Prophetic Voices: Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

What stands out for me about the classical prophets is their passion for social justice and their deep sensitivity to injustice. They are appalled by human greed and can never adjust to it. More than anything else, they are outraged by the “monstrosity of inequality.” This is precisely the message of Sanders, as well as of Pope Francis, who are deeply committed to bring healing to the world, especially to the poor.

Pope Francis and Sanders speak with authenticity about the injustice of income inequality and the catastrophic agonies of climate change, especially for the poorest people of the world. On these and many other critical issues, Pope Francis and Sanders speak with great passion and indignation. It is not surprising then that so many people have been attracted to supporting Sanders' candidacy for president.

(snip)

Looking at all the presidential candidates who are running in the 2016 election, all but Sanders are Christian and many of them are Catholic. I find it ironic that the one whose views have the greatest affinity with Pope Francis on many issues is Sanders.

In a July 12 interview on "Face the Nation," Sanders concluded with the following words with which Pope Francis would certainly concur: “Money cannot be the God of life . . . We’ve got to come together to create a new world and not a world in which a handful of people have so much wealth and so many other people are suffering.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/caucus/2015/08/26/prophetic-voices-pope-francis-bernie-sanders/32403779/

There is more on the link.

[WillyT]

1. K & R !!! - Thanks For The Thread, Uncle Joe !!!

[Uncle Joe]

4. WillyT!!

[BooScout]

2. so now Bernie is a prophet?

Should we bow down or something?

[Uncle Joe]

3. You don't bow before prophets, you listen to them. n/t

[ericson00]

73. I thought "progressives" aren't into holy books, prophets, etc in the public square.

[Uncle Joe]

75. That's because you don't understand two things.

1. The secular connotation of the word prophet or prophetic.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/prophets-of-the-21st-century-1315626.html

The cast of 40 seers assembled overleaf forms a mix of professional speculators, cutting-edge thinkers, visionaries and, in the odd case, charlatans. Some of them make grand pronouncements about the shape of things to come; others are quietly making discoveries and developing discourses that may determine what form the future will take. What gives them prophetic status is the fact that all of them have authority of some sort, whether it comes from the respect of their peers, the adulation of their followers or the intensity with which their advice is sought by colleagues, politicians, opinion-formers or the public. Readers will almost certainly find particular faults - of omission or inclusion - in the selection, but its general range is probably right. This is how prophets should be: cranky but persuasive, on the borders of acceptability. They can't all be right; it's doubtful whether all of them are wrong. And, aside from the question of their accuracy, their ranks might just hold a figure whose prophetic thoughts will have the lasting impact of a Luther, Malthus, Edison or Freud. Others may vanish as quietly as Menocchio Friuli, the 16th-century miller who speculated that the earth was a decaying ball of cheese.

Those who attempt to map coming ordeals generally do so by meditating upon present trends; yet anticipating the future remains a distinctly nostalgic science. Among the prophets listed here, Samuel Huntington's theories of inter-cultural war refer back to the Crusades, those of Rudolf Bahro to medieval monasticism. The rest are largely haunted by the spectre of the 19th century. Max Nordau and HG Wells have ghost-written the dystopian narratives of Paul Kennedy and Charles Murray. Edward Carpenter's theories of the Third Sex inform the future for gay men anticipated by Mark Thompson. Behind the fluffy mysticism of Hollywood gurus like Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra is the theosophy and spiritualism that titillated the late-Victorian middle classes. Most significantly, neo-Darwinian theories are being enthusiastically taken up by those shaping the future of disciplines and discourses as diverse as neurology, social theory and the creation of Artificial Life.

George Eliot, eminent Victorian and careful reader of Darwin, wrote that "among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous". Some of the latter-day prophets on the list overleaf might do well to remember that.' .Columnist on the Wash- ington Post and author of They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives will Dominate the Next Political Era (1996). Rep- ortedly Gordon Brown's bedtime reading, the book contends that America's "anxious middle" will reject Gingrich-style anti-government rhetoric and accept a role for the state in moulding the market for the greater good. Electorates, he argues, are sickening of small-government conservatism "dressed up in the finery of a hi-tech age." Bad news for social Darwinists like Charles Murray (qv), good news for Bill Clinton, whom Dionne credits with "a reinvention of the progressive tradition".

