Michael Coren: No offence, but Pope is wrong + Andrew Klaven: No, Pope, No!

Let us be blunt here. Last week Pope Francis put himself squarely on the wrong and dark side of history. On a flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines he was asked about the Islamist massacres in Paris. His responses were chilling.

“Let’s go to Paris, let’s speak clearly. One cannot offend, make war, kill in the name of one’s own religion, that is, in the name of God," he said. He then explained that freedom of expression was a “fundamental human right” but must be exercised “without giving offence.”

He gave the example of the Vatican’s planner of papal trips who was standing next to him as he spoke. “It’s true, one cannot react violently,” explained Francis, “but if Dr. (Alberto) Gasbarri, a great friend, says a swear word against my mother, then he is going to get a punch. But it’s normal, it’s normal. One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.”

He then argued that it was wrong to “make fun or toy with other people’s religions, these people provoke, and there can happen what would happen to Dr. Gasbarri if he said something against my mother. That is, there is a limit. Every religion has its dignity.”

It’s not the first time Francis has spoken spontaneously and without sufficient thought, but this might be the most disturbing incident...

See also No, Pope, No! a great article at PJ Media from Andrew Klaven:

...Pope Francis seems like a terrific guy, he really does. Kissing lepers and what-not. Finding a way to reiterate church doctrine toward gays and divorcees so as to emphasize the love rather than the judgement. You gotta love that. I do anyway.

But all those things said, I really am beginning to wonder what is going on beneath that yarmulke of his. He is a world leader, after all. He ought to think about what he says about world events. And theserecent comments he made about the Charlie Hebdo massacre. What? I mean: What?

“There is a limit,” to free speech the pope told reporters on the papal plane the other day. Throwing a joke punch at his travel organizer Alberto Gaspari, he said, ”If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

He added that he was not justifying violence in God’s name, which he called an “aberration.”

The problem with all this…  Well, for one thing, it’s not right. For another, it’s not true. And for yet another, I can’t even see my way to understanding it as Christian.

You can’t provoke? You can’t insult the faith of others? Really? Let’s listen in on the chief rabbi of Jerusalem circa the year Zero as he reacts to Jesus’s comments on his religion:

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.”

The rabbi sounds pretty provoked to me. Pretty insulted too.  And after that — for those of you who attended public schools — he handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified!

So Jesus was not afraid to provoke and insult the faith of others, even when those others were willing to kill him for it...