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Pope Francis (courtesy onepeterfive.com)

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- Pope Francis has been a grave disappointment to many Christians, not just Catholics. He appears to be as steeped in “Merchant of Death” conspiracy theory as he is in Christian theology. At a traditional pre-Easter ritual, the Pope washed the feet of refuges, including a Catholic woman, Muslims, and a Hindu man. The ritual had long been limited to practising Catholic men, almost exclusively, priests. Many Catholics are unhappy with this severe break in tradition. Of greater interest . .

the Pope blames the terrorist attack in Brussels on arms manufacturers and arms traffickers.  From telesurtv.net:

“Three days ago, there was a gesture of war, of destruction, in a city of Europe by people who don’t want to live in peace,” he said. “Behind that gesture there were arms manufacturers, arms traffickers, who want blood, not peace, who want war, not brotherhood,” he said.

In a reference to the Brussels attackers, Francis condemned “those poor creatures who buy weapons in order to destroy brotherhood,” comparing them to Judas Iscariot, the apostle who the Bible says betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
This is not the first time that this Pope has inappropriately condemned weapons manufacturers.

This is not Christian theology.  It is “Merchants of Death” conspiracy theory.  This theory claims that it is arms manufacturers who push for and cause wars.  It minimizes conflicts between nations and people who have ideological and religious differences, or who are competing for limited resources such as territory, food, raw materials, or for dominance.

The theory, like many conspiracy theories, is popular among people who want someone to blame for wars, and an “easy fix” to stop wars.  Movies have been made with this theme.

The theory has long been discredited.  War is as old has humanity, as old as social insects.  It existed long before there were weapons manufacturers and has been waged by numerous states where the manufacture of weapons of war was done only by the state.  For Pope Francis to make this statement shows a profound and deep misunderstanding of the causes of war, and of human nature.

The weapons used in the Brussels attack were not manufactured by an industrial concern.  They were homemade from common household chemicals.

The change in the foot washing ritual confirms a profound misunderstanding of human nature.  To Muslims, it is a symbol of submission.  Fundamental Muslims will interpret this as a sign that the attack in Brussels was a tremendous success. It will embolden them and lead to more attacks.  After all, because of the attack, they will believe, the Pope knelt down at the feet of Muslims, in an act of submission!

When the Pope exhibits such a deep misunderstanding of human nature, of human organization, of global realities and of Christian doctrine, it is a grave cause for concern.

If Popes in the days of the Crusades had urged their followers to welcome Muslim invaders, Christian Europe would never have survived and thrived.  There would not have been a reformation, the renaissance, or the scientific revolution. Christians were conquered and enslaved in the Middle east, eastern Europe, North Africa and Spain. In those areas Muslim invaders conquered vast areas controlled by Christians.  They destroyed the Christian Byzantine empire.

Science in Muslim lands never advanced beyond that of the middle ages, in spite of Muslim access to Greek manuscripts, Indian mathematics, Chinese printing blocks, and gunpowder technology, all of which travelled through Muslim controlled lands before they reached Christendom.

Fortunately, wiser Popes in the western half of Christendom recognized the legitimacy of self defense and helped expound the doctrine of “Just War”.  It is a long standing and well developed Catholic doctrine.

The comments of Pope Francis seem to be inconsistent with  “Just War” doctrine.  How can there be a “Just War” if the manufacture of weapons is illegitimate?  How can the Pope maintain an armed guard of Swiss mercenaries to defend the Vatican?  Will the next proclamation of Pope Francis be that he is throwing wide the gates of the Vatican to refuges, and disbanding the Swiss guard?

I hope, and pray, that this will not happen.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.  Link to Gun Watch

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135 COMMENTS

  1. Happy Easter! HE is risen! And coming(back) real soon…but not for this guy. Sorry I gargled with hydrogen peroxide pope. “Weapon of crass destruction”. No nails handy…

    • I’m non-denominational Christian. But I did attend a Mass one time at a church of St. Francis where the head priest was OK with my CC’ing a firearm. (This is a minimum standard if I decide to attend a church). People need discernment as to who they listen to for spiritual guidance.

      You can only serve one master.

