Dale Price
4.9K posts

Dale Price
@d_wagonseast
Vatican I was a bad idea. An X-er examines his wounded nation, Melkites, Orthodoxy and events. And chats with friends about sports, hobbies, the apocalypse.
Michigan Katılım Kasım 2022
657 Takip Edilen209 Takipçiler



@SteveSkojec @Pontifex The Vatican wants a world without war and nuclear proliferation.
Rome's increasing-pacifist counsels will guarantee it sees neither.
It's of a piece with its ecumenical/and interfaith language, which fly so high above the subject that they won't see the details on the ground.
English

A priest friend is annoyed with certain Catholic criticisms of @Pontifex on his anti-war bluster. Among other things, my friend specifically targets the left/right political delineation when it comes to popes, makes the case that we don't want a pope who advocates for war, decries the failures of Iraq/Afghanistan, and of course points out the tragedy of the casualties (and I know this priest in particular has worked with vets who have PTSD).
I tried to frame a respectful response, and when I was done, it seemed worth posting on main here, as a reference point for my own position on the Iran conflict:
With respect, because you're my brother and I love you, here's how I see it (sorry, it's long):
1) The Iranian regime is a metastatic version of the already non-benign "Twelver" branch of Shia Islam, which holds as part of its fundamental eschatology that both the "Great Satan" (America) and the "Little Satan" (Israel) must be annihilated to bring about the return of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam. We're talking messianic apocalyptic death cult here.
2) They have proven that they will launch missiles at the civilian infrastructure even of friends, which is a) why the Gulf states are so hellishly mad right now and b) why they CAN NOT be allowed to finish developing a nuclear weapon. And they WILL NOT give up their pursuit of nuclear weapons. The negotiations keep failing on this point. Mutually-Assured Destruction doesn't work when you're dealing with suicide bombers.
3) They massacred ~40,000 of their own people just a couple months ago. They are executing young people even now for protesting for their own freedom. When a young woman is arrested, they make sure to rape her in prison so when they execute her, she goes to hell for being "impure." Over 90% of Iranians living in country hate the regime and want it gone. I am interacting with dozens of accounts both in country and outside (with family in contact still in-country) who are BEGGING for this war to continue. Their greatest fear is that the bombing will stop and a ceasefire will happen that will keep the regime that has been terrorizing them for half a century in power.
4) Pope Leo has said NOTHING SPECIFIC about the butchery that has been going on in Iran. Nothing nearly as pointed as he has made against the countries that area a) fighting to stop the #1 world sponsor of terrorism from getting nukes/building an impenetrable missile shield and b) offering an opportunity for regime change if the Iranian people can rise up and take their government.
5) Pope Leo IS an American and he IS part of our political paradigm. I don't think the Left/Right ideological assignment as we understand it has ever applied so directly to a pope, because he's the first American to have the job. And he JUST met with David Axelrod, one of the most vicious far-left political advisors in progressive politics. That meeting went on so long that Leo was 30 minutes late to his next engagement.
6) RE: casualties -- 13 Americans have died in this conflict. Always a tragedy, but it is important to remember that the US military averages 20-25 accidental deaths per month across the entire armed forces due to mishaps/training exercises. We are operating at some of the lowest casualty rates ever seen in a military conflict.
7) Leo's visit to the Grand Mosque in Algeria during all of this, with his great demonstrated respect for a religion that is actively persecuting Christians in that nation (and across Africa), never making any attempt to confront the human rights abuses being perpetrated there, is not a reassuring look.
War is never the desired outcome for mankind. But peace is not the default. But peace is not the default, as I know you know. You're a big history buff and know tons of stuff I don't. But that's why I think you'd agree with me that peace is only possible -- in human terms anyway -- through strength. And more than any other reason, I want to see the Iranian people freed of the savagery they have been forced to live under -- largely because the CIA and MI6 decided to screw around with the Iranian leadership back in the 50s, leading to this mess in the first place.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite Chesterton quotes here, because I think it applies to Pope Leo rather unfortunately:
“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.”
― G K Chesterton
English

@KGOMEZAMDG @RyanLEllis @SteveSkojec @Pontifex They still have lots of uranium enriched to 60 percent. There is no civilian purpose for this level of nuclear fuel. It needs to go, like South Africa's did.
English

@RyanLEllis @SteveSkojec @Pontifex Stoppppp
The nuclear capabilities had been destroyed as per the White House’s own announcement several months ago.
This had little to do with nukes.
English

@hotahotasa45082 He's settling in Doha and praises sharia law.
A sad but common story: the lure of money.
English

Your reminder that everything before the "but" is always irrelevant and usually misleading to the point of deliberate falsehood.
Natalia Antonova 🇺🇸🇺🇦@NataliaAntonova
Amazing things are happening on Threads
English

@amanesi_xyz ちょっと悩みで潰されそうで4時になりましたがまだ寝れてません。
でも今日は休みなので、これからゆっくり寝ます……
心配してくれてありがとう……😭
日本語

@hoshizorarock I don't fight the Cheese Police on this one.
That's a heart attack on a plate.
..
English

これはハンバーガーですがXで言語の壁がなくなった今はハンバーガーから世界中の人間と友達になれるツールになりました。
ですが私はチーズ警察なのでこれを食べる人は逮捕しなくてはなりません。
𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅@Dreamyfoody
日本語

Bracketing the problems with the Pope's Twitter account takes, the reality is that war is a matter for moral analysis, and it's baffling to argue otherwise.
Acyn@Acyn
Vance: I certainly think that in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what going on in the Catholic Church and let the President to dictating American public policy
English

このジョーク投稿についたリプライを読めば世界各国の“アメリカよりも古いもの”大博覧会になってて、とても面白く勉強になる。アメリカそのものよりも古いアメリカのシンバル会社、おばあちゃんの家の家具、家の梁、公園のベンチ、戦艦、パブ、醤油会社に宿屋、、、私たちがいかに長い人類の歴史のある星に生まれたか教えてくれる。その誇りは皆で共有するべきものだ。だからよかったら見てみて。
そしてなによりありがとうアメリカ。君等はいつだって何か話題の中心になる素晴らしい国だと思う。世界中のみんなは君等の事が本当に心から大好きなんだ。
ヲーハン情報探偵🔰(Warhammer Info Sleuth JP)@periplamodel
こんにちは、よい日を!
日本語

@RGuillimanXIII We will see if he visits a strange lodge after a strange injury...
English
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