

I love the movie Citizen Kane. I’ve only seen it once, but it tells the story of a boy with innocent roots who grew up to be the head of a mass media empire. It is based on the real life person of William Randolf Hearst who manipulated the news presented in his newspaper in such a way that led the United States into war with Spain. If you have ever heard the quote, “You provide the pictures and I’ll provide the war,” well, it’s actually a misquote from Hearst who said, “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war,” but you get the drift. It is dishonest journalism that is intended to influence public opinion. It is officially called yellow journalism, but we know it more popularly as propaganda.

How does this relate to the pope? The pope is a man of the world. He lives in Vatican City but needs to be informed of the entire world’s events. What might the best way be for him to know just enough about each major country of the world? If you said through popular media, I think you are on to something.

Recently, Pope Francis visited the United States and floored American Conservatives (Roman Catholic or non-Roman Catholic) with outrageously liberal statements. He is remarkably obsessed with global climate change and, for some reason, desperately wants us to legalize illegal immigration. I mean, come on; the only thing wrong with it is that it is illegal, right? I will leave these matters for another day, but it is also highly disturbing that he almost totally (if not totally) overlooked the slaughter, dismemberment, and selling of millions of unborn babies at the hands of Planned Parenthood. The sanctity of life has been one of the most revered of Roman Catholic doctrines for the past 100 years. Why is it that Pope Francis is adopting such a leftist agenda?

Well, he already told us he is not a liberal Marxist, so that conclusion is out of the question, I guess. Maybe he has bought into the narrative of mainstream media. Think about it. You would think, by the way the news is presented in America that the majority of the country is in support of gay marriage. The reality is that very few Americans support it (as evidenced by the 40 of 50 states that voted against its legalization). One might think that Americans love and adore illegal immigrants. The reality is that most Americans know that they have created a serious problem in our country. With the way President Obama speaks, you would think that every American is wealthy, healthy, and happy. He has reduced unemployment, destroyed the racial divide, and made America the most beloved nation on the face of the planet in all of history. Yeah, right.

If the pope bases his perception of America off of what the media says, he would buy into all of these lies. What is more, he would think that abortion is something that most women see as being a limitation on their right to live life the way they want. At the risk of being unpopular, he better not say much about that one. According to what the pope has said over the past week, it is clear who he thinks are good, bad, and holy. My final strand of faith in the idea that Pope Francis is just a naïve foreigner rests on the possibility that he has been duped by the press.

The most frightening part about all of this is that the United States has one of the last remaining free press systems in the world! Most, if not all, other countries have state run media. This means that the media is nothing more than a political tool to keep people ill informed and in support of their leaders. Pope Francis seemed like he really wanted to correct the course of the United States, but has been light handed against some of the more brutal dictatorships of the world. If my theory is correct, that means he accepts all news at face value and would be easily fooled by the Sith lords who govern the media.

This does not excuse any of his more liberal stances, though. He is the pope. He is supposed to stand upon his church’s traditional foundations, as well as the Word of God. He should not become light handed against major infringements on human rights. Global climate change should not be as much of a concern to him as the slaughter of innocent human lives. In the next few weeks, let’s tackle some of these issues and debunk some of the myths that the pope has bought into.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.