Bashing liberals, Muslims and millennials: Has this pro-Trump priest gone too far?

[redleghunter]

Peter West, an avowed supporter of President Donald Trump, doesn't shrink from calling it as he sees it.

Posting on Facebook and Twitter up to a dozen times a day, he has repeatedly railed against Muslims, calling moderate Islam "a myth" and voicing strong support for the president's travel ban, which temporarily barred immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries before a judge issued a stay last week.

West has assailed millennials as "snowflakes" who attend "cry-ins" and described liberals as "smug and arrogant" people who find solace in puppies and Play-Doh.

He has called Hillary Clinton an "evil witch" and former President Barack Obama a "bum," at one point sharing a post that challenged Obama's authenticity as an African-American because he wasn't raised by a poor single mother in the inner city.

Were West some random internet flamethrower, his posts might garner a shrug in an age of intense political division and social media rancor.

But West, 57, is a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, and some of his withering attacks, while popular with many of his 7,300 Facebook followers from around the country, run counter to the statements and philosophies of his own leader, Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, and his ultimate boss, Pope Francis.

Bashing liberals, Muslims and millennials: Has this pro-Trump priest gone too far?

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

But West, 57, is a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, and some of his withering attacks, while popular with many of his 7,300 Facebook followers from around the country, run counter to the statements and philosophies of his own leader, Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, and his ultimate boss, Pope Francis.

Bashing liberals, Muslims and millennials: Has this pro-Trump priest gone too far?

I cant believe he's a Catholic priest. yes he's gone too far.

 

[SolomonVII]

Well. it is an open question if a moderate Islam will ever arise out of a population which contains a majority of Muslims. The tendency has always been to radicalize.
Maybe Indonesia is the counter argument to that.

Many in the Catholic hierarchy, including the current pope are more of the liberal persuasion and this would go against their sensibilities. Then again, Pope Francis entered into the papacy encouraging people to question ecclessiastical authority, and why would that not include his own?
Be careful what you wish for.

Scathing sarcasm and ridicule is as good a response as any to the cry-in crowd. They merit our mockery.

Calling Hillary a witch and Obama a bum is really just rhetoric. It doesn't say much about them. There is not really much of a back and forth to be had there, but most of American political discourse is mindless like that anyway. It doesn't go too far in comparison, but is pretty much par for the course in that way.

 

[FireDragon76]

Yes, that goes too far. It's not charitable, and it hurts the wittness to the Gospel. My pastor is obviously a Republican but he tries to talk as little about politics as he can, when its not relevant to his vocation.

 

[The Barbarian]

I cant believe he's a Catholic priest. yes he's gone too far.

There was always Father Coughlin in the 1930s.
Charles Coughlin - Wikipedia

So we've seen worse.

 

[SolomonVII]

Yes, that goes too far. It's not charitable, and it hurts the wittness to the Gospel. My pastor is obviously a Republican but he tries to talk as little about politics as he can, when its not relevant to his vocation.​

Everybody is different.

And charity on the internet is overrated. It leads to passive aggressive responses.

 

[Philip_B]

I am a strong believer in the need for the Church to have a political edge in it's message. Some of the edge is certainly on the left, but not all of it. I believe it is important that the politics of the Church be issue centred rather than party centred. It is critically important that the Gospel informs our politics, and not the other way around. He is, as a priest, entitled to his opinion, and as a citizen, he is entitled to express his opinion. As a priest and as a citizen, he has some responsibility to lead with grace, and show us how the gospel has informed his political opinions. Personal assaults and character assassinations are part of the new unfortunate realities of politics globally, and they are unbecoming of a politician, and even less becoming of a priest.

 

[pat34lee]

The reason we're in the mess that we are is because Christians and others with strong morals have been tiptoeing, afraid to offend others and rock the boat. Note that the other side doesn't care what we think. Too many of them are lost to their own personal worlds where only their opinion matters. We are nothing but the enemy, to be shut up or shut down, whatever it takes.

 

[Orthodoxjay1]

WOW I'm surprised this is coming froma priest in the Same Church that gave us VaticanII, liberation theology, ecumenism, and Pope Francis. I may not hear politics too much in Church (although my priest made clear Trump on abortion was the only choice in the general election), however when I do stuff like this that gives me hope.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Yes, it is too far. I also believe that politics have no place behind the pulpit. It is perfectly fine for priests and other pastors to speak privately with others about politics, but it should stay out of sermons, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or any kind of public platform such as that.

 

[dzheremi]

What is a priest doing (or not doing) if he's got time to be posting rants on Facebook and Twitter a dozen times a day? Does he not keep the hours, hear confessions, and so on?

 

[redleghunter]

Yes, it is too far. I also believe that politics have no place behind the pulpit. It is perfectly fine for priests and other pastors to speak privately with others about politics, but it should stay out of sermons, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, or any kind of public platform such as that.