      He has already risen; and returning, at some point.

    • I’m sure the first thing that Jesus will do is seek you out as a consultant on who he should admit into the Kingdom of Heaven. Have you even read the bible? You’re doing exactly what he commanded you NOT to do.

      • Jesus commanded us not to follow liars and false prophets. The pope is either being hopelessly naive or being purposely deceptive. I believe the latter is both more likely and more disturbing. Discernment is a virtue best used, and wisdom protects its owner.

  2. So how many refugees can we put Vatican City down for… you know the city that is full of walls… None… OK then, step off your moral high horse.

      • Not just men with guns. Swiss Guards.

        From that country that legally requires you to take your military issue rifle home with you after your mandatory term of service. The country so saturated with firearms and explosives that they’ve literally hollowed out mountains just to find more places to stash artillery.

        …with the third lowest murder rate in Europe, behind only Lichtenstein and Iceland.

    • Yeah, the appeal escapes me. The Pope is a morally bankrupt middle man wearing an expensive costume. Just go to the source material if you want to know about the Christian faith and skip the weird foot fetish, roleplay porn.

    • It’s splintering. Not strictly dying. Although the splintering may leave it sufficiently divided to end up dead anyway, at the hands of expansionist Islam.

  3. I’m sure in a couple days there will be a press release with a “corrected” translation of what he “actually” said, like the last couple times he shot off some of his commie pope remarks.

  4. Western Europe will soon be known as Eurabia. Eastern Europe will likley consolidate and defend its self while rallying with Russia.

    • Hopefully as the Muslim animals show their true level of hatred towards civilization, maybe, just maybe, Western Europe will put down the PC kool-aid, and do what needs be done.

      The citizens are seeing the reality of allowing mostly illiterate, 80-ish IQ, violent inbreds across the border. It’s gaining on the YouTubes, stories of attacking the citizens and the media are now getting out, the fact that there are “no-go” zones is finally acknowledged. Finally some wide. mumbling backlash – though it’s not shown on US media.

      I really will miss Western Europe when/if it does fall, but at least it will serve as a warning to the rest of the civilized world. At least Putin knows to maintain a culture…

  5. Context within culture matters…

    A gesture of peace and goodwill to one culture, could be a gesture of weakness to another.

  6. Put up or shut up, Pope. Get rid of your armed guards, bulletproof Pope mobile, etc and actually trust that God will protect you (I mean, you’re supposed to be the most super Christian alive, you should out your full faith in your religion then).

    • For all the Pope’s bitching about how mean America is for wanting to erect a wall to keep out illegal invaders, he sure seems to enjoy the 39 foot high wall surrounding the Holy See.

      Pope Francis, tear down that wall!

  7. This from an organization that still believed not too long ago that the earth was the center of the universe. The same church that allowed the Jews to be slaughtered during WWII. The church that took years to acknowledge the number of pedophiles within its ranks of priests.

    The church, is once again wrong and this Pope wishes to play politics and be a socialist political leader as well as play politically correctness more than anything else.

    I no longer attend on a regular basis and here is another reason why.

    • Actually the Pope during WWII saved thousands from annihilation, so did his nuns, priests, monks, bishops and cardinals, some paid for it with their lives. The fact is as priests Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II smuggled many Jews out of Poland, Germany, Italy etc. and they weren’t the only ones doing it. The Roman Catholic Church ran the biggest “underground railroad” in history plus by not directly confronting the Nazis the church was able to maintain it’s operation throughout ALL of Europe during the war. Once the Iron Curtain descended upon Eastern Europe following WWII “the church” continued spiriting people to freedom.

    • Organizations don’t believe. Only individuals do.

      Theologically, the earth is the center of the Universe. Could be represented so astronomically as well, if you don’t mind complicating the geometry a lot. But Occam is a rule of thumb, not revealed religion.

      By the time WWII rolled around, as Stalin pointed out so eloquently, the Pope was a few divisions short of being in a position to neither allow nor disallow much of anything.

