I was expecting this. If conservative Republicans (21st style that is) find it so easy to demonize liberals, moderates, independents, and now members of their own party, why shouldn’t they now open up full blast on Pope Francis? Why not make a big deal and not attend his speech? Posturing is soooooooooo in. Why not all but call him a socialist? It’s misuse is as popular now as “at the end of the day.” Why not suggest that by doing this speech he’s somehow ignoring or doesn’t care about Christians being persecuted? It always helps when you’re on the attack to suggest someone can’t multitask.And so we now have an example (and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more) from Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar:

Media reports indicate His Holiness instead intends to focus the brunt of his speech on climate change–a climate that has been changing since first created in Genesis. More troubling is the fact that this climate change talk has adopted all of the socialist talking points, wrapped false science and ideology into “climate justice” and is being presented to guilt people into leftist policies. If the Pope stuck to standard Christian theology, I would be the first in line. If the Pope spoke out with moral authority against violent Islam, I would be there cheering him on. If the Pope urged the Western nations to rescue persecuted Christians in the Middle East, I would back him wholeheartedly. But when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one. Artist and columnist Maureen Mullarkey effectively communicated this fallacy stating, “When papal preferences, masked in a Christian idiom, align themselves with ideological agendas (e.g. radical environmentalism) [they] impinge on democratic freedoms and the sanctity of the individual.”

The earth’s climate has been changing since God created it, with or without man. On that, we should all agree. In Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment (written with the consultation of that great seminary the EPA and its embattled head Gina McCarthy), he condemned anyone skeptical of the link between human activity and climate change and adopted the false science being propagated by the Left. If the Pope wants to devote his life to fighting climate change then he can do so in his personal time. But to promote questionable science as Catholic dogma is ridiculous.

He’s telling ’em!

Yeah, the Pope needs to promote climate change “on his own time.”

See?

The Pope didn’t realize that he doesn’t only have The Big Supervisor above to guide his actions, as he interprets his mission and what he feels The Big Supervisor wants him to do.

He has a supervisor (small first letter) in the U.S. Congress.

HE — not The Big Supervisor upstairs — will determine how the Pope uses his time.

HE will determine what is of religious importance.

Who does the Pope think he is anyway? The Pope?

And there’s more:

Furthermore, I am a proud Catholic. I chose to attend a Jesuit college in the Midwest, not just for my undergraduate but also my graduate studies (D.D.S.). I received an excellent education where I was taught to think critically, to welcome debate and discussion and to be held accountable for my actions; a trademark of a Jesuit education. And finally, I am a Conservative, a member of Congress, a constitutionalist and adamant defender of our Republic; an American that believes in strict adherence to the rule of law and a firm believer in our First Amendment protections, in this particular discussion, the freedom of religion.

So at this pivotal moment in world history, His Holiness, Pope Francis, is intending to spend the majority of his time on one of the world’s greatest stages focusing on climate change. I have both a moral obligation and leadership responsibility to call out leaders, regardless of their titles, who ignore Christian persecution and fail to embrace opportunities to advocate for religious freedom and the sanctity of human life. If the Pope plans to spend the majority of his time advocating for flawed climate change policies, then I will not attend. It is my hope that Pope Francis realizes his time is better spent focusing on matters like religious tolerance and the sanctity of all life. As the leader of the Catholic Church, and as a powerful voice for peace throughout the world, His Holiness has a real opportunity to change the climate of slaughter in the Middle East… not the fool’s errand of climate change.

Ahem.

Millions of people around the world don’t think it’s a “fool’s errand.”

If it was, then the Congressman would probably be the one doing the errand.

Question: is there ANY ISSUE 21st century conservatives can address without showing rage, overt hostility and going into attack mode?

I’m just waiting to see “THE POPE IS A CINO!” (Catholic in Name Only) signs.

UPDATE:
—Ed Kilgore:

By now you’ve probably heard about the wacko bird Republican House Member from Arizona who has noisily announced he’s boycotting Pope Francis’ appearance before Congress next week. Paul Gosar is, of course, as he explains in a column he penned for Townhall, a “proud Catholic,” who proceeds to do everything other than say his beads to tout his Catholic credentials. But interestingly, in the next breath he tells us he’s “a Conservative, a member of Congress, a constitutionalist and adamant defender of our Republic; an American that believes in strict adherence to the rule of law and a firm believer in our First Amendment protections, in this particular discussion, the freedom of religion.” This appears to be an allusion to his preemptive fury at Francis for not devoting his speech to Congress to abortion and to the allegedly threatened liberties of bakers and florists and County Clerks. But it also suggests he is a bit less than open to any papal advice that happens to conflict with his rather rigid secular ideology.

—John Cole:

I love how this doesn’t even track internally-he lists the ideological agenda he wants the Pope to address, and then flames him for speaking out on another ideological agenda. Only in America is climate change an ideological agenda. Everywhere else it’s called “SCIENCE

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

themoderatevoice.com/