German historian, poet, essayist, journalist and dramatist, Enzensberger is a survivor of Sixties radicalism turned raffish guru, much-beloved of the Granta set. His idiosyncratic brand of eco-Marxism gives Paul Kennedy's (qv) ideas on population movement a radical twist, laying the blame for anticipated social disintegrations on Western greed. Historian Eric Hobsbawm lent heavyweight support to Enzensberger's latest, Civil Wars from LA to Bosnia (1996), which identifies the growth of what he terms an "autism of violence", a tide of "self-destruction and collective madness" produced across the globe by the collapse of Cold War certainties.

And

2. The most important thing is that progressives listen that doesn't mean we follow like blind sheep, what it does mean is that we don't stick our fingers in our ears and go la la la la la la, when the scientists warn about global warming climate change, when the people are at the breaking point because of the grotesque disparities in wealth, when government determines that money trumps speech, when our African American brothers and sisters are abused and persecuted to no end by a militarized police and vindictive justice system and a host of other critical issues.

[sabrina 1]

56. Well, I would say he has certainly been prophetic in his speeches when he voted AGAINST Bush's

Iraq War. He predicted pretty accurately over ten years ago, what would happen IF Congress did not deny Bush/Cheney the power to invade that country.

He was also pretty prescient when he voted AGAINST The Patriot Act, predicting the abuses that would occur IF Congress did not reject it.

He also predicted the horrible consequences to poor women and children that would occur as a result of the Welfare Reform Bill when he voted AGAINST it.

And he showed incredible foresight when he voted AGAINST DOMA.

Not saying it should have taken any kind of supernatural powers to vote AGAINST many policies that other Dems voted FOR.

However, he DID predict the consequences of those votes.

And whether people want to say he was prophetic, or just plain RIGHT doesn't really matter.

What he does have for sure, is the kind of JUDGEMENT needed in a leader.

He has spent his entire adult life fighting for equality for ALL people. And his votes show he wasn't just TALKING during campaigns.

[boston bean]

5. prophetic... Prophet Bernie.... okie dokie. nt

[Uncle Joe]

6. Does Bernie speak the truth, has money taken over the political system, are there great

disparities in wealth and does this have a corrupting influence?

[boston bean]

7. definition per the google:

proph·et

/ˈpräfət/

noun

noun: prophet; plural noun: prophets; plural noun: Prophets; plural noun: the Prophets

1.

a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.
"the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah"

synonyms: seer, soothsayer, fortune teller, clairvoyant, diviner; More
oracle, augur, sibyl

"the queen was disturbed by the prophet's interpretation of her dreams"

•(among Muslims) Muhammad.
singular proper noun: Prophet; noun: the Prophet

•(among Mormons) Joseph Smith or one of his successors.
noun: the Prophet

•a person who advocates or speaks in a visionary way about a new belief, cause, or theory.
"a prophet of radical individualism"

•a person who makes or claims to be able to make predictions.
"the anti-technology prophets of doom"

2.

(in Christian use) the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets.

[Uncle Joe]

9. You left out the secular definitions per the dictionary.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prophet?s=t

6. a person who foretells or predicts what is to come:
a weather prophet; prophets of doom.

7. a spokesperson of some doctrine, cause, or movement.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prophetic?s=t

. predictive; presageful or portentous; ominous:
prophetic signs; prophetic warnings.

[boston bean]

11. You think Bernie prophesized money in politics is bad?

ummm, no.

[Uncle Joe]

13. No but Bernie speaks out against it more aggressively than any other candidate by his words and

his actions.

[BooScout]

12. oh I see now...he's s a cult leader....

Thanks for making that more clear!

[Uncle Joe]

14. Bernie is speaking against the most powerful cult,

the worship of money as God in American Politics.

[Raine1967]

39. and the author using the Pope as a cosignatory

to such a topic is strange to me.

The Catholic church is wealthy beyond imagination.

I believe that the words of the Pope Francis are genuine. HE is still the head of a very wealthy church that carries a lot of power.

[Uncle Joe]

43. I agree it's ironic but most important I also agree that the words are genuine

There are some wealthy people or institutions that have gained some measure of enlightenment and I believe that's the case with this Pope.

