As IF Times

Source: Pope Francis Mourns Excess Carbon Emissions Given Off By Notre Dame Fire | The Babylon Bee

It’s a sign of the times we’re living in when reading a story such as this makes you groan in exasperation rather than immediately dismiss it with a big ‘as if’.  In the past few years, you would think that a contest is being held to see which officious, high profile person can provide the stupidest utterance. We’re not talking about random slips of the tongue or the occasional brain hiccup that makes someone say that there are 57 states. We are talking about full blown, twilight zone whoppers which are often completely untethered to logic.

As this is being written, elected government representatives on the left are categorically denying that a crisis of any kind is happening at the US’s southern border with Mexico….even as irrefutable video proof of the invasion is readily available. It’s reminiscent of the classic Monty Python skit in which a customer brings back a parrot to the pet shop because it is clearly dead only to experience the vehement denial of thus by the owner.  There are Presidential candidates who openly welcome illegal aliens into their self proclaimed  sanctuary cities but howl in protest as plans are afoot to actually send them there.  As well, there are Presidential contenders running on the platform of reparations for slavery, even though that condition hasn’t existed in the U.S. for over 150 years.  Oddly, there are those that are pushing for the segregation of students along racial lines on campuses, even though the ancestors of the minority kids fought their entire lives for desegregation.  Also from the twilight zone of course, is Joe Biden running on a platform of ending the rule and domination of old white men, not to mention capitalist success story Bernie Sanders expounding on socialism.

Not that many years ago, The Onion was the only outlet publishing all manner of satirical stories on topical issues. They offer witty articles lampooning the newsmakers of the day.  Now, virtually all of the major news outlets are apparently battling for that same audience and truth is now as  bizarre as fiction. Alexia Cortez has become a franchise unto herself.  Naturally, politicos and entertainers are the ones most often captured embarrassing themselves with slips that expose their vapidity. Who can forget Rep. Hank Johnson’s fear that the island of Guam could tip over because of an influx of US troops? Who can forget Rep. Pelosi exhorting the house to pass a bill so they could find out what was in it? Entertainers are, well, entertainers, so the majority of their bleats are just that….for entertainment.

We observe that the TV news networks are increasingly willing to give voice to those that are only tenuously hanging on to sanity. The reason for this is that the 24 hour news cycle needs edgy stuff to keep people interested in the same boring news stories. Rather than any concern with the veracity of a story, they instead manufacture personalities to create brands and push wild narratives. So it’s entertainment masquerading as news. Nobody watches Rachel Maddow to find out the news. They watch it to find Maddow’s spin on the day’s events as if it were the next installment of Game Of Thrones.

But dear god, not the Pope! We don’t really know if he really uttered the concerns about the fire at Notre Dame worsening global warming as stated in the linked article. But based on the eyebrow raising comments he’s made during his tenure on other sacrosanct Church issues…. it’s possible that he may have! And that’s the point. The Pope isn’t supposed to say stupid things. He’s supposed to be sober and learned, his opinions well researched and his pronouncements measured and to be absorbed with gravity by all. He’s not supposed to be uttering the same things as Miley Cyrus.  It would be like attending a shareholders’ meeting at IBM and the chief financial officer declares that he’s going to convey the last quarter’s financial statements via interpretive dance.

With so much of today’s news coming from outlets that have morphed into entertainment vehicles, the line between hard news and infomercials for the latest social justice cause barely exists. With everyone getting into the Fake News game the average person would be hard pressed to find out what is really happening in his world. Instead, the consumer has a wide variety of versions of reality and he then chooses the one that fits his worldview. We are at that point in history when people have reason to be skeptical of everything.  In the end, we have to hope that people will tire of the circus acts and gravitate to what they observe with their own lyin’ eyes.

update: Pope urges hairdressers to cut gossip

Source: News from The Associated Press

In the matter of what is proper Catholic doctrine and what isn’t, there is probably no higher authority than the Pope.  Whomever occupies that role has spent their entire life at being a scholar of the history of the teachings of the Church.  If you were on a TV show and a god question was posed of you, it’s likely that the Pope would be one of your lifeline calls.

I cast serious doubts as to whether the topic of global warming ever came up in the scholarly studies that all Catholic priests are required to master.  If it has, then all Popes before this one have been negligent by never having discussed it during their reigns.  While Pope Francis tries to link global warming to the suffering of people in poorer countries, I can think of at least one other cause of mass suffering that he can address; that of the stupidity of the products that come out of the entertainment business.

There’s plenty to address in the matter of human frailties in the world including the classic ones of greed, corruption and general evilness.  Whatever happened to the classic pleas on behalf of global poverty, starving kids and world peace? There’s no shortage of affronts to humanity that he can target with his critical words. The nebulous claims of the global warming crowd should be well down the list of issues facing mankind.  In a quote from his interview, he says,

“Those who deny this must go to the scientists and ask them. They speak very clearly,” he said, referring to experts who blame global warming on man-made activities…”

Which scientists?  When you read that “scientists have all agreed on the science”, it should give pause to anyone, since unlike the god business, science is not about agreement, it’s about empirical evidence that can be measured. In fact, there are plenty of dissenting scientific views on global warming, but somehow, the ‘consensus’ is already in.  Well, I think many will want a recount on that consensus.  As far as speaking clearly, the only common solution that ever arises from the sage scientists are more taxes on western economies.

Imagine if football broadcasters Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth were to comment on the policies of the Catholic Church.  Interesting perhaps, but they don’t have any more credibility than the next guy.  We look to them for football opinions, not for topics clearly out of their lane.

When a figure with the gravitas of The Pope makes a pronouncement on a topic, people pay attention.  It’s not like Jennifer Lawrence or Bill Maher making inane and obtuse comments.  The Pope should be speaking from a position of knowledge and perspective.  Clearly, his expertise is in the saving of souls business, not in the saving the planet racket.  That’s for non god fearing lawyers and politicians.