A Bunch of Pope Nonsense

Recently, the new pope, Pope Leo XIV, weighed in on US politics. NPR reported that Pope Leo stated, "Someone who says I'm against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life," Pope Leo said. "And someone who says I'm against abortion but I'm in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life." His statement falsely claims that to be pro-life means that killing anyone for any reason is not moral. Also, not allowing people in your country is not a pro-life stance either, as that is inhumane. Yet, he is completely wrong. Both of these points are not only illogical, but they are also unbiblical.

First, let us review the stance he has taken on immigration. His point is that if you deport someone, this is inhumane, and you are not being morally good or pro-life. Yet he qualified his statement in a very unfair way: he called them immigrants. It would be more correct and honest if he called these people criminals. There is nothing inhumane, unbiblical, or immoral about disciplining criminals. The United States welcomes anyone from anywhere to come to our country. We have nothing against immigrants coming to our country. But there is a legal way to go about it. There are rules and guidelines to follow to protect our country from its enemies. So anyone who comes in illegally or who is found out to be a criminal is deported for being just that, a criminal. It has nothing to do with them being immigrants. Having a standard of law and punishment for someone who is unlawful is godly. The bible is full of scriptures that state you should punish criminals and have law and order in a society. The Israelites (God’s nation) had a list of laws to follow and punishments if they were disobeyed. God is a God of law and order. And what is morally correct is defending what is right by punishing the guilty. It is not godly at all to ignore crime and allow lawlessness. There is nothing unbiblical about punishing the guilty. God wants His people to stand up for justice. He assigns the government to punish the guilty and fight against evil. It is also godly to have borders that you protect. The whole book of Nehemiah is about the people of God building a wall around the city of Jerusalem. And why? To have a border of protection! So that the city can be protected from its enemies. There is nothing about this that has anything to do with being pro-life. If anything, disciplining the guilty is pro-life because you are protecting the innocent lives that are being affected by the criminals.

Now, let us look over the Pope’s next point on the death penalty. On the surface, his opinion seems to have a little more teeth to it. He believes that if you are pro-life, then you shouldn’t be behind the death penalty. To him, this is killing another human being, just like what happens with abortion. So if abortion is wrong, so should executions. Yet, once again, the pope is misguided and showing a level of naivety about scripture.  The bible clearly teaches in multiple locations (Romans 13 being the most popular one) that it is the government’s job to execute evil in this world. This could be capital punishment all the way up to going to war. If the cause is just, the government has the right to eliminate evil from this world. Some of you may be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t this inhumane? This can not be pro-life, can it? How could you be against abortion but for capital punishment? They both kill humans!” The question that is being asked is the wrong question. Being biblically right or wrong when taking a life is just about killing someone or not. What it is about is why that life is being taken.  What is the reasoning? The purpose behind it?

Just like earlier, the way the Pope laid out his remarks was loaded and stacked in his favor. The question is not as simple as, “Does this action promote life or take away life?” like you would ask when referring to abortion. The context is all different when you are talking about criminals. The question that should be asked is, “Is this just or not?”. Did a serial killer do something that could justify execution? Yes. Did an innocent baby in the womb? No! The pope is trying to make these two different actions morally equal, and they are not. The bible does not make these two things equate, and so neither should we. And neither should the Pope, who supposedly believes in the same bible we do. God, going back to the first point in this article, supports justice because He is a just God. And there are just killings that He allows to defeat evil and uphold what is right and true.

This is actually a little bit of a surprising take for the Pope to have. He is being hypocritical in the point he is making. The Vatican has its very own armed services called the Swiss Guard. They are responsible for protecting both the Vatican grounds and the Pope himself. And they are not just ceremonial guards. This is not about presentation for those who visit the Vatican. No, these men are trained in “anti-irregular military counterintelligence, commando-style raids, counter-sniper tactics, counterterrorism, close-quarters battle, defusing and disposal of bombs, executive protection, hostage rescue, human intelligence, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, tactical driving, tactical medical services, and tactical fast shooting by small arms” and are considered an “elite military unit”. So he obviously believes in just killing, because if someone made an attempt on his life, his guards would kill that person in self-defense. So what exactly is the difference here? If his guards kill a criminal attempting to end the Pope’s life or if the government executes a convicted killer? Are these not both just killings? If I were to use the Pope’s logic, wouldn’t that mean he is not pro-life either? This is why all of these statements are not just unbiblical, but they are also illogical. All the pope is doing is sending out nice bite-sized platitudes to appease the masses. This makes good print, scores points, and gladhands the ones that matter most to his power. This is why we do not blindly follow any religious leader, but test them according to scripture. Because the Bible is the authority and Christ is the head of the church. All this is, is just a bunch of pope nonsense.