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Here is a great article that I think everyone should read:


A Catholic Nun-Turned-Lesbian Mom Reflects on Seeing Pope Francis at the White House


This lady used to be a nun, but left the order when she fell in love with another woman. Now she writes about being a lesbian mom and watching the Pope at the White House.

A lot of people all over the internet are pissed at Pope Frank for meeting with that ninny in Kentucky. But they're missing the point. He's the Pope. He heads a religious organization that is over 1,500 years old. It's fucking CREAKY. Changing things takes a long time, he has a lot of people who absolutely do not want those things changed, and believe it or not, he does NOT, in fact, have absolute power. He can't just wave a hand and declare that everybody has to do what he says. To think he can is to be in the same uninformed place as those idiots who claim Obama is a "dictator" and forcing everyone to abide by his "socialist" ways. (How a dictator can also be socialist is something you'll have to puzzle out for yourselves; it's too much for me.)

Francis was voted in by bishops who thought he was a right-winger just like them. Fucking SURPRISE! No, he isn't, not by a long way. And as time has gone on, he's gotten more and more liberal, more and more outspoken, more and more compassionate and openly revolutionary. He's playing a long game, and a really astoundingly good one, too. And the people in the Vatican who don't like him are stuck with him, as he slowly dismantles the crusty nastiness caked around the Church. This isn't the 70's anymore - they can't have a Pope bumped off without everyone eventually finding out about it. (The internet is damn good for some things, ain't it?) So they have to put up with his love and compassion and commitment to social change and justice. Poor, poor wingnuts. Hate is going out of style, and they're left with the moral equivalent of a closet full of bell-bottom jeans.

This pope has shown evidence of being the linchpin of a religious revolution. The Church is influential enough that that religious revolution could easily (and will, if I'm correct) change the way things happen in this world. I was terrified of fundamentalism running roughshod in this country and destroying our democracy, but now I'm not so scared. A HUGE figure in the Christian world is now saying HEY CUT IT OUT FUCKERS. (More politely, of course, but he sure as shit said it to Congress. Ouch.) That doesn't sound like much to a lot of people, but it is fucking AMAZING. Francis is a wrench thrown into the works, a completely unexpected wrinkle in world politics, and breath of fresh air.

So how about we not condemn him and dismiss him just because he showed the ability to listen to someone unpopular? Listening is not approval - it's listening. That's how we learn, if for nothing else, in order to understand the arguments of the other side. Because you can't argue your own side effectively if you don't understand the other side.

And it is, after all, the logical outcome of what he's been saying about love and acceptance. You can't go around saying things like that and then say, "Fuck you, I ain't talking to you." THAT would make him a hypocrite, not what he actually did. How do any of us know he didn't talk to her in order to try and persuade her to do her job? He's only said he thinks conscientious objection is a human right - and it is, no matter what the objector believes. What isn't a right is getting to keep your job after you've declared your refusal to do it. For all we know, the Pope may have said, "I understand why you object, but you can't hold your position and refuse to do it. Better to quit and be an example that way." After all, the bible does say that being a government functionary does not mean you are in cahoots with everything the government does, or that you approve of its actions. She's making biblical claims that are flat out untrue. Maybe the Pope gave her something to think about. We don't know.

Babies. Bathwater. Contemplate the old saying. This guy is great, and he's changing things. Let's not throw him out because he isn't doing EVERYTHING OUR WAY THIS INSTANT DAMMIT.

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Pope Frank makes the cover of Rolling Stone