VATICAN CITY (CNS) – People who act shocked that a priest would bless a gay couple but have no problem with him blessing a crooked businessman are hypocrites, Pope Francis said.
“The most serious sins are those that are disguised with a more ‘angelic’ appearance. No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people, which is a very serious sin. Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual – this is hypocrisy,” he told the Italian magazine Credere.
The interview was scheduled for publication Feb. 8, but Vatican News reported on some of its content the day before when the magazine issued a press release about the interview.
The force that pulls a society over the edge into a realm where fascists can seize power is that comfortable feeling of deciding one person or ideology is right and then just turning off your brain, end of conversation. Exhaustion can recede into a comfortable finality.
It makes sense why someone would find that particular kind of hate blanket comfortable, but that doesn’t make it any less pathetic or disgusting.
I remember an article several years ago about how dismissing an opponent’s argument without thinking about it gives the same dopamine hit that winning an extended argument does, but without requiring any effort. Being close minded literally feels good.