I'm taking what was intended as a comment to here:
Pope Francis: Unfettered Capitalism Is "Tyranny"; Economic Inequality "Kills."
And making a full diary out of it after I realized I was writing way too much. :)
So this Pope Francis has come out and said something rather uncharacteristic for a Pope. Again. He keeps talking like a Christian:
"As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter, to any problems,"
- quoting from
The Guardian article
Finally. A Pope who like Yeshua Christ (the word Jesus is a mistranslation), is anti-Capitalist.
Mind you he's not there on many issues that Yeshua was silent on; such as women Priests. But he is advocating a stronger role for women. Sensible middle ground. Given the important role of the two Marys in Yeshua's life - it is possible one was his wife or an apostle. Actually, its very likely she was his wife. But the facts have been covered up so its a battle for... another day...
But on wealth and poverty the Popes have been on the wrong side for far too long.
If you ever sit down and read what Yeshua Christ said...
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
(Matthew 19:24)
-one such quote among many
Yeshua was very forgiving of the various 'carnal failings' of humanity. Those are "failings" put into us by Jah from the get go after all: the desire to love each other and manifest it in a little too often for our own good.
But greed has always been a turning away from Jah. A desire to take more than one is entitled to, to take the things we know we should not take.
(And in Genesis, the real original sin is not falling prey to this, but it in the shame of being made by Jah that comes after - when they then sought to conceal themselves and cover up. That we would error was human, that we would then reject Jah was sinful. - see Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, which notes this in the middle of an otherwise crazy argument for the divine right of kings.)
But...
Yeshua was always harsher on greed and hoarding (miserliness).
Yeshua forgave all manner of human failings... but he always told the wealthy that they had to stop and change first.
While he did "consort" with tax collectors, he was clear on why:
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Mathew 9:9-13)
Once the Romans took control of the church in the 300s, they worked to cover that up. And for centuries reading scripture could get you killed... by the Church... if you were not a priest.
Despite the Reformation being about breaking away, and giving the book back to the people - Protestants did not correct this lust for wealth and power. And selective spin control through priests and pastors both has led us to a world where people think wealth and greed are good.
Where the most common 'biblical saying':
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Is actually Chinese of unknown origin. And no where to be found in scripture.
Because its a capitalist message... And Yeshua was very against that sort of thing. Yeshua sought to help people directly - and teach them to help each other.
Yeshua was about - teach people to help each other directly, and you build a society, a community. And in community, you find Jah: for that is what a church is. A community of people doing good works.
That proverb, is about teaching people to stand alone. Its actually very unchristian.
And this Pope knows it.
And that is a very loud revolutionary shot in the Catholic church right now.
Denying this was simple populism, he called for action "beyond a simple welfare mentality" and added: "I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor."
- Guardian quote again.
He's chanting down the wealthy in a very direct way:
While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.
More from Pope Francisc, this time
quoted from Slate.
And specific in his call for change:
A financial reform open to such ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of approach on the part of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and an eye to the future, while not ignoring, of course, the specifics of each case. Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor.
quoted from Slate
I'm a follower of Rastafari. It is no secret that we are a doctrine in strong opposition to the Catholic Popes. A fact that has been true ever since a Pope gave Mussolini blessing to invade the holy land of Ethiopia, and drive the descendants of King Solomon from the throne. Perhaps they were after the Arc of the Covenant, which has been and is still held by the Ethiopian Orthodox church since the time of King Solomon's fall. Perhaps they had other reasons for blessing Mussolini.
But whatever their cause - the act set Rastafari's followers against them, and my brethren have long been highly skeptical of Popes and their words.
I'm not sold on this guy - there is a lot of bad history in that house. But he's saying some very good things right now. Things which could lead to a lot of healing in the world, when spoken by a person with the power he holds.
It looks like they finally have a Pope, who's doing some real "Pope-ing", and trying to spread a message from Christ regardless of political fallout or political ambitions.
He's stepping into the trenches now, down here with us.
I wish him well. I wish him Jah's blessing. He's going to need it.
EDIT: Here is the Pope's own published words, and not as paraphrased by anyone.
- Since it has come out now that some of his interviewers paraphrased him and claimed they were quoting him, that there link is his writing. And the articles I linked in this blog, I believe quote from that, and not from interviews.