Pope Warns of “Godlessness” During Good Friday Mass
The Pope’s latest sentiments and words help me to know that I am not alone in my assumptions that secularism is on the rise in the West, especially in the United States, since I am not privy to the events currently going on in Europe. However, I certainly suspect the same thing exists there as well – if not more so than in the U.S.
I couldn’t understand how people could not see through the rhetoric, lies, and falsehoods of Obama during last year’s election. It was obvious through is connections, relationships and political history that he was not a decent, caring individual – and I feared for our country and the future if he did get into office. On the opposite end you had a war hero, and a woman of great integrity and faith, who came from humble beginnings and worked her way up without the help of the “establishment.”
Religion is under attack, as Pete recently posted. Those who practice what they preach and have a pure heart were mocked and ridiculed last year by the media and those on the left. Their fear-mongering and propaganda really affected various people, sucked in by the fraudulent reporting. Mormon churches were vandalized and an elderly woman was beaten because of proposition 8 disagreements. Nevermind the fact that the reason Prop. 8 did not go the way the gay activists wanted in California, had more to do with the minority vote (blacks and hispanics voting for Obama), than the Mormons or any other religions faction. Minorities are incredibly religious and socially conservative on the whole. Barack Obama, himself, has stated that he does not believe in homosexual marriage, however, gay protesters violently attacked those of faith and their places of worship.
I have never seen such hatred and absolute vileness come out of people. It’s as if the “light” scares them. Truth does hurt, and those who represent values that these people have either been made to fear based on false reports, propaganda or through their own fallacious assumptions, can only act out through hate and disgust – because they may find some truth in themselves that they have not been able to come to grips with. It’s incredibly sad and pathetic how hollow and superficial progressives have become. It must be extremely lonely having a hole in your heart that wide to not know what it’s like to have faith or to know a God of some sort.
Pope Benedict XVI last night attacked the rise of aggressive secularism in Western societies, warning them that they risked drifting into a ‘desert of godlessness’.
He used his Good Friday meditations to compare deliberate attempts to remove religion from public life to the mockery of Jesus Christ by the mob as he was led out to be crucified.
‘Religious sentiments’ were increasingly ranked among the ‘unwelcome leftovers of antiquity’ and ‘held up to scorn and ridicule’, he added.
‘We are shocked to see to what levels of brutality human beings can sink,’ said the Pope at an evening ceremony at the Coliseum in Rome.
‘Jesus is humiliated in new ways even today when things that are most holy and profound in the faith are being trivialised, the sense of the sacred is allowed to erode.
‘Values and norms that held societies together and drew people to higher ideals are laughed at and thrown overboard. Jesus continues to be ridiculed.’
The German-born Pope, who turns 82 later this month, prayed Christians would respond by growing in faith.
‘May we never question or mock serious things in life like a cynic,’ he added. He also condemned the oppression of women, saying there were ‘many societies in the world where women fail to receive a fair deal.’
‘Christ must be weeping for them,’ he said.
It makes me think that the Pope may have been watching our elections in the states…among other incidents in the world.
In My Opinion – Christianity: Under Attack
For the last decade or so, Christian Values (belief in God, Marriage, Pro-Life, Prayer….the list goes on) have been under constant attack from the left (ACLU, Atheists and others). In case after case, any reference to “God” or prayer in school, Nativity scenes at Christmas, or the Ten Commandments in public places, has been slowly removed from everyday society. It is an alarming trend and one in which I think Christians need to stand up to and say enough is enough.
The founding fathers made it extremely clear as to the intent of the founding documents. The founding fathers guaranteed us “freedom OF religion” and not “freedom from religion.”
This striking quote is exactly right. We, as a new nation, ensured that those who come to our shores to start a new and better life, would not be persecuted for practicing the religion of their choice. They were not creating a system by which we would shield people from religion or God.
This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles; they have been a part of our heritage and culture since the Mayflower. Our third President, Thomas Jefferson, who many historical illiterates claim created the statements in the Federalist papers supporting a ‘separation of church and state,’ said the following: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?…Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
How true. Freedom, liberty, life, are God given and so shall they be protected. It is that belief, those convictions, which has made this nation strong, wealthy (in spirit, hope, and quality of life), and the model for all nations who want to have those same gifts.
French historian and American observer Alexis de Tocqueville opined, “liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” Americans of all faiths must stand together with the understanding that no religion is safe when even one comes under attack. Josef Stalin disclosed an ominous plot many years ago: “America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” We’ve stood by as Christianity takes a beating in the town square. It’s high time we turn the tide. Our very liberty depends on it.