      And as for supposed pedophiles, aside from the whole silliness being exaggerated, 100-1 at least, on account of a society where shoving ones dick into something has taken over the position God used to have back when The Church actually had some sway: Most of the priests supposedly involved, were recruited when being “gay curious” was taken as a sign one should perhaps repent extra hard by joining the clergy, not as a sign one should go to San Francisco to spread aids around. Meaning, what created whatever little core of truth there may be to the “pedophile priest scandal”, was society around The Church devolving. It didn’t originate from within The Church itself.

      • The significance of the pedophile scandal is not how widespread is was or wasn’t, or how many kids were attacked. The significance is that the church leadership was aware that a number of priests were committing heinous crimes, and chose to protect those criminals and engage in a cover-up. It doesn’t matter if it was one guy or ten thousand guys, shuffling around known child predators to keep the whole thing quiet so as not to embarrass the church is inexcusable.

        • Who “knew?” Again, knowing something, is something individuals (some of us at least) do. Not “The Church”, “Church Leadership”, “women”, “Blacks”, “The Muslims”, nor “The People.” And what exactly was it those guys “knew?” Did the Pope travel Church to Church to witness first hand as the gayquisition raped little boys?

          Or, did someone, omg!!, say something lurid, oooh!, about someone else, while a supposed “leader” listened in? The Church has been around for centuries. If they want to remain relevant, they need to clean their own house. Those who don’t trust them to do so, should consider keeping their kids away from people they don’t trust. It’s called commonsense parenting skills. Petty witch hunts are there to make otherwise utterly useless politicians, trial lawyers and other assorted busibodies appear to serve some meaningful function. Cheering on a gaggle of apparatchiks, regulation riders and Junta profiteers to insert themselves ever deeper into the decision making apparatus of yet more organizations, is exactly the worst possible response to absolutely anything whatsoever.

      • “what created whatever little core of truth there may be to the “pedophile priest scandal”, was society around The Church devolving. It didn’t originate from within The Church itself.”

        Not sure whether this qualifies better as “denier” or “apologist”. Sure seems to qualify as “Wrong”. All over the world, complaints by young boys and/or their parents to the police were ignored and redirected toward the church, which responded once the noise became deafening, by transferring the pervert to another happy hunting ground without bothering to tell the new victim population what kind of pig was coming. For 1000 years. NYC cops, essentially all catholic, would not even listen to any complaint about a priest, much less a bishop or higher, while all ranks were involved. Police sending people back to their abusers, when the reported abuse is a big-time felony and violent crime, as an automatic reaction, takes CENTURIES of acclimatization, not “years”.

    • “The church that took years to acknowledge the number of pedophiles within its ranks of priests”

      Years? Without bothering with evidence, it is clear to thinking people that the church has been a haven for pedophiles/homosexuals since the celibacy requirement, now over 1000 years ago, and that every administration knew it and most had participated in it, and in hiding it. Of course they denied it, because they could.

  8. Bergoglio is a left Peronist and they are all loose screws. Argentina fell from the fifth wealthiest country in the world to its current basket case status after falling under the spell of Juan and his second wife Eva.

    The central belief of all Peronists, left and right, is the universiality of conspiracies. This blinds them to reality and hobbles any effort they make to improve the human condition. Generally Peronists find the very worst response to every situation.

    Bergoglio is not speaking ex cathedra, so his nutty personal views can be ignored.

    Wesolych Alleluja!

        • Blow up The Holy Hand Grenade, not your head!

          And do it on the count of three, being one more than two, and one less than…

          (Use *extreme* caution if the bunny rabbit has long teeth…)

  9. Wow. Just, wow. The cognitive dissonance is strong with the Pope.

    Mr. Weingarten’s analysis is spot on and I cannot add anything to it.

    • Just wars? The crusades would qualify as such. What the Muslims had conquered by the sword was once all christian lands, and they were on the path to conquer the remnants that were left of christian western Europe and Italy.

      We escaped by the skin of western civilizations teeth, (one big reason was Martel the Hammers defeat of the invasion of Muslims into western Europe).

      The pope at that time understood the danger that Islam held for what would become western civilization. Too bad the current pope disregards the lessons of history.

