Racism, a Sin – Pope Francis… But, is it?
Pope Francis calls racism a sin but is “racism” a specific sin, as distinct from the law of charity?
Comments invited…
03Jun
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Comments (34)
What is wrong with racism? If it means preferring your own people to others, it is natural, healthy and in the interests of a cohesive and homogeneous society. how can that be wrong, far less sinful? It is the essence of society, the nursery of the family.
If it means beating people up because they are a different colour, it is wrong.
However, the former has been tarred with the brush of the latter. Deliberately, as part of the ongoing war against the West. This conflation is defined by the Shorter Oxford 1993.
This intervention by the Pope is frankly, unwonted. Has His holiness intervened in the case of Shaku Bayo, killed by police in Kirkcaldy in 2015, an incident where the Public Enquiry is still outstanding?
Antoine Bisset,
I’m not sure what you mean by “preferring” our own people / race, but given that you go on to show that you are not “racist” in the usual sense, I take it you mean that it is natural to want to e.g. marry someone of your own race, that sort of thing. That’s perfectly natural, I agree, and nothing remotely to do with hating any other race. I wouldn’t have wanted to marry a person from any other country, no matter their skin colour or race – so I don’t see that as racist. If I’d gone on holiday to the USA for example, and fell for a Scotsman living there, I still wouldn’t have wanted to marry him unless he was willing to return to Scotland, and I’m not at all anti-American, LOL! If I was an employer, though, and people of colour applied for a job, I would be looking at their qualifications/experience etc. nothing to do with their colour.
I don’t know anything about the case of Shaku Bayo in Kirkcaldy, so would be interested to learn more.
Here is the info.
No riots, no celebs tweeting outrage, but a distraught family.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46591551
What is wrong with racism is it is against the very teachings of Jesus, ” Love your enemies ,love those who persecute you!” To prove this He Himself suffered even unto death ,and then forgave all ! This is the example Pope Francis wants us to follow and you must search your soul and mind for racism comes to man by his own doing or his mind twisted by Satan. If you do not call it a sin then recheck definition of sin. An offense against God done deliberately by man and also is an offense against Humanity !just look at history to see all the destruction and suffering fostered by hatred which is food for racism. No one said it was easy , Jesus only said “Come to ME for my burden is light and my yoke is easy ” and if every one in their own way would meditate on this you might be surprised. “Remove the beam in your own eye before removing the speck in your brother’s eye ” thank you Marcel [Surname removed by Editor]
lambrem1
The first point I would make in response to your comment is that there’s relatively less racism in this world today than anti-Catholicism and anti-Christianism. The second point I would make is that we have no idea if George Floyd’s death was race motivated. We know the policeman responsible for his death has been charged with murder, but we don’t really know if it was racist-motivated murder or just murder by a rogue cop with a nasty temper. The media and all the anarchists groups have jumped on the racist bandwagon without providing proof. But even if that murder was racially motivated, the man responsible has been arrested and charged and that should have been an end to the matter.
Racism in general is the hatred of one’s neighbour because of the colour of their skin. Opposing multiculturalism or interculturation, which things are encouraged today to rob nations of their national identity and patriotism, is not racist.
I do wish those who bang on about racism and what Pope Francis has to say about would spend less time straining on a gnat and turn their attentioon instead to the camel that is presently being swallowed, the murder of milllions of babies in the womb every year and the death of so many souls by tolerated (even encouraged) wicked lifestyles. Pope Francis is nothing short of a disgrace in this department.
Concerning your interpretation of Our Lord’s words, “come to me for my burden is light…”, etc., these words related to those weighed down in conscience with sin, nothing whatever to do with worldly issues of racism or anything else. Our Lord was only interested in the salvation of immortal souls, not in building a heaven on earth like some hippie founding a commune. As long as fallen humanity populates this earth it will be sinful, often shockingly so. This brings me to the other statement of Our Lord you misquote: “remove the beam from your own eye…” Again, this is meant for people who fixate on worldly issues while ignoring the much more important supernatural problem of souls being lost for all eternity. Hence, those who go on about migrants, racism and other social issues while ignoring the breaking of the Commandments of God on a grand scale are as blind as bats.
