Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch notes that Pope Francis often seems to be much more friendly to adherents of Islam than he is to traditional Catholics:
Before anyone starts accusing Lifesite of “attacking the Pope” for presenting this video and article, let me provide context. Also, I must add that the opinions expressed in the video are those of Robert Spencer. They do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.
However, Spencer is no “Islamophobe” or hater of Muslims or of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church. Wikipedia explains that Spencer “is a member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Eastern Catholic Antiochian Greek Catholic counterpart of the ancient Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.”
More than that, however, he has become one of the foremost experts on Islam in the English-speaking world. Therefore, what Robert Spencer has to say in relation to Islam should at least be given serious consideration.
Robert Spencer presents well-researched, verifiable facts to help readers and listeners learn the truth about the great danger of Islamic jihadists and Sharia Law to the world. There is incredible ignorance and naivete about this in the West. Spencer has been attempting, at great risk to his own personal safety, to remedy that lack of public awareness on rapidly expanding, diabolical Islamist Jihadism.
In the case of this video, Spencer calmly presents legitimate concerns about what he believes would be the logical implications or real world perceptions by Islamists of Pope Francis’ statements and actions regarding Islam and the unchecked massive invasion of Islamist young men into non-Islamic nations. Given how deeply he is immersed every day in reporting on Islamist mass slaughters, violations of women and children and many other Jihadist depravities, it is no wonder that Spencer can seem rather harsh or blunt when discussing the pope and Islamism.
Go here to read the rest. None of this is surprising. The Pope is in favor of mass immigration of Islam into the West. A realistic assessment of Islam would sink this policy. Thus we have a Pope who lies about Islam practically every time he deigns to discuss the subject. Catholics have a right to expect better of the Vicar iof Christ.
wWhy should the Muslims fight to turn Saint Peters into a mosque, when Francis has invited the Muslims and will aid and abet the corruption. “Thou shalt not kill” and death to the infidels are not the same thing. The death penalty for blasphemy is governed by the principle of separation of church and state leaving man free in conscience to pursue his Happiness in finding the truth about God and the gift of Faith from God.
Whereas Francis would have blasphemers put to death for blasphemy. It is Francis’ job to absolve the blasphemer and to pray for the blasphemers’ conversion as St Theresa did. It is the states’ job to impose the death penalty for murder in the first degree, for treason and bloodguilt, never for their religiously held beliefs in response to the gift of Faith from God..
I think the question might be why is Pope Francis doing this. Is he ignorant of the threat Islamist terrorism poses to the West, particularly to Europe? Is he sincerely trying to follow the Biblical injunction, “Love your enemies?” As an Actors’ Studio neophyte would put it, “what is the motivation for the character?” If we knew that, possibly we could make sense out of what’s going on.
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” — Arnold J. Toynbee
Same principle applies to The Church.
Other night, I was flipping (love that remote) through 100 cable channels with nothing worth watching. I caught 15 seconds of a NYT editorial page, professional liar gleefully (he was drooling) reporting on a visit to western Africa and one village which had almost no men. With a broad grin he said, “They are all in Europe.”
The left is killing America with assaults on free speech; religious persecution (the iron fist in a velvet glove); statue toppling; open borders; Muslim colonization masked as “refugees;” etc.
“what is the motivation for the character?”
That is one of many troubling aspects of our current pontiff. He is not a very coherent thinker, as can be discerned from his answers during interviews, and I suspect that if you were able to ask why this is a wise policy his answer would rest on clichés. In short, he hasn’t thought about it much, and he is impervious to contrary arguments.
A “zombie” Pontiff perhaps?
Don, that may be the saddest part of the situation: “he is impervious to contrary arguments.”
Spencer is not an expert on Islam. He is an autodidact. What he is is one of the few people with some scholarly background in the subject in North America who does not exhibit what Steven Sailer calls ‘leapfrogging loyalties’ which often manifest themselves in a hostility to the United States and Israel and acting as a press agent for obnoxious and perverse particularisms in that region. Bernard Lewis, Martin Kramer and Daniel Pipes are more scholarly. Lewis entered academe in an era when arts-and-sciences faculties were much less corupt, Kramer has spent his academic career in Israel, and Pipes has earned a living in miscellaneous ways because he was untouchable as far as arts-and-sciences faculties were concerned (his Harvard doctorate notwithstanding).
I doubt Francis every paid much attention during his seminary studies, didn’t finish his dissertation because he hasn’t the chops for that sort of work, and has no non-derivative opinions. What’s interesting is that a man who has spent his life in Argentina sounds like every silly and mediocre parish clergyman you’ve ever met. I suspect this sort of kultursmog emerges from human nature interacting with widespread affluence. Just a guess.
According to relatively recent Pew Research polls, there are about
2+ million adult muslims here in the USA, almost 60% of whom were
born elsewhere. According to Pew, 7% of our US muslims agree that
suicide bombings are “sometimes justified”, and 1% agree that they
are “often justified”. That is, of course, around 160,000 people here
in America who believe that suicide bombings are sometimes or often
justified…
I haven’t looked up any polling on American muslims’ attitudes towards
anti-semitism or the desirability of imposing sharia law on the general
population, but I suspect those results would be even more troubling.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/09/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-app-a/
The various Pew polls also document attitudes towards sharia, ISIS,
terrorism, among many muslim populations worldwide. Pope Francis
and those others who are so nonchalant about wholesale importation
of an unvetted muslim underclass into the west would do well to look
at those poll results and rethink the consequences of their virtue-
signalling.