  10. “If Popes in the days of the Crusades had urged their followers to welcome Muslim invaders, Christian Europe would never have survived and thrived.” Isn’t the first clause a bit backwards? Yup, in the 8th century the Moors invaded Europe, but that was not the Crusades.

  11. The pope is a straight up communist asshole.

    He should tear down the Vatican walls, allow everyone who wants to move there to move. And he should disarm all his guards.

    I’m so sick of this asshole, I think I dislike him more than I dislike Obama.

  12. I am an every Sunday Mass attending Catholic. I am also a law abiding gun owner, avid shooting enthusiast, and a licensed concealed carrier. Not only is the Holy Father a dissapointment, he is truly a Holy Idiot.

  13. What a complete moron sounds like Hillary Clinton. Yeah don’t blame the individuals that are terrorists Actually committing the crimes Blame the weapons manufacturers what an ass!I would Raised Roman Catholicism went to Catholic elementary school Catholic High School In after all those years studying Catholicism Just a bunch of bullshit. Just like the Pope. They never talk about the 2000 year Crusades that killed millions of people all in the name of God Such hypocrites!

  14. The pope should read the Bible. It explains this, and it has nothing to do with guns or arms manufacturers.

  15. Religion is the cause of the majority of the word’s problems. Almost every conflict can be traced back to it….
    Mankind would be much better off without it.

    • Nope Mark, your comment shows a complete lack of awareness of history; especially of the last some odd hundred years..

      Such as the hundreds of millions in the bastions of godlessness known as Stalinist Russia, (50 millionish murdered,) Moaist China(80 to a hundred million dead), Pol-Pot and then the 50 million or so murdered unborn babies in the west.

      People in power use whatever belief system that can rally the masses (useful idiots) to follow them in committing mass murder. It was religion in the past, (except Islam) , now they use the useful idiots that folliw the cult of Communism and it’s belief in no god to continue to commit mass murder.

      So Mark, it is not religion that is the problem, it is people that blindly follow a belief that promotes power over others at the point of a sword, or a gun.

      Now adays, that would mostly be the athiests that follow communism and all of it’s spawn, ie marxism, socialism, and Islam.

      • How about the atheists who don’t? ALL religion, cults, looney tunes, are enabled by sheer ignorance and brainwashing, if we get loose from the silliness we can begin to make rational decisions. Until then, we have a problem, and that problem can best be described as “religion”.

    • Religion is the cause of the majority of the word’s problems. Almost every conflict can be traced back to it….
      Usually money and power are the root cause and some theology or ideology is used as a mask or smoke screen..

    • Mark, I’d bet I’m more anti-religion than you ever were, but here I can’t agree. Superstitious diddleycrap and scary stories helped bring order and, eventually, civilization to an era of chaos. Condemning all religions for what they are involved with *today* is fair, they should be gone. But condemning what they were before we had any idea of the truth is not fair, and ignores the contributions churches have made in the previous 5000 years, when we did not have a way to know better. And we *still* may kill ourselves because we are not ready for the responsibility of being alone.

  16. The “Merchants of Death” conspiracy theory is a leftist device.
    And the pope is steeped in “liberation theology” (ie Marxist ideals, dressed up in theological rhetoric), NOT Christian theology.

    One may choose to argue that much of J.C.’s teachings are very similar to communist ideals, and I would not disagree….

    • I would disagree. Read the Communist Manifesto and get back to me on how Jesus’ teachings (or any of the Bible) support that.

    • Abolition of private property, a heavy progressive income tax, abolition of all rights of inheritance, confiscation of all property of emigrants, all credit controlled by the State, all instruments of production owned by the State…I don’t recall Jesus espousing those values at all.

    • Oh yes, and don’t forget this one: communism makes all existing religions superfluous and supersedes them. Jesus taught the exact opposite, that we as individuals show love for, demonstrate compassion for, and should take care of one another, not the state.

      • Yep. Jesus was the one rebelling against the state, and all of the corruption and abuse of power it represented.

        If Jesus was alive today, his disciples would be carrying pistols and he would be preaching against the corruption and the godlessness of the vipers in government.

