The Tenth Man
Deep, surprising analysis and commentary on US and world affairs with the goal to "think outside the box". Original, and different, with no ads or filler.
Once a week we'll do a deep dive into a current topic, pointing out the facts which are hidden in plain sight. The mainstream media repeat misinformation, we'll show you the obvious truth, and the little-known facts which the experts all know, but have been keeping to themselves.
Is there an epidemic of violence? No, crime is going down.
Should we accept all the asylum seekers? We already accept more than any other country.
Topics may be up-to-the-minute, or may be timeless.
All people may be good, but some are misinformed so we'll shine a light on climate change, feminism, vegetarianism, gun control, reverse-discrimination, illegal migration and the radical left.
Witty, jarring, but always kind.
The Tenth Man
S4 E17 - Pope Francis: The People's Pope or Political Figure?
Critiquing the Legacy and Actions of Pope Francis
In this episode, the host examines the legacy and actions of Pope Francis, who recently passed away. Known as the 'people's Pope,' Francis was both celebrated and controversial. The host questions his popularity and discusses his positions on various social issues, including his stance on homosexuality, his outreach to other religious leaders and marginalized communities, and his involvement in political matters. The episode critiques Francis’s approach, arguing that he deviated from his fundamental role of preaching the gospel and emphasizing Christian beliefs. It suggests that while his intentions may have been noble, his actions fell short of fulfilling the core responsibilities of the papacy.
00:00 Introduction: The People's Pope
00:31 Pope Francis' Popularity and Controversies
01:33 Mixed Messages on Homosexuality
02:24 Addressing Other Social Issues
03:14 Interfaith Relations and Marginalized Groups
04:07 Critique of Pope's Focus on Wars and Poverty
05:59 The Pope's True Job: Preaching the Gospel
07:17 The Core Message of the Gospel
08:00 Pope Francis' Failures in Preaching
10:35 Christian Beliefs and Western Values
12:20 Conclusion: The Role of Christianity in Global Peace
Commentary on trending issues brought to you with a moderate perspective.
He was Pope for 12 years and they called him the people's Pope, but if he was the people's Pope, what people and who did all those other guys represent? The death of Pope Francis today on the 10th Man. I woke up yesterday morning to learn that the Pope had died. I didn't quite know what to think. I was not immediately sad knowing that he was basically a good man and had gone onto his reward. He was a very popular pope. Being popular doesn't necessarily mean that you're good or good at your job. Just look at President Trump. He's been popular, he's been unpopular, and there have been people who thought he was doing a good job and people who thought he was not. But looking at Pope Francis, one obvious question is"popular with whom"? Among Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, he was not just controversial, but actually unpopular with many. What do these people know that the other people, the non-believers do not? Pope Francis supported the marginalized, they say. Marginalized is a woke word with no real meaning, and it's applied quite liberally to groups that have problems of their own making. Who are we talking about in this case? Well, one group is the gays. Pope Francis told priests that they could bless gay couples. He said being gay was a sin, but among all the sins that exist, this one could be blessed. Regardless of your feelings about homosexuality, this mixed message seems designed to seek popularity over, what should we say? Righteousness? He went on to say that homosexuality, while it is a sin, still should not be illegal. He's really departing from his own lane there; are all the problems in the church solved such that he has to find other problems in the world of politics that only he can solve. The gays seemed to be getting on quite well, actually. They're far from being marginalized. Maybe he could address another sexual sin that has more widespread evil consequences, and that would be having children out of wedlock. Maybe he could proclaim premarital sex to be a sin, but at least use birth control. No wait, he's still condemning birth control. There's a complex social issue for him to address that has real significance, but probably would not lead to his being popular. Another marginalized group he's met with is prisoners. Is it because they were unjustly imprisoned? Was the food not to their liking? Did he visit them to tell them that their imprisonment was the price of their sins, and to ask them to pray for the victims of their own crimes? The Pope had meetings with people of the Buddhist faith and with Muslims. These photo ops made us Catholics wonder, are you the leader of the Muslims and the Buddhists, and are you telling the Muslims and Buddhists that you accept them? Because I don't think they should really care whether you accept them or not. I know I don't care whether the Buddhists acknowledge me as a Christian. What might make more sense would be for him to meet with the Muslim and Buddhist leaders and try to work out differences at that level, and those Muslim and Buddhist leaders would agree with me because I haven't seen any Imams on a tour across America shaking hands with Baptists and Lutherans and telling them that they are loved. But that again, that would be a hard meeting. He was the pope of the marginalized poor, and those suffering from war, but which poor and which war? When he says poor, does he mean the obese poor of the West? We have lots of poor who don't have jobs and are demanding free medical care to include Ozempic for their obese children. Is that the poor that he means? I know he means the poor people of Venezuela who are poor because they have followed the principles he is proposing, communism, where you take everything from the rich and then no one has anything and then you just run to the United States. And he also means the poor in Gaza who had everything they needed. But now because of a war, a war that he supports, that side at least, they've lost everything. Well, no, actually they're still very well fed because somehow the Pope is not concerned with the people of Yemen, people who are truly in need, not