[ericson00]

74. not to mention, isn't the reason people want money out of politics because

the GOP pushes the same social policies as the Catholic Church, not simply because money is evil?

[Uncle Joe]

76. And Bernie Sanders more than any other candidate is trying to get money out of politics,

not to mention overcoming Citizens United, so what's not to like?

[Fawke Em]

15. I think it's obvious who are the cult members in this thread.

And it's not the Sanders supporters.

[ismnotwasm]

8. .

[Uncle Joe]

10. That's a good argument for someone that has none. n/t

[ismnotwasm]

19. I am sorry--truly

i intent to share this with my oldest daughter who is a devout Catholic. I'm afraid she will be less amused.

[Uncle Joe]

22. I hope you do and perhaps she will be able to counter the point of the OP with

a factual argument.

[ismnotwasm]

23. No she thinks Sanders is, um

--Not presidential material.

[Uncle Joe]

25. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Perhaps you could get her to list some reasons as to why she believes that?

[ismnotwasm]

29. No

The post would be alerted on, and probably hidden no matter how I couched it as my daughters words.


For myself, comparing Sanders to the pope is merely amusing, I have no real Catholicism left in me. To my daughter, it was offensive.

Edit: I did send her the link

[Uncle Joe]

33. It isn't comparing Bernie Sanders to the Pope, it's comparing their messages as being consistent

with one another on the issues of income disparity, social injustice and the corruptive influence of money on government.

Prophetic Voices: Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders

[ismnotwasm]

37. If you say so

It's all good

[Uncle Joe]

40. Cool,

peace to you, ismnotwasm.

[ismnotwasm]

46. And you

[Fawke Em]

16. Maybe you should go to Prof. Harold Kasimow's office

at Grinnell College in Iowa and roll around on the floor laughing.

I'm sure he'd appreciate it since he's the one who wrote it.

He is a professor of religious studies. I think he understands the proper use of the world, "prophetic."



https://www.grinnell.edu/users/kasimow

[ismnotwasm]

20. Too far away

Is he Catholic?

Never mind I looked it up myself. He is a worthy man.

But comparing Sanders to the Pope?

[Fawke Em]

26. He didn't.

He compared their ideologies and said they were similar. They are.

[ismnotwasm]

30. Okey Dokey

I stand corrected.

[Thinkingabout]

17. This is not something many do on regular basis, there is a wide gap in Pope Francis on issues as

Gun control and when voting on the Brady bill, I dont think Pope Francis would have voted against the Brady Bill and would have always voted to help in getting the guns off of our streets rather than giving guns to careless people who allow the possession into the hands of people who clearly has shown they are not capable of proper use of the gun use. Relating Bernie to Pope Francis is a large stretch.

[Uncle Joe]

18. Huge disparities in wealth and money's stranglehold on politics have caused more deaths

and misery than the Brady Bill prevented by an astronomical factor.

Even so Bernie's views on guns have evolved.

[Thinkingabout]

21. Wow, not everyone thinks he evolves on issues, really confusing to me.

Actually there is a big problem with gun violence in this nation, if our loved ones are getting killed it is a big importance to many Americans.

[Uncle Joe]

24. There is a big problem with gun violence but it pales in comparison to the numbers of deaths

and misery caused by the American Government being enthralled to the almighty dollar.

The list is endless, wars for profit, for profit prisons, racial instability, slavery abroad to American Corporations, for profit health insurance corporations and our resultant dismal rankings in health care, the war on drugs, poverty, etc. etc. etc.

[Thinkingabout]

27. Thiese are among a long list of which many should have already been addresses and corrections made

By congress, why has the issues laid on the sideline. We have long veterans of Congress and NOTHING gets accomplished. Why are these do nothings getting paid?

[Uncle Joe]

28. Because of "money" and the lust for power for power's sake,

that's it in a nutshell.

I agree with you, they shouldn't get paid for doing nothing on critical issues except rearranging the deck chairs, if that even, or perhaps put them on minimum wage and see how they like it.

P.S. I forgot to list the denial of science and disregard to global warming climate change's growing impact as well on my previous post.

[AtomicKitten]

31. Amen. They are both the very best of men.

Last edited Thu Aug 27, 2015, 10:32 PM - Edit history (1)

k&R.