        • Jesus did not rebel against the State. When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar, He commanded them to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Look up where the phrase “go the extra mile” comes from. Jesus rebelled against corruption in religion, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Not only were they corrupting religion, but in the case of the money changers and people selling sacrificial animals outside the temple they were stealing from the people. If Jesus wanted to rebel against the state he could have avoided arrest and crucifixion. When he entered the city during Passover he did so as their savior, not as their earthly king to overthrow the Roman government and Roman occupation (which is what many or most wanted, asking Jesus to save them, crying help us –Hosanna). But that time will come. His first mission was to be the good shepherd, gathering Jews and Gentiles alike.

          As for the disciples carrying modern firearms, I agree with you.

        • Umm, I saw Christ rebelling against the state, that of Jerusalem as well as that of Rome.

          But he understood it had to start with the heart of man. So he began the rebellion where it really matters. And a couple of hundred of years later, it replaced the state religion of Rome, and today, almost 2 billion people are proclaimed as christians, the most of any belief system on the planet.

          This is where the rebellion, and the rebirth, has to begin. The outward manifestation of tyranny simply reflects the tyranny of men over man’s spirit, starting with the self.

          This is why we have gone down the road of tyranny of godless men over man these last hundred years. This is the price we pay for rejecting the Christ’s message. Until we return to the message he paid with his life to bring us; the tyranny will continue, and fighting it’s outward manifestation before this happens, will simply bring mass death and blood, feeding more tyranny and oppression.

          This is why, I believe, the Jews and their temple were destroyed, and the Jews scattered to the winds. They fought the outward manifestation of Romes tyranny, while leaving the chains on their soul, by rejecting the Christ’s message.

        • “If Jesus was alive today”

          Or, of it was *ever* alive, …

          I mean, we realize we are speaking of the illegitimate offspring of a space alien and a human 12-year-old, right? Doesn’t seem really likely given what we now know about genetics, does it?

          Where does the bible explain that, other than proclaiming “magic”?

      • I didn’t say he was a Marxist. I said: “much of J.C.’s teachings are very similar to communist ideals”.
        It’s not a nuanced distinction. But it allows for the existence of “Liberation Theology”.

      • Jesus taught the exact opposite, that we as individuals show love for, demonstrate compassion for, and should take care of one another, not the state.
        …and the people said Amen.

        • I need to watch the video to be certain. 2000 year old hearsay doesn’t do it for me. Sorry if my gullibility fails the test. Why not a recordable reappearance? Other than it is not possible, because it is bunk. Just everybody knows precisely what jesus said, and every report is different.

    • And the pope is steeped in “liberation theology” (ie Marxist ideals, dressed up in theological rhetoric), NOT Christian theology.
      It would seem so.

  17. Sooo … blowback exists when it’s due to the Pope washing Muslim feet, but not from invaders?

    Consequences sometimes, like when it suits the diatribe?

    Yes, Pope Francis is ignorant in many many fields, including economics, statism, and plain common sense. So let’s somehow make this about encouraging Muslim blowback.

    Criminy. Muslims who see a ritual foot-washing as cause for suicide missions don’t need such flimsy excuses. Anything will do …. such as invasions, drones, and other quite literal attacks..

    • Yes, Pope Francis is ignorant in many many fields, including economics, statism, and plain common sense.
      Add theology to the list.

  18. At a traditional pre-Easter ritual, the Pope washed the feet of refuges, including a Catholic woman, Muslims, and a Hindu man. The ritual had long been limited to practising Catholic men, almost exclusively, priests.
    In some German Baptist type churches, this would be the same as baptizing and giving communion to non-believers.
    I have attended churches where foot washing was considered a sacrament.

    • 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
      Draw your own conclusions on the application of this to non-believers and why some churches consider it a sacrament.

    • Are you guys listening to yourselves? Washing somebody’s feet has any importance, anywhere, in any context, for any reason, today? How stupid is that? This is ridiculous!

  19. It takes a special kind of stupid to blame a triple suicide bombing (2 at the airport, 1 on the metro) on gun manufacturers!

    What an irrelevant moron he is.

  20. Just for whiners of the Crusades, one must remember that Islam has been at war with Christianity since its inception. The Crusades were a counter offensive for land previously lost to the Muslims. Of course how much all of this is religion and how much is land, money, and power is your own conclusion.
    The Crusades were sort of a military flop, but in other indirect areas it was a total success.
    No Crusades = no Renaissance.

