Radio host Rush Limbaugh says Pope Francis is “scary” and “a little out there” in his call to demonstrate “genuine faith” by opening their wallets even more to the poor.
“A man of religion, the vicar of Christ, seems to have fallen in with the communist way of doing things,” Limbaugh said on his national broadcast Wednesday, “controlling mankind through command-and-control governments backed by police or military power. This is what the pope is essentially calling for. The problem is, human beings suffer under collectivist or communist regimes. They do not prosper. That’s the history of the world. The history of humanity is tyranny, and the people who live in tyranny do not prosper, by definition.”
Limbaugh quoted the pope extensively from a National Catholic Reporter article, as Francis said focusing on poverty and sacrificing for the poor are the heart of the Gospel, not signs of communism.
During Tuesday’s mass in Vatican City, the pontiff said being fully Christian means being rich in spirit, faith, the Word, wisdom and zeal – things that Jesus has taught and offered all people.
He added to make sure this huge amount of “wealth in the heart” also impacts the wallet, because “when the faith doesn’t reach your pockets, it is not a genuine faith.”
Francis indicated Christian giving goes beyond plain charity, which is good, but isn’t the “Christian poverty” believers are called to embrace.
“Christian poverty is: I give to the poor what is mine, not the excess, but also what is necessary” for one’s own well-being.
The pontiff said if Christians don’t dig deep and generously open up their wallets, they do not have “genuine faith.”
“I’ve not heard this before,” said Limbaugh of the pope’s comments. “So people’s faith in God, religious faith is now, according to the vicar of Christ, directly related to how wide open their wallets are.”
“In other words,” Limbaugh continued, “you can’t just give your disposable income to charity. You have to give money that you yourself actually need, and until you give up what you need for yourself, you are not being charitable. That’s what Il Papa is saying.
“Anybody can give disposable income. That’s no big deal. You’ve gotta give up what you need. In other words, instead of paying the electric bill or buying whatever, that money needs to go to the poor. And if it doesn’t, you’re not genuine. Your faith isn’t genuine. Now, maybe this isn’t communism, I don’t know, but it’s scary, and it’s a little out there.”
Limbaugh explained that every bit of the pope’s mantra is related to man-made climate change.
“I predicted that militant environmentalism will become the new home of communists, and it has,” he said. “Now, the pope seems to have fallen for this.”
“Now, the pope goes on to say … that giving from your disposable income’s not enough. You’ve gotta give and you’ve gotta give and you’ve gotta keep on giving until you’re no longer rich! Nations must do this in order to save the climate. … You can’t just give your disposable income to charity. You have to give money that you actually need. That is genuine sacrifice. That is genuine faith. You have to give until you, too, are poor.”
Limbaugh called it “a shame” the pope has signed onto the philosophy of communists and militant environmentalists.
“In addition to communism keeps people poor, makes people poor, it impoverishes people, militant environmentalism seeks the identical thing,” Limbaugh said.
“Militant environmentalism is anti-progress. The militant environmentalists will openly tell you they want to roll back all kinds of technological progress and others because it’s all poisoning the planet. The really extreme environmentalist wackos will tell you that humans must begin to commit suicide in order to save the planet.”
