Agree. It's time to step back. The world is in turmoil. All I can do is pray for peace. Words at this time are not helping.
I will start to police this and delete political posts. I wish I did not have to do this, it is a pain.
Im sorry you have this burden Padraig. Im hoping we all can "self police" ourselves. I personally don't mind if people raise political issues... it can be helpful to read different views and reflect and even learn. It is also an opportunity to practice self control and even prayers for those who might annoy us with a post or two I think it is when the posts go to the point where the language becomes hateful and angry that it crosses a line. This is a beautiful forum with good people who I think have good intentions. Our passions during these trying times sometimes get the best of us. Prayers for peace not only for these world issues but here in Mary's home.
I agree Mike discussing politics is one thing but this constant hate for my Country , while people fail to see any problems with other red flag countries. We have no control over any of this. We are just pawns in this game and we are all in the same boat.
Well will do on harm to give it a rest for a while. Although as one French writer said, 'Everything is politics' and another, 'There is no more political statement a person can say is that they are not interested in politics'.
When I discuss anything, I always try to ensure that my position is infused with a Christian identity, including in politics. I cannot be a Christian in one area—such as personal or family life—and then elsewhere allow some other ideology to speak through me, to become ashamed of my faith, or to place other idols in the position of my faith. In the end, that would mean abandoning what it truly teaches and advocating something different; I would be a hypocrite and a betrayer of my faith. Prayer is a conversation with God, but that conversation, like a seed, must be open so that God’s word can fall on fertile ground; if the ground is dry, nothing will take root. Prayer without action is often dead—it should encourage us to act in the world. In the end, we must condemn what is evil, bear witness to our faith, and stand up for what is good. If it were not so, we would never have had Western Christian civilization, where constitutions and legal systems are rooted in Christianity—because people who followed Christ in their personal lives did the same in political and public life. They did not confine their faith to their private space or only to certain aspects of religion. I have never understood identifying with politics or politicians in a way that leads to idealization. I believe I have my own reason, mind, and the ability to judge events according to God’s laws as good or evil, and I act according to my convictions. If a politician speaks about the same values, I will offer support; but if I see that they have strayed from that path, I will try to be an even stronger critic than those who opposed them from the beginning—because they have betrayed the principles they claimed to defend. That is a far greater betrayal, deception, and wrongdoing than that of someone who openly advocated the opposite from the start. Every criticism that is grounded in good as the basis for change is justified; in the end, it calls us back to God’s commandments and to what the Church stands for, peace, justice, love for one’s neighbor, and a commitment to truth. Some words may be harsh, but a far greater offense is silence in the face of the killing of the innocent, theft, starvation, the expulsion of families from their homes, or even worse, justifying such actions. Did Christ not say that if they remain silent, the stones will cry out? Truth cannot remain buried. I would rather be the one who sometimes receives a slap because of it, whether virtual or real, than one day stand before God and be asked why I remained silent in my comfort while others suffered. I have always been critical of my own politicians, whether left or right; I have been critical of European ones as well, and no less so of others when I see that their actions contradict what our Christian faith teaches. Idealizing politics often leads people into a kind of sectarian thinking, and it saddens me that some highly intelligent political commentators have reached the point where they have replaced crosses and religious symbols in their studios with Trump. That is a purely pagan style and the idealization of a human being, and God’s word is very clear and severe on that matter. As for faith and politics, can they even be separated? If you ever see a marriage that appears perfectly beautiful on the outside, you can be sure that something is not right. A real marriage is often tested by conflict, but precisely so that an even stronger love may emerge between the spouses; gold is tested in fire to prove its purity. At the Council of Nicaea, Saint Nicholas, in the heat of debate, even slapped Arius during a fierce argument about the nature of Christ, and Emperor Constantine intervened to prevent a larger fight. About a hundred years later, in the fifth century, at the Council of Ephesus, when debating whether Mary is the Mother of God, there were scuffles, intense disputes, and even separate sessions held to avoid greater conflict. At the Second Council of Ephesus, things were even worse, it is also called the Robber Council, a name given by Pope Leo I because of intimidation and threats, and it was ultimately annulled. Wherever truth, justice, and morality are discussed, regardless of our feelings or political affiliation, there will always be intensity in debate, because Christ, as He says, brought a sword that separates good from evil. What matters is that our political convictions, and ultimately our love for our homeland, our family, and God, are woven from justice and God’s laws, and not that politics should guide our religious beliefs, as is so often the case in many people’s lives, including those who shape the political world.