Pope Francis just never misses an opportunity NOT to talk about Christian virtue. Everybody knows that racism means hatred of someone of a different colour, but what never gets a mention is the virtue of charity. Why wouldn’t the Pope point out that nobody can claim to be a Christian if he doesn’t love his neighbour, no matter his race or colour? He just says what everybody else says – never a different, or more exalted message. It’s pathetic.
This report shows that these demonstrators are not at all concerned abut George Floyd, RIP – whose murder is a complete disgrace. All murders are wrong, of course, but to watch the life being forced out of that poor man, known as the Genlte Giant, was torture.
These supposed protesters are nothing more than a bunch of thugs
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/london-george-floyd-protest-activists-scuffle-with-police-amid-high-tensions-as-thousands-descend-on-westminster-for-anti-racism-march/ar-BB14Z8bQ?ocid=spartandhp
Lily / Antoine,
I can’t stand these “isms” (racism, sexism) – idiotic terms.
We were taught, very clearly at Catholic school and in the pulpit, that the Parable of the Good Samaritan was but one example of what Our Lord meant by the virtue of charity. We were obliged to love everyone, no exception, and to treat others as we would wish them to treat us. Could not have been clearer. I never heard any teacher or priest say “oh, and that includes people of colour…” It was taken for granted.
Anyone who practises Christian charity will never offend anyone due to the colour of his/her skin or any other “difference”.
Personally, it’s a complete mystery to me why anyone hates anyone else due to the colour of his/her skin. I’ve never heard any rational explanation for it, and I will never EVER understand it.
It seems so bizarre to me, that years ago I was astonished at the tales a friend of mine would tell about the hatred she encountered as a black woman (from the Caribbean) in England. I used to think she must be imagining it, because I just couldn’t understand the sheer stupidity of hating someone for something so ridiculous. I know I’m hated for the work of Catholic Truth, for what modernists see as “my views”, “my opinions” and so I accept that, and given the diabolical disorientation prophesied at Fatima, I understand it. But to be hated because of the colour of my skin? That’s crackers.
So, as I say, I just couldn’t believe it when my friend (we’ll call her Claire) told me stories of the hatred she’d encountered as a black woman. I honestly thought she was either imagining it or exaggerating – and I told her so. Then, one day we were out for lunch; she was walking ahead of me to reach a table in the far end of the restaurant. As I followed her, I noticed a woman sitting at a table on my right, looking Claire up and down, her lip curled up, as if in disgust. I was horrified.
I stopped in my tracks, curled my own lip and gave her the same disgusted look that she was directing at Claire. She was startled (not least because she probably hadn’t realised that Claire and I were together.)
Me charitable? Not to a racist! Sorry! 😀
Ed,
I too am tired of these ‘-ism’ words, those such as ‘anti-semitism’ and ‘racism’ have lost much of their meaning. Still, I find them preferable to the ‘-phobia’ words … Islamophobia, transphobia. These really are Newspeak.
Ed,
Like you, not having a racist bone in my body, and naturally assuming that most folk think along the same lines as me, means that I too would have struggled to believe the stories of your friend. The way you stood up for your friend is praiseworthy.
Interestingly, it is those who see racism everywhere, and who accuse everyone else of being racist, who are most likely to be subconsciously racist themselves, and project this on others. Take, for example, the case of sanctimonious liberal Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. It amused me much when it was discovered and reported in the press that he had a history of dressing up in blackface.
Comment deleted
Please read the introduction to this thread again. You have misunderstood the purpose of this thread, which is to discuss the FACT that no Catholic can be racist because that is to be (drum roll) uncharitable.
There was so much political nonsense and confusion in this post, assertions with no sources provided to support them, that I had no alternative but to delete it. Please make sure you understand the key question in every thread introduction before posting in future.