the greedy poor, who just want more, but people actually in need. A quarter of a million people have starved to death in Yemen. Only because the Imams, who he will not talk to, are sending food and weapons to the terrorists that run the country. That's the Houthis, while the people in the countryside starve to death. The Pope is or has been preoccupied with the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, both of which are pure wars of greed, which neither side can truly and fully justify. While the oppressed people of Yemen who are actually wasting away and starving are completely forgotten by the Pope, by the United Nations and everyone else. So with all we've heard about this Pope, with all the things we've heard that he's been doing, we've heard nothing about him doing his actual job. He is got the title of people's Pope. Well, congratulations Francis, but you're supposed to be the Pope of our Lord representing Jesus Christ on earth. Not all Christians accept this title, and I don't fully buy it myself, but that is the job description and he wasn't doing it. And he knows what the job description is all Christians do. It's in Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, and if you're dreading a Bible sermon, hang on, because that's not what this is. Well, it might be because the gospel is a powerful section of the Bible, so be careful. You might be converted, but here we go. Matthew 28 verse 19 says, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature. That's the Pope's job. Now, he could do all these other things that he's been doing as long as he's also preaching the gospel. But the thing is, he could just preach the gospel and everything else takes care of itself. And that's because of this. What is the gospel? The gospel is some of those things that Pope Francis was living himself, but he was living it without preaching it. It's reverse hypocrisy. The gospel is this. The first part is the Shema. A prayer that Jews still say today. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. So love God. But even if you don't believe that, there's the part that Jesus brought and that was thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, here's where Pope Francis really screwed that up. All those visits he made to the so-called marginalized people, or if you think they're marginalized, fine, but he forgot to tell them, now go and sin no more. He failed to do what Jesus always did, and that was tell those people what they needed to hear. When Pope Francis visited the poor and sympathized with them, he left them with the impression that it was somebody else's fault that they were poor. And hold on, maybe it was, but when Jesus was on the earth, he was constantly correcting people to say no. I'm not here to create a great kingdom, a great society for you. I'm not here to solve all your earthly problems. I'm here to tell you what you need to do for yourself. So, hey gay guys, I'm sorry that people condemn you for being gay and hey, Indians or indigenous people or First Nations we're sorry, the Canadians with the help of the Catholic Church or the Americans provided schools for your kids to go to. And hey criminals, we're sorry you're in jail and that nobody loves you anymore. Jesus had messages for the rich. Jesus had messages for the poor. Jesus had messages for the relatively just and upright, and Jesus had messages for the worst sinners. And those were the tax collectors by the way. But he never gave anyone the message that someone else owes them something. Oh yes. He told the rich young ruler to sell all you had and give it to the poor. But there's more to that story we won't cover here. But the message was one for the ruler. He didn't tell the poor to go and take anything from that rich, young ruler. And if the Lord came to America today and said, give half of your GDP to Africa, and if you do this, they will prosper. We would do it in a minute, but that's not Jesus' message. The message he's given us is to love God, to love our neighbor, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as it happens, people who do those three things seem to be blessed and to prosper here on earth. While people who have stuff given to them do not prosper ever. I don't know how, and I don't know why this happens. I just know that it happens. My ancestors were told a long time ago by missionaries sent out by that Pope of that time, sent to England and to Ireland to teach us our forefathers, to love God, love our neighbors, and believe on the Lord. And they did that. And we have been blessed and we have prospered. Not everybody in our country believes in God, but they're still living in a Christian nation, one that's founded upon the principles of Christianity. And most Americans, indeed, most westerners, have a belief that we should treat others fairly. The only proselytizing I'll do right now is to say, don't take it for granted. Those are Christian beliefs, not Western beliefs. Other countries don't have them unless they have a Christian background. And that's why I say Pope Francis didn't do his main job because he should have been fighting for Christian beliefs throughout the world. Oh, he could have called them Western beliefs since he wants to be a politician more than a clergyman. But since he's the Pope, he should have been sending missionaries to Yemen and to Gaza. He should have been sending missionaries to parts of Africa that have been taken over by terrorists and sending missionaries with armed guards demanding protection from the UN or the United States. Or maybe freedom of religion among all the freedoms is just not that high on his agenda. Because regardless of whatever criticism you might have for Christianity, oh, and heavens, let's talk about the child molestation crisis, you have to admit that any Christianity would be better than what any of those countries have there right now. And it's okay to support the poor. Of course, God loves the poor, but that's because he loves everybody. God even loves rich Americans who are straight, go to church, go to work, work hard, pay taxes, and raise families. He might even love them a little more, but in any case, the more people who come to the conclusion that everyone has human dignity and is deserving of respect, the closer we will be to having peace on earth. Tell a friend about the 10th Man Podcast. Thank you for listening.