[Raine1967]

32. I find the religiosity of this very uncomfortable.

I find the idea of prophecy even more uncomfortable.

The church and the Pope have some pretty witty ideas about women and my LGBT friends.

I don;t think comparing him to the pope is a really great idea, and this prophecy this is just really creepy/

[Uncle Joe]

35. The article isn't comparing Bernie to the Pope, it's comparing their messages as being consistent

with one another on the issues of income disparity, social injustice and the corruptive influence of money on government.

Prophetic Voices: Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders

[Raine1967]

38. I read the article. I still find it uncomfortable.

before the word Voices, was Prophetic.

Bernie doesn't need to be compared to the Pope, and that is exactly what this article is doing.

That is — as I said, uncomfortable.

[Uncle Joe]

41. Prophet or prophetic have secular definitions, Al Gore would be considered prophetic in regards

to global warming climate change, too many people didn't want to listen to him either.

I believe the Pope has agreed with Al on that issue as well.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prophet?s=t

6. a person who foretells or predicts what is to come:
a weather prophet; prophets of doom.

7. a spokesperson of some doctrine, cause, or movement.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prophetic?s=t

. predictive; presageful or portentous; ominous:
prophetic signs; prophetic warnings

[Raine1967]

44. The author of the article is not secular.

and that makes the motive of the article even more important.

Are you trying to claim that this article was written from a secular place?

If you are, then you are missing my issues with the piece.

[Uncle Joe]

45. It's a mixture of both, these two paragraphs stand out in regards to the author's definition

of religion; which really could apply to a secular way of thinking as well.

Although Sanders himself does not view religion as a central part of his life, to me, he is a man of religion. Sanders has stated, “I’m proud to be Jewish, although I’m not particularly religious.” Religion is notoriously difficult to define and need not be defined as a system of belief.

I embrace the definition of religion of my great teacher Maurice Friedman, who said, “Religion is the way that one walks.” In accordance with this definition, I contend the lives of human beings and the actions they perform each day are of greater significance than their belief systems. And from that perspective, Sanders is indeed a very religious person.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/caucus/2015/08/26/prophetic-voices-pope-francis-bernie-sanders/32403779/

[Raine1967]

48. You can go on and believe what you want. I disagree.

going into prophetic zones is just a really bad idea when it comes to supporting a candidate for president.

That is my opinion, and when people in this thread mention the word cult, I think they might have a point.

What you quoted is entirety based on believe systems. You even quoted that the author assumes that Sanders is indeed a very religious person.

Tell me how that is secular" it seems the very opposite from the author.

[Uncle Joe]

49. As the author points out in the same paragraphs his definition of religion does not pertain

to a belief system.

Although Sanders himself does not view religion as a central part of his life, to me, he is a man of religion. Sanders has stated, “I’m proud to be Jewish, although I’m not particularly religious.” Religion is notoriously difficult to define and need not be defined as a system of belief.

I embrace the definition of religion of my great teacher Maurice Friedman, who said, “Religion is the way that one walks.” In accordance with this definition, I contend the lives of human beings and the actions they perform each day are of greater significance than their belief systems. And from that perspective, Sanders is indeed a very religious person.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/caucus/2015/08/26/prophetic-voices-pope-francis-bernie-sanders/32403779/

Perhaps visionary would be a better word than prophet but the secular meanings are the same.

As I have pointed out on this thread, the most powerful and dangerous cult to American Society is the government's total enrapturing by the almighty dollar.

That cult; more than any religion has fueled and sustained the war against science.

[moobu2]

34. So it is a cult after all.

[Uncle Joe]

36. Yes the worship of money by government is most definitely a cult and Bernie Sanders is

doing his best to fight against it, even the Pope agrees with that.

[BooScout]

50. the pope as in the leader of the richest church in the world...

And as leader of a religion that still discriminates against women and holds them down with policies such as telling women not to use birth control....especially in poor 3rd world countries where birth control could help lift them out of poverty.

This same church that has held women down for a couple of thousand years now with their policies.

Forgive me if I think of this as a bunch of absolute bullshit.

[Uncle Joe]

53. Can one be right about one issue and wrong about another?

Do you agree with President Obama in his unprecedented move during his State of the Union Speech when he criticized the Supreme Court's decision regarding its "Citizens United" decision?

