“Jesus wept.”
Those are the words that began a speech Pope Francis gave yesterday, in which he mourned what he called the ‘piecemeal war’ that is being fought around the globe. The head of the Catholic Church left no side of the conflict blameless, pointing out with equal displeasure the radicalized hatred of one side, and the blind greed that inspires the war machines of the other.
“Christmas is approaching: there will be lights, parties, Christmas trees and nativity scenes …it’s all a charade. The world continues to go to war. The world has not chosen a peaceful path. Everywhere there is war today, there is hatred. What shall remain in the wake of this war, in the midst of which we are living now? What shall remain? Ruins, thousands of children without education, so many innocent victims: and lots of money in the pockets of arms dealers. Jesus once said: ‘You cannot serve two masters: either God or riches.‘ War is the right choice for him who would serve wealth: ‘Let us build weapons, so that the economy will right itself somewhat, and let us go forward in pursuit of our interests.‘ There is an ugly word the Lord spoke: ‘Cursed!‘ Because He said: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!‘ The men who work war, who make war, are cursed, they are criminals. A war can be “justified” – in quotation marks – with many, many reasons, but when all the world as it is today, at war – piecemeal though that war may be – a little here, a little there, and everywhere – there is no justification – and God weeps. Jesus weeps.”
Among the tragedies that the Pope specifically called out:
- The terrorist attack in Paris
- The double suicide-bombing of Beirut just 2 days before the Paris attack
- The downing of a Russian Metrojet liner by ISIS
The Best Charade Ever
As much as it’s hard to argue with the idea that Jesus — and, really, any sane human being — would be brought to tears by considering the ‘piecemeal war’ that the rise of terrorism has brought to the world stage, there is significant hope. As Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker points out, as a collective, humanity has made incredible progress toward overcoming violence in the past century.
- The number of people killed in battle (per 100,000) each year is lower than it was between 1946 and 2002, though it has risen over the 2002-2013 numbers.
- The number of people killed in genocide (per 100,000) each year is less than 5% of the average maintained from 1965-1995.
- The U.S. rates of violent crime as a whole, and both murder and rape specifically, are both down by more than half from their average maintained from 1965-1995.
- Global homicide rates have decreased by 33% over the past decade.
- The number of people living in poverty globally has dropped from 44% in 1981 to 13% in 2012.
No one would ever argue with the Pontiff that the Son of God would weep at the horrors and atrocities that mankind continues to visit upon itself daily. But then, would Jesus not weep for a single husband beating his wife for speaking her mind? Or at a single child driven to suicide by merciless bullying at school and on Facebook?
Would Jesus not weep knowing that, in 2015 alone, 238 children have accidentally shot and killed or severely injured others with guns that weren’t properly secured? That’s over a hundred victims more than died in the attack on Paris.
The truth is that our media is getting the better of all of us — including the Pope. If this Christmas is a charade because human beings somewhere are killing themselves for stupid or evil reasons, every Christmas since they invented the concept of Christmas, 336 years after Christ was born, has been a charade.
Even as the Pope called out this Christmas, however, the Vatican was in the process of unveiling a massive 82-foot Bavarian Pine in the middle of the City. It seems that even though Jesus is weeping, the terrorists do have the limelight again, and the military-industrial-Congressional complex is busily figuring out who it can next sell arms to in order to perpetuate the ongoing war necessary to line the pockets of a few anti-humanitarian billionaires, there is still room in Vatican City, and in the hearts of everyday humans worldwide, to live the charade with all of the joy and caroling and giving we can muster.
(Featured image courtesy of Kevin Dooley via Flickr, shared through a Creative Commons license.)