  21. I almost want to say that the prophecy of the popes is correct. It said the last pope would be this one. But he would not be a real pope as he would not be Christian, and he would destroy the Catholic Church.

  22. Given that the splodey-dopes manufactured their suicide-vest bombs themselves, in a manner of speaking, Francis is correct. But in a more common-sense manner of speaking, Francis is full of it, and should mind his own business. Commercial arms manufacturers had nothing to do with Brussels. Commercial arms – including firearms – had nothing to do with Brussels.

    • Well, I can agree that we should outlaw using homemade explosives to kill our neighbors, but isn’t that already illegal? So what is the point here? Making something completely unrelated illegal, as well, for no explained reason?

      • Last time Europe had a big crusade, the first thing they did was sack and burn down Constantinople, the largest Eastern Orthodox city and capital of the Eastern Orthodox empire.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204)#Sack_of_Constantinople

        If we’re getting back to the good old times of the crusades, and their associated traditions, that would be a part of it, no? But these days, you’d have to look elsewhere to find Eastern Orthodox in such numbers. Like, say, Moscow.

        I mean, you’ve got to start somewhere.

        • You did not make that clear enough. Constantinople was Christian, spoke a different language than the crusaders, was therefore wiped out and looted by crusaders in the name of the pope, to punish muslims. You would think god would have told them there was a mistake, no? If he existed? Right?

    • Nothing like a guy who enjoyed dining amidst impaled people (for amusement and better digestion) to be the leader of the Free World, right?

  23. I’m Catholic and the Marxist Capo Di Tutti Popey is a moron. I won’t shed a tear if/when ISIS places his severed head on a pike outside the Vatican, maybe then we will get a new Pope, one that champions the tenets of my faith and advocates for a 21st Century Crusade.

  24. He’s not perfect. Should we be alarmed?
    He has said and done a lot of non traditional things opening the way for a less dogmatic take on religion.
    This idea that the manufacturers are at fault is an immature viewpoint. Sort of like if we get rid of guns in America there won’t be any violence.
    Is there a lot of international gun running? Sure, but peace will come from other directions.

  25. Congrats on getting me to your website based on a flashy title. I won’t be back and here’s why:

    You guys obviously can’t read.

    The Pope didn’t say “gun manufacturers did it”. The Pope said that arms dealers want blood and not peace.

    The article does not reference any specific arms dealers that have demonstrated they want peace and not blood.

    So really the article is just a “pat ourselves on the back” piece to get us to visit this site for your ads.

    Except I’m blocking this site now because I don’t like the “gotcha” approach to “journalism”.

    • “Three days ago, there was a gesture of war…Behind that gesture there were arms manufacturers…”

      What do arms manufacturers have to do with the Brussels bombings? Does the pope also object to arms manufacturers who make the guns for his private security force? Or the Italian police?

  26. Don’t let the door hit ya’ on the way out Greggy. Oh yeah welcome to the wonderful world of the web…

  27. I disagree with Pope Francis on some topics. But I also think he’s the most Christian Pope I’ve seen in my lifetime. Just like Jesus, he’s upset the status quo by living a Christ-like life. A life based on loving all people, no matter who and what they are. I also love how both the extreme right and the extreme left have hissy fits over what he says and does. That means he’s doing his job

    Just like Jesus.

    • MY LORD and SAVIOR is NOT a marxist/communist old dude in a dress. HE is GOD the SON. John Paul 2 was easily the most “Christian pope”. He defied communism. Franny embraces it…

  28. For Catholics the washing of the feet is also considered an act of submission. It represents that the Pope is in service to mankind/Christianity/the Catholic Church. Not really such a shabby idea to keep a leader, with substantial power, humbled at least once a year. I don’t really see it as his fault or problem that extreme cultists mistake his actions for an admission of defeat or whatever.
    Of course blaming “weapon merchants” for the actions of extreme cultists IS his fault; it is as idiotic and useless as blaming all muslims (or gun owners) for the actions of a very few.

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