Or with Samuel Alito when he shook his head.

[BooScout]

64. So in other words...

You don't want to address the hypocrisy of the original premise?

Bernie is a prophet, he's magical and he rides unicorns.

Ta dah! indeed...

[img][/img]

[Uncle Joe]

66. So in other words...

You can't bring yourself to answer my questions, why is that?

" Can one be right about one issue and wrong about another?"

Do you agree with Obama's analysis of Citizens United or not?

No one on this thread nor the OP alluded to Bernie being magical and riding unicorns except for you.

[BooScout]

67. I do not respond to strawman arguments n/t

[Uncle Joe]

69. So you believe the issue of economic injustice is a strawman argument? n/t

[Raine1967]

42. The person who wrote this is not helping Sanders.

Anyone can agree with something the Pope has said.

trying to equate the Pope to Sanders is just really awkward. When the Pope comes out for LGBT equality I might pay attention.

[Uncle Joe]

47. Why would you pay attention then? The Pope

would still be religious.

This article helps Bernie in two ways, it bridges a divide in regards to Jews and Catholicism specifically and Christianity in general and I also noticed that it was published in an Iowa Newspaper.

[Raine1967]

51. I pay attention because you posted and this an OP.

I didn't know that Jews and catholics had a divide when it came to Candidate Sanders.

I certainly wasn't aware that Christians had a problem with Sanders.

The Pope is always going to be religious, for Christ's sake (literally) he is religious.

That you can't see that suggesting that Sanders and the Pope are prophetic in using their voices is edging towards a strange place (for lack of better words). It's is bordering on worshipping a person over policy.

Sanders is not a prophetic voice.

The Pope is not a prophet voice.


They are people talking about real and actual things happening in the here an now. It is really pretty simple.

And to go one step further, O'MAlley and Clinton are doing the exact same thing.

All three simply have different ways of getting things done.


The Pope? he is just a guy who points out problems. Sanders is good at that too.

Hell, I can point out problems as well.

I am not of the mindset of elevating a presidential Candidate to the Pope's level.

That's the takeaway that I got from this article.

[Uncle Joe]

54. This is making comparison of their consistent messages.

No other candidate has come out as aggressively as Bernie Sanders in regards to economic injustice, and money's corruptive influence on government.

They haven't come close to attacking those issues as Bernie has.

You said you would pay attention to the Pope if he came out for LGBT rights.

Anyone can agree with something the Pope has said.

trying to equate the Pope to Sanders is just really awkward. When the Pope comes out for LGBT equality I might pay attention.

So why not pay attention now when he's on the right side of issues not pertaining to LGBT rights, unless you disagree with the Pope on the issues of economic injustice?

Every religion has a subconscious if not conscious divide.

[Raine1967]

57. I pay attention to ALL of it, not just parts of it.

LGBT rights are really incredibly important to me.

I can't accept you telling me that because Sanders and the pope are really cool about talking about economic issues then I should ignore the issues that really matter to me.

Sanders is not a prophetic voice.

[Uncle Joe]

58. Sanders supports LGBT rights, I know you know that, I never said nor implied that you should

ignore the issues that are important to you.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-most-lgbt-friendly-candidate

(snip)

But Sanders has also been a steadfast and reliable supporter of LGBT equality, supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when it passed the Senate in 2013 and even calling on President Obama to evolve already and support marriage equality in 2011. He's a cosponsor of the federal LGBT-inclusive Student Non-Discrimination Act and has consistently voted against bills seeking to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, while cosponsoring a bill that would repeal the remaining portions of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Sanders has a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's latest Congressional Equality Index.

Sanders used Twitter to highlight that long-standing support Monday, just one day before the Supreme Court heard arguments on marriage equality. That comment included an overt reference to Clinton — albeit to the former president and not the current presidential hopeful:

You can't claim to support equality and not support equal rights. #SCOTUSmarriage pic.twitter.com/iBcZHzfxxk

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 27, 2015

Clinton herself welcomed Sanders to the 2016 race with a tweet Thursday morning, while she has previously fired back at critics who lambasted what they claim was her slow evolution to support full marriage equality.