I disagree on Christ words are not just for certain people or suffering it applies to everyone . The fact is that anything done against a sister or brother in a harmful way is against Christ this why we are called Christians and if you do not think that is a burden then you are not seeing the world a Christ wants us . I do agree that abortions must be stopped and that the Pope should be more demonstrative and make it loud and clear that it is a front Jesus, Mary ,and all that the Holy Family represents not mention those who do this are no better than the Canaanites who were just as willing to sacrifice a child for their whims !
We are all descended from Adam and Eve and all of us are created in the image and likeness of God. Racism is therefore sinful, no doubt about it.
The problem is that these days, any moderate centre-right opinion is likely to get labeled as racist by looney leftists. And this leads to situations such a Count Dankula, the Scottish YouTuber who was convicted of inciting racial violence for making a comedic video featuring a pet pug[!]
There are some people who think Leave voters are all secretly racist. Ironically, this itself is a form of discrimination, and is sinful.
Even Michael Voris of Church Militant TV has started to use the very same tactics as looney leftists… In one of his recent videos attacking the FSSPX, he made a (calumnious) accusation that the FSSPX is Nazi. The video even featured a graphic of the national flag of Nazi era Germany to emphasise this point.
Miles Immaculatae,
“Racism is sinful, no doubt about it”
But is racism sinful because it’s a lack of charity – or is there something that makes racism particularly sinful? That’s my understanding of the thread question and my answer is that it’s not in a special category, racism is sinful because it offends against basic humanity and Christian charity.
Josephine,
My particular belief is that ‘racism’ was once a useful word to describe a particular subcategory of sin against charity. But on account of ideologisation, the word racism has lost much of its true meaning, and is now used as a term of abuse against political opponents, usually radical leftists against anyone remotely conservative.
I do actually believe that racism, historically, has been more than simply a sin against charity. In Nazi Germany for example, the acceptance of pseudoscientific racial theory led to a denial of the doctrine of the common progenitor of Mankind, Adam. And also a denial of the doctrine that teaches the innate value of all humans, who are made in the image and likeness of God. You will recall that the Nazis considered Jews, Slavs, and Blacks to be inferior to themselves… subhuman species. They replaced Christianity with a neo-pagan religion, based on ancient Northern European paganisms. Therefore, in the case of ‘classical racism’, it is as much the sin of apostasy and heresy, as well as against charity. No person could possibly have been both a Catholic and a sincere Nazi at the same time on account of this. The same, of course, goes for communism.
Miles Immaculatae,
That’s a very thoughtful post – I didn’t think of “racism” in that way. I’m mulling that over – all makes very good sense to me.
To take up where Miles Immaculatae left off, “racism” is a catch-all accusatory buzzword for leftists, like “homophobe,” “climate change denier,” etc. especially when they find you’re winning an argument against them. Not too long ago, let’s recall, people were being accused of being racist because they called this corona virus by its place of origin: the Chinese virus!
It remains unknown whether the murder of George Floyd was an act of racism, or just the act of a power-hungry psychopathic policeman. But “racism” is a much easier can of gasoline to throw on the flames than a psychological analysis, and obviously, there are many thousands of black people who have been conditioned by leftist propaganda for over two generations to react the way they did. Their poverty, their abject living conditions, are all “whitey’s” fault – and to a certain degree, they are correct. But “whitey,” in this case, happens to be the leftists who made them dependent on welfare, and subject to government control of their lives from cradle to grave. In other words, America’s inner cities are a bombed-out no-man’s land of crime, drugs, violence and filthy housing: tinderboxes waiting to go up in flames at the slightest provocation. Especially, calculated provocation by Communists using Saul Alinsky’s techniques.
As for Pope Francis, he thinks he is so powerful – and he is so deluded – that he can invent new sins, like sins against the environment, the sin of racism, the sin of not opening Europe’s borders to Christian-hating Muslims. Oh, and how about the sin of the death penalty? Just more smears for his arsenal, to be used against real Catholics.