“He is not a very coherent thinker”
I agree. I don’t think the Pope has had any experience with Islam in Argentina. On the contrary, Pope Benedict knew Islam explicitly. Germany, since the fall of Communism, has been damaged by the influx of Muslims both on a social level as well as an economical level. The Muslim ghettos which formed after the reunification of East and West is a clear example of how Islam operates when transplanted into Western civilisation. These ghettos are spread across Europe- Europe today is gone. Western civilisation which has its foundations in Europe is under threat from Islam on a global scale. And this assault has for many years been aided by the so-called “progressive” left.
Christian cultures who have lived alongside Muslims, particularly in Arab countries, have a very clear understanding of the distructive and distrustful nature of Islam because they have experienced living with them first hand. In Lebanon, a nation which is split between Muslim and Christian, the difference in the way of life between the two religions is as clear as night day. You visit the Christian areas and they are clean and ordered. In contrast when you visit the predominantly Muslims areas, there is garbage and no care taken of their surroundings or environment. So if Muslims come to the West, you cannot expect them to be any different. They want to transplant their way of life anywhere they occupy.
Pope Francis has no idea of this because he has absolutely no experience, no witness and no understanding of the Muslim religion and how it operates, and so deals with it like every other ignorant lefty- with a bleeding heart for a misunderstood group of people who should be embraced and welcomed. Little does he know that they have no desire or intention of reciprocating the love. Their religion tells them otherwise.
“what is the motivation for the character?”
One could argue that the Pope is subservient to the devil based on his actions to undermine and destroy the Catholic Church while encouraging it’s primary enemy Islam.
“Catholics have a right to expect better of the Vicar iof Christ.”
Problem is most Catholics are too damned ignorant to exercise that right!
Art’s rants about Robert Spencer notwithstanding, the Roman Pontiff is what Lutheran Satire says he is – The Hippee Pope. He despises Traditionalists because we Traditionalists reject his view that Vatican II was the greatest event of all time. Look at his insane ramblings about arms merchants and climate change. Of course he supports unchecked immigration. Wealthy governments are to share their wealth and take in the world’s poor. Just like the American bishops, every problem will be solved with dialogue, an expansion of the welfare state and pacifism.
The Visegrad nations have continually rejected the EU’s scheme to import Muslims. They will not be bullied by Brussels and they will not accept Muslims. Austria just elected a government hostile to any further Muslim immigration. Therefore, Europe is not lost.
If by “greatest” you mean one with the most impact, I’d say aside from the incarnation, passion and resurrection, V II does rank up there with the greatest events. However, unlike the incarnation, passion and resurrection which were the utmost good to ever happen for humanity, V II’s impact has been largely negative. Much like the Protestant revolt, WWI, “the bomb”, the pill, and other events that were tragic, but had great impact. So, in charity, when Bergoglio says V II was a great event, I will interpret him so that he means it was an event that had wide ranging devastating effects. In which case, we would be in agreement.
I think Spencer’s site is Jihad Watch, not Islam Watch. Although, I am not sure there is much difference.
“Austria just elected a government hostile to any further Muslim immigration. Therefore, Europe is not lost.”
As of 2010, Germany (4.7mill) and France (4.8mill) had the most Muslims- that’s about 5-7% of their population. Russia’s 10% of their population are Muslim. But Putin keeps them under the thumb. It’s estimated that by 2030, Muslims will make up 8% of Europes population. As of 2010, the EU was home to 13 million Muslim immigrants.
The median age of Muslims throughout Europe is 32, as opposed to 42 for European Christians. This is a sticking point, as terrorists are most likely young, unemployed Muslim men. They are most likely 1st or 2nd generation born.
Refugees continue to attempt to sneak across the sea from Morocco to Spain and because of the EU open boarder policy, who knows how many migrate throughout Europe, unchecked.
On a Friday afternoon, my mother who was visiting Belgium at the time was driving through Brussels downtown with her brother and witnessed them coming out of their mosques in droves after Friday prayers. She was shocked at the numbers as it looked like Mecca- not beautiful old Brussels with its historic churches and rich past.
I’m not sure that Europe is NOT lost. All it takes is for each of those European Muslim men/women to have 10 children each and the Christian to continue limiting their family size to 2 children each and the balance will eventually tip down the track, in favour of a greater Muslim population.
The problem is not immigration as such, but rather the young Muslims men which were born in Europe that feel misplaced, anti-nationalistic and disgruntled. I’m worried it’s too late.
I think Spencer’s site is Jihad Watch, not Islam Watch. Although, I am not sure there is much difference.
Oops. Correction made c matt.
Yesterday, 31 October 2017, ten minutes after the jihadi mass murder in NYC, Muslim propagandist Linda Sarsour tweeted prayers for NYC and ALL guns must be confiscated. In late July 2017, at a terrorist-financed ISNA conference, Linda Sarsour called on Muslims to commit jihad.
The Pope (Bless His Heart), Terrorist Sympathizer Obama, Crooked Hillary, Politicize Everything Schumer, and everyone else that refuses to recognize, much less fight, Islamic terrorism are dangerous people that have on their hands the blood of hundreds of innocents.
Spencer is not just self taught, incidentally, although he has actively kept up researching and learning.
Spencer (MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980.
https://www.jihadwatch.org/about-robert
(about halfway down the page)