The trip that Pope Francis made to the US-Mexican border resulted in both a hit and a miss for the pontiff.
The hit came when Francis said something in favor of birth control.
From The Hill: “Pope Francis suggested Wednesday that people could use contraception if they are trying to avoid getting pregnant because of the Zika virus despite the Catholic Church’s long-standing opposition to birth control.”
Francis is correct to not condemn the use of birth control, since the Bible itself doesn’t condemn the general use of it. Indeed, the only time birth control is mentioned in the Bible is in a case involving a Levirate marriage.
Sure, the Tanakh (a.k.a. Old Testament) describes children as being a blessing from God, but, as an elderly church woman once said, “Rain is also a blessing from God, but when we get too much of it, we wear rubbers.”
Meanwhile, the pontiff’s miss came when he suggested that it would be wrong to prevent anyone from crossing the US-Mexican border, as if doing so would be ungodly.
One of the better responses to the pontiff’s suggestion came from U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is himself a Roman Catholic.
As it turns out, there is precedent for building a wall in order to control who enters an area, and that precedent is found in the Tanakh book of Nehemiah. Nowhere does the Bible require uncontrolled border crossings, just as nowhere does the Bible condemn all use of birth control.
Christians need not fear rejecting teachings of a religious leader or a church that aren’t supported by the Bible. After all, the New Testament teaches that salvation comes through faith in Messiah Jesus alone, not through membership in any particular branch of the universal Church.
—————————————————————————————————————-
Side Note: One of the positive things about Pope Francis is the fact that he is willing to do things that his predecessors didn’t do, as seen in his visit to Congress in 2015.
Surely, Pope Francis would like the above gag if he knew about it . . . and, yes, you can reply with the joke from the movie Airplane!
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”