But back to the riots. Something struck me this morning as I was watching Tucker Carlson’s 25-odd minute commentary on the riots. Several of the leftist mouthpieces have claimed that Americans deserve her cities going up in flames, because of her history of institutional racism. It is “justice.”
I suddenly wondered whether these mouthpieces had actually stumbled on the truth without realizing it: namely, that this may well be America’s chastisement for the legalization of abortion and homosexual “marriage.” God acts through secondary agents, after all – as difficult as that may be to swallow.
A final note about Kellyanne Conway’s video. I was not impressed at all, and despite the title (“…shuts down criticism”) I didn’t think she shut down anything. She came across as somewhat of a political hack, and failed completely to address the most important fact about the Democrats’ latest phony accusation: there was no teargas used against the crowd assembled near St. John’s church. Now maybe this hadn’t come to light yet when she was interviewed, I don’t know, but as I said, I wasn’t impressed.
RCA Victor,
Well said. Great, comprehensive post.
And I agree about Kellyanne – she’s usually great in TV interviews but not this one; at one point, near the end, she just talked through the news anchor, so that I, for one, could not make out what either of them was saying. So, I wasn’t impressed either, not at all.
I did consider posting this video from The Remnant as a separate thread but I think it probably fits perfectly here…
Editor
Excellent video from Michael Matt and I note that Islam is making ‘inroads’ in Minneapolis with the ‘Islamic call to prayer’ clip. Michael says afterwards he doesn’t “blame them (Muslims), they are just doing what we (Catholics) allowed them to do, they are filling a vacuum.”
Well if you are living in Wapping, London you will not have missed this ‘call to prayer’ as they authorities made sure it was put on loudspeaker for the whole of the borough to hear. Can’t wait for Cardinal Vincent Nichols to do the same next year with an Easter blessing for the borough, just you wait and wait and wait……
Francescomarta,
Memories are made of this. I remember almost falling out of my bed in the Holy Land on our first full day there, awakened, at the crack of dawn, by that self-same call to prayer.
Phew!
Editor
That’s a great video from Michael Matt. Here’s another from Fr James Altman, and NO ablutions mentioned!
Therese,
I began to listen to that sermon early this afternoon, was interrupted and distracted thereafter, so haven’t managed to get back to it. Will do, though, asap. I did hear enough to know that he begins “on the point” and I think will stay there! My kind of sermon!
Thanks for posting – will listen/watch asap.
Therese,
You’ve probably seen where Abp. Vigano has already condemned Abp. Gregory as a “false shepherd.” This prelate has really now shown his true colors as the hand-picked successor to Cardinal Wuerl, who is a pillar of the Lavender Mafia, a pillar of this Lavender Pontificate, and the sidekick of Mr. McCarrick.
RCA Victor
Yes. Thank God for Abp Vigano; he’s a sip of water in the desert.
Therese,
There’s a lot of good stuff in that video sermon of Fr Altmann (not least the “background” excuse / Barack Obama) plus the condemnation of eulogies at Catholic funerals. And I really love the “no footnotes” to the Ten Commandments 😀
I also really really love his concluding sentence. Bravo!
I just wish he wouldn’t mention “Saint” Pope John Paul II ! Drives me nuts !
The Church has promulgated a magisterial document, Mit brennender Sorge, which touches on the topic of race. It was written in German, not Latin, and was smuggled into Germany in 1937 to be read to German Catholics at Palm Sunday Mass.
Here is an extract from Wikipedia about the Pius XI’s encyclical:
It condemned “pantheistic confusion”, “neopaganism”, “the so-called myth of race and blood”, and the idolizing of the State. It contained a vigorous defense of the Old Testament with the belief that it prepares the way for the New. [The Nazis rejected the Old Testament claiming that it was Jewish, and they promoted a non-Jewish Christ.] The encyclical states that race is a fundamental value of the human community, which is necessary and honorable but condemns the exaltation of race, or the people, or the state, above their standard value to an idolatrous level.