I would agree but such restraint should be ordered by the bishop or local ordinary. Not the federal government.

 

[The Barbarian]

The reason we're in the mess that we are is because Christians and others with strong morals have been tiptoeing, afraid to offend others and rock the boat. Note that the other side doesn't care what we think. Too many of them are lost to their own personal worlds where only their opinion matters. We are nothing but the enemy, to be shut up or shut down, whatever it takes.

I've heard the same things said about Christians. And sad to say, such people do exist among us. What matters most is charity and coequally, the truth.

Cling to those, and you can't go very far wrong.

 

[SolomonVII]

What is a priest doing (or not doing) if he's got time to be posting rants on Facebook and Twitter a dozen times a day? Does he not keep the hours, hear confessions, and so on?

Many Catholic churches are quite empty these days.

 

[pat34lee]

I've heard the same things said about Christians. And sad to say, such people do exist among us. What matters most is charity and coequally, the truth.

Cling to those, and you can't go very far wrong.

When the truth is that most people are living like pagans and headed to hell, charity would be to tell them so they have a chance to repent.

 

[FireDragon76]

What is a priest doing (or not doing) if he's got time to be posting rants on Facebook and Twitter a dozen times a day? Does he not keep the hours, hear confessions, and so on?

I've heard second-hand that hardly anybody goes to confession anymore. So, some priests aren't very busy.

Catholic hours are pretty brief, generally. You could pray those and still wedge in plenty of Twitter.

 

[SolomonVII]

I have come to regard people like this priest as an antidote to all the virtue signalling of people pretending to be better than they really are.

For sure he is over the top, but so is all of the virtue signalling.

 

[Albion]

So we've seen worse.

In fact, we see it every day. In spades. It comes from radical priests and ministers offering us hateful opinions from the Far Left.

I'll be really concerned when this lone wolf priest on the opposite end of the spectrum is joined by, say, a hundred others saying the same as he.

And that's not to say that I condone everything he's written, but just that when it comes to our outrage, keeping things in perspective should matter.

 

[The Barbarian]

Barbarian observes:
I've heard the same things said about Christians. And sad to say, such people do exist among us. What matters most is charity and coequally, the truth.

Cling to those, and you can't go very far wrong.

When the truth is that most people are living like pagans and headed to hell, charity would be to tell them so they have a chance to repent.

Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians: 13:1
[1] If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. [2] And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. [3] And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. [4] Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; [5] Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil;

[6] Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; [7] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. [8] Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. [9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. [10] But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

[11] When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. [12] We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known. [13] And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.

What did Jesus say to the woman who was to be stoned as an adulterer?

Hellfire and brimstone aren't effective deterrents. But God's love is an effective net. Learn to use it.

He would approve.

 

[more4less]

Peter West, an avowed supporter of President Donald Trump, doesn't shrink from calling it as he sees it.

Posting on Facebook and Twitter up to a dozen times a day, he has repeatedly railed against Muslims, calling moderate Islam "a myth" and voicing strong support for the president's travel ban, which temporarily barred immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries before a judge issued a stay last week.

West has assailed millennials as "snowflakes" who attend "cry-ins" and described liberals as "smug and arrogant" people who find solace in puppies and Play-Doh.

He has called Hillary Clinton an "evil witch" and former President Barack Obama a "bum," at one point sharing a post that challenged Obama's authenticity as an African-American because he wasn't raised by a poor single mother in the inner city.

Were West some random internet flamethrower, his posts might garner a shrug in an age of intense political division and social media rancor.

But West, 57, is a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, and some of his withering attacks, while popular with many of his 7,300 Facebook followers from around the country, run counter to the statements and philosophies of his own leader, Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, and his ultimate boss, Pope Francis.

Bashing liberals, Muslims and millennials: Has this pro-Trump priest gone too far?

I wonder why they did not protested what the other has done to the Muslims.

A CIA analyst who interrogated Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has some damning words about the invasion, saying the United States “got it wrong” — and was ‘critically mistaken’ on its military action in the country.

John Nixon, the Independent reports, specifically pointed to the CIA’s view of Hussein’s feelings about the use of chemical weapons on Iraqi civilians — a narrative frequently touted by the George W. Bush administration during the nascent invasion.

Nixon says CIA officials “were also mistaken about [Hussein’s] health, personal habits and his involvement in running Iraq.”

Writing on his book, Debriefing The President: The Interrogation Of Saddam Hussein, for the Daily Mail, Nixon offered acrid criticism regarding Bush’s leadership, saying the former president heard “only what he wanted to hear” — including that Iraq had somehow been responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001.




Read more at CIA Analyst Who Interrogated Saddam Hussein Just Blew the Lid Off the US 'Official Story'


Obama hails death of Muammar Gaddafi as foreign policy success