"You know, somebody is always first," Clinton told NPR's Terry Gross last summer. "Somebody’s always out front and thank goodness they are. But that doesn’t mean that those who joined later in being publicly supportive or even privately accepting that there needs to be change are any less committed. You could not be having the sweep of marriage equality across our country if nobody changed their mind. And thank goodness so many of us have."

So what's the problem?

[TheFarS1de]

59. Simple ...

Sanders is not Clinton , which is all some people need .

[Raine1967]

60. You kinda did, but you keep going. You keep telling me that I am not reading the things

you are actually posting.

and please keep ignoring people who might not be working for Sanders and still like him — people like me.



you are now veering way off from the actual OP.

Everything you posted is everything I have read over and over again here in GDP. That isn't new to me.

My issue is the article. Sanders is not prophetic.

[Uncle Joe]

61. So you're caught up on a word that has both religious and secular meaning?

The actual OP was about a commonality of messages regarding economic injustice and the dire consequences that this crisis poses to democracy which has been voiced by both Bernie Sander and the Pope, that's the gist of the OP.

[Raine1967]

62. So… no, I'm not caught up on anything.

When people start a response to me with the word *So* followed by a comma, I am pretty sure they are gonna try to imply I said something I did not say.

And you did just that.

Sanders is not prophetic.

go back an read everything I responded to you about, you might be concluding that I am caught up on a word.

[Uncle Joe]

63. This is your first post on this thread and as I pointed out up thread

you're not giving credit to the secular meaning of the word "prophetic" or "prophet."

I find the religiosity of this very uncomfortable.

I find the idea of prophecy even more uncomfortable.

The church and the Pope have some pretty witty ideas about women and my LGBT friends.

I don;t think comparing him to the pope is a really great idea, and this prophecy this is just really creepy/

I also gather you hate or dislike religion to the point that it makes you "uncomfortable" even when it agrees with what I believe you would agree with insofar as the issue of economic injustice is concerned.

You brought up the issue of women and LGBT rights from your first post, but the OP isn't about that, so you tried to change the subject.

When you accused me of saying that you should ignore your LGBT rights (something which I never did nor implied) I posted a link describing Bernie's support for LGBT rights, then you said I was getting off the subject of the OP.

That's the gist of what's happened here so far from my point of view.

[mak3cats]

52. K & R!

I posted this in the Bernie Sanders group much earlier today. Glad I posted there instead of this forum - this forum is poisonous and has lost any semblance of reason. So many threads get hijacked by nothing but vitriol, and I see this from supporters of both candidates. Very tired of it...

[Uncle Joe]

55. Thanks for coming to visit, mak3cats.

[beam me up scottie]

65. I often criticize the pope here because of the RCC's homophobic and misogynistic policies.

So I too am uncomfortable with the comparison since Bernie has always supported equal rights for women and lgbt people.

That being said, I'm assuming the author is Catholic and I have no problem with him comparing the pope's views on climate change, economic injustice and other issues with Bernie's.

I have a feeling the supporters of other candidates who are upset about you posting the op would have done the same thing if he had endorsed their gal/guy.

Just my 2 cents.

[Uncle Joe]

68. I believe the author is Jewish but the issue of economic injustice is universal, it knows

no religion except for the worship of the almighty dollar.

The Pope's views on economic injustice are well known as are Bernie's.

The fact that both see economic injustice and global warming climate change as a threat to democracy and human society doesn't mean they agree on every issue and no one including the author implied that they did.

Both have followers and I see nothing wrong with making a comparison when it's factual.

The Pope never endorsed Bernie, this is an opinion article from a newspaper in Iowa wherein the author simply connects the two in regards to their warnings against economic injustice and great disparities in wealth.

The Pope has his shortcomings but for a Pope he is progressive albeit not on every issue, and Bernie is the most progressive of the political candidates.

[beam me up scottie]

70. Ah.

I know the Pope didn't endorse Bernie, the author did.

And that's his right, like I said if he had endorsed O'Malley or Hillary your critics would have fallen all over themselves in their hurry to post it here.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you shouldn't be faulted for posting his here.

[Uncle Joe]

71. That's what I hate about primary season, reason doesn't carry much weight when

the passions take hold.

Peace to you, beam me up scottie.

[beam me up scottie]

72. And you as well, Uncle Joe.