“Politics
is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to
build as one the greatest common good”
Francis, address to Congress, Sept. 24, 2015
Amidst all the crass conservative criticism of Pope Francis,
even as he pontificates directly on U.S. soil, Shepard Smith, the conscience
of the Fox News Network, has scolded Fox viewers for portraying the pope’s
views as nothing more than a liberal diatribe within a political context.
As Donald Trump supporters increasingly turn their backs on Fox,
the question arises: Will Smith’s blunt remarks add to the Trumpsters’
criticism of their formally favorite news network?
said that the issues Francis emphasizes shouldn’t be political, because they
are matters of basic human decency.
“I don’t know,” Smith said on air. “I think we are in a weird
place in the world when the following things are considered political. Five
things, I’m going to tick them off. These are the five things that were on his
and our president’s agenda. Caring for the marginalized and the poor — that’s
now political. Advancing economic opportunity for all. Political? Serving as good
stewards of the environment. Protecting religious minorities and promoting
religious freedom globally. Welcoming [and] integrating immigrants and refugees
globally. And that’s political?”
pope “other than protect those who need help, bring in refugees who have no
place because of war and violence and terrorism. These seem like universal
truths that we should be good to others who have less than we do, that we
should give shelter to those who don’t have it.”Smith went on to question the morality of people who “find
themselves on the other side” of those issues.
said. “They’re the words of the pope, they’re the feelings of the president.
And people who find themselves on the other side of that message should consult
a mirror, it seems like. Because I think that’s what we’re supposed to do as a
people, whatever your religion. I mean, it seems to me and I think to probably,
as Bill O’Reilly would put it — most clear-thinking Americans — that that’s
how we’re supposed to roll.”