The Nazis hatred of other ethnic groups was routed in their idolatrous anti-Catholic ideology. Here is a link to the text of the encyclical:
http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mit-brennender-sorge.html
Miles Immaculatae,
Many thanks for that link – I have copied one of the closing sentiments, because it strikes me as fitting into the context of this discussion – as a very good piece of reflection for those who do feel hatred in their hearts for people of other races and colours.
” “We cease not to pray and to beg” (Col. i. 9) for you, children of the Church, that the days of tribulation may end and that you may be found faithful in the day of judgment; for the persecutors and oppressors, that the Father of light and mercy may enlighten them as He enlightened Saul on the road of Damascus.”
I think racism is definitely a sin against charity – there’s no doubt in my mind about that.
However, I’m totally opposed to the way the black activists are destroying statues in England and now they have taken it upon themselves to rename streets in Glasgow. I objected when the city renamed a city centre street Nelson Mandela Place – I was totally opposed to segregation in South Africa but I’m opposed to a lot of things that go on overseas, it doesn’t mean I want my home town to have well known street names changed as some kind of symbol of support for foreign causes, no matter what the colour of the skin of their heroes.
So, this report today has infuriated me and worries me.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/activists-in-glasgow-are-renaming-streets-that-were-named-after-slave-traders/ar-BB15bJi5?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds
I sometimes lose my bearings in town, so what will happen if I ask the way to Wilson Street instead of Rosa Parks Street – will I be arrested and accused of hate speech? I am really outraged.
I find myself asking why people who hate British history so much and want to wipe it out, would want to live here at all. I’m not saying “go back to where you originally came from” – that is not what I’m saying but I am saying that, to be frank, that’s what I would do if I couldn’t stand the people and history of where I was living, due to the decision my parents or grandparents made to move here.
May I suggest that we all pray to the wonderful black saint, St Martin de Porres, for a solution to this evil of racism.
Fidelis,
This is not going to make you feel any better, but one of the first things I noticed, years ago, about the worldlings/glitterati/narcissists is that they are constantly giving each other awards, and otherwise lavishing praise on each other. This was one of the first things that made me back away from the denizens of Hollywood. But their habits are also the habits of socialists, with whom they share the same disorientation and goals: that is, if it makes me rich and gives me power, I’m all for it.
Scotland, as I noticed years ago to my dismay, appears to be well-advanced in socialist decay and concentration of power. So it is no surprise that the various stooges of socialism have set about re-naming streets after themselves and pulling down statues. It serves two purposes: self-aggrandizement, and the destruction of the (Christian) past.
PS: Nelson Mandela was a Communist…
RCA Victor,
“Scotland… well-advanced in socialist decay…”
Got it in one. I remember attending a meeting about Catholic schools some years ago, and at one point a young man stood up to take his leave, waving his arms around, saying, dramatically as he exited, “Anyway, Jesus was a Socialist!”
Leaving the rest of us somewhere between bemused and bewildered… and some of us laughing heartily 😀
What a numpty!
Editor,
I heard a variation of that when I was attending a Protestant church, in my mis-spent youth: Marxism and Christianity are so similar, dontcha know!
Unfortunately for us, Pope Francis would no doubt agree…
Racism violates the 2nd part of the greatest commandment. Love thy neighbor. Racism is hate.
Crystal Swan,
Yes, hating other people is a sin, and hating someone because of their race is a sin. We are only permitted to hate heresy and sin itself.
But there are black people who don’t think America is racist. Interesting that you chose to post on this older thread about racism and not on this more recent one…
https://catholictruthblog.com/2020/06/19/racism-in-usa-a-false-narrative-are-black-protesters-playing-pretend/
Crystal Swan
Racism is a sin but abortion is a much greater sin that violates the Commandment “Thou shalt not kill”! I take it you’re vehemently opposed to this crime against God and humanity?
By the way, the demonstrations we’re witnessing right now are not truly related to racism, they are stirred up by Marxists on emotion to cause anarchy in society. Anyone with an IQ marginally higher than a house plant can see this.
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