Pope says weapons manufacturers can't call themselves Christians

Pope says weapons manufacturers can't call themselves Christian [Excerpts]

People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday. Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin.

"If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address.

"It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit [of] distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause.

He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the currency of today ... they say one thing and do another." Francis also built on comments he has made in the past about events during the first and second world wars.

He spoke of the "tragedy of the Shoah," using the Hebrew term for the Holocaust. "The great powers had the pictures of the railway lines that brought the trains to the concentration camps like Auschwitz to kill Jews, Christians, homosexuals, everybody. Why didn't they bomb (the railway lines)?"

Discussing World War One, he spoke of "the great tragedy of Armenia" but did not use the word "genocide". Francis sparked a diplomatic row in April calling the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians 100 years ago "the first genocide of the 20th century," prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador to the Vatican.

[TBC: "Rambling" is too polite a term for the pope's address. It has been often asked why the allies didn't bomb the infrastructure (such as railroads) of Hitler's death camps. Yet, the pope's broad brush would condemn the manufacturers of those same bombs as not being Christian. We are exhorted in Scripture, "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Rom:12:18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
See All...). The direct implication of this verse is that there are some who (regardless of what we do) will not live peaceably with us. Islam is a case study. Consider the experience of the French, who gave Islamic immigrants much, but who continue to experience increasing levels of violence in the streets.

Deuteronomy 20 gives instructions for when "thou goest out to battle" (verse 1, etc.). The New Testament does not abrogate war or civil defense, for the Lord clearly notes that "rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil...[and]  "he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Romans:13:3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
See All...,4). In short, weapons are often necessary, as even the pope's confusing talk indirectly recognizes.]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pope-says-weapons-manufacturers-cant-call-themselves-christian-184139430.html