Boy, was the Pope’s visit exciting! Or so we surmise from the media coverage. Considering how many of us aren’t Roman Catholic in this country, it is a telling cultural phenomenon to experience the reaction to the Vicar of Christ on these shores. For those who want to suggest that Christianity has no voice or influence in our country anymore, spend some time contemplating that the Pope was invited to address a joint session of Congress. That is not afforded to just anyone. Not only did our leaders listen to his words, millions in our nation watched it live. I think its safe to say that we cannot call the Pope, or the faith he represents irrelevant.
The other part of the phenomenon that was interesting/entertaining/disheartening to witness was how we fought over the Pope’s message. We got an unexpected encore this week with the flap over one of the Pope’s secret meetings. We really did jockey for the chance to get our ideological selfie taken with the religious rock star of the news cycle. I saw a political cartoon from artist Tim Hartman last week that I found insightful. In it you see the Pope smiling. On one side of him is a donkey saying, “He’s with me on climate change!” On the other side you see an elephant saying, “No! He’s with me on Life!!” Then you see Jesus standing off to the side saying, “Excuse me, but I’m pretty sure he’s with me.” There were many who tried to celebrate the Pope where he agreed with them, or distance themselves where they differed. It makes for pretty good sport.
Writing for the Atlantic, Emma Green filed an article last week highlighting that the Pope is not neatly defined by either of our principal American political ideologies. He’s not a Democrat or a Republican; he’s a priest. And he’s not just any priest, she
reminds us, but an Argentinian Jesuit priest. She goes on to say, “…the American political spectrum is truly idiosyncratic. This is a country where a Democratic congressman can loudly oppose the death penalty on moral grounds, but can’t risk really opposing abortion; a Republican might care a lot about the poor, but woe unto her campaign coffers if she suggests raising taxes on the rich. “Francis, like all the other popes, like the Catholic Church, simply doesn’t land comfortably on either side of the political divide in the U.S.,” said Vincent Miller, a professor of theology at the University of Dayton. “But it’s not simply that on questions of sexuality and human life he agrees with Republicans and on questions of economics he agrees with Democrats. The whole system is so skewed.””
Notice how that paragraph shifts the conversation from the Pope to “us” in America? It’s not the Pope that’s at issue, per se, it’s that our system is skewed – we are skewed. I think we easily forget this, and whether knowingly or unknowingly allow ourselves to become skewed. Once we are skewed we can no longer see the world nearly as clearly. This explains why we tend to emphasize and lift up people who agree with us and downplay and demonize those who don’t. It’s why we don’t always give thought to why our partisan politics can be so oddly aligned – skewed – in ways that don’t always fit together as Green noted in her article. Once we’re skewed, we start seeing an altered “normalcy” to the world around us. This is an important insight for those of us who proclaim a Christian faith, particularly in an election year.
The little bracelets aren’t around much anymore, but you probably remember the WWJD phenomenon. Taken to an extreme (as it was at one point) it becomes a trite throwaway bumper sticker slogan, however, at it’s core, the question is a very real
one for those who follow the Way of Jesus. The truth is we will likely find Jesus on the platform of both our main parties depending on which part of their platform we look at. We could all stand to learn how to accept that reality without pretending we can’t see it when Jesus shows up on the other party’s platform. I find it highly unlikely that as we ask questions about what Jesus would do that we find that Jesus would do exactly what we do in every situation. But if that’s how your view of things is, perhaps it is an indication that you might want to think about what that might mean. Is it possible that you are God’s chosen one? If you share the mind of God in all things, you have a lot of work to do. I want to know who you are so that I can get a bracelet with your name on it and ask you all my questions instead of waiting until I get to the Pearly Gates to ask Jesus.
I don’t know if Hartman’s cartoon is exactly right in suggesting that the Pope speaks for Jesus all the time either. There’s a reason Anglican’s haven’t recognized the Pope’s authority for 1500 years, even if we do get a bit of a Pope crush from time to time. The point remains, however; people of faith should have a hard time reconciling their faith to a particular partisan platform in its entirety. In theory, we would all be Christian independents, who vote for particular candidates at particular times and places in history and the needs of that moment, letting our votes lean towards what is best for others even if it goes against our own self interests (Jesus has a few things to say about such living). I know that some persons do swap their votes between parties on a case-by-case basis, but research shows that the most of us are party line voters.
I know that hearing the Pope preach to us on our own soil was a mixed experience -and that’s what he did - preach. If you’ve read the gospels, you know that preaching doesn’t always sit well with people. If we never hear a sermon that contains a lesson that rubs us the wrong way or challenges us, then either we’re not hearing good sermons or we better be passing out those bracelets with our names on them. As with any preacher, you don’t have to agree with everything he or she says. Don’t listen only to the parts you like or agree with and tune out for the parts you don’t like and don’t agree with. You just have to listen and trust that God is working within you to reveal a little bit more of God’s self.
God bless the Pope, even though I don’t agree with him on everything. I do think he preaches with integrity, and I think his message is a faithful, positive, and healthy one for the world, even though I still disagree with him on some theological points. I hope we were listening to and being challenged by at least on of the Pope’s sermons. I kind of wish there were more people out there who could get millions of people to tune in to their sermons. Imagine that, a preacher who hopes for more sermons! Tell you what, if you can’t get a selfie with the Pope, know that I’m always available as a backup.
Tom+
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you, bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.