Fox propaganda priest Fr. Jonathan Morris, who has never served in the military, does seem eager to send our men and women into combat. Sunday, in his thinly veiled support for stronger US military action against ISIS, he showed us once again why he was dubbed the "neo-con pin-up priest."
Tucker Carlson began the segment by noting that Pope Francis has condemned the Paris attacks. Brian Kilmeade chimed in, "I agree." Kilmeade asked "how can faith help us through these difficult times." Kilmeade then tossed to official Foxpriest, Fr. Jonathan Morris: "If someone attacks and kills in the name of religion, that really turns your world upside down."
Fr. Morris (who believed that there were WMD's in Iraq) said that it "doesn't turn my world upside down because I know that's not religion; but we should be very clear that they're doing it with religious motivation." He explained that those who blow themselves up are doing it because they have been brainwashed (Oh, the irony!) with a religious and political agenda.
Morris cited the Pope's plea for peace but also noted that Pope Francis defends the use of force "against unjust aggressors when necessary." He added that "it doesn't seem like the world has taken this too seriously" and said that "sadly, it might take something like this to get them to." Interestingly, this isn't the first time that Morris has used the Pope to push right wing propaganda.
The rest of the segment veered in a different direction from the propaganda point. In response to Carlson's comment that many people accuse religion of being the source of the world's problems. Fr. Morris responded that "none of the world's problems are caused by real faith or religion." He preached about "filling the gap of nihilism with love" and spoke about how, even though we can confront an immediate threat, we can't "bomb an ideology." Rather, he said, we should "change hearts." The nice Fox & Friends Christians put a list of agencies that viewers could contribute to if they wanted to help out. Fr. Morris spoke about "doubling down on love."
Brian Kilmeade interjected with the official Fox message that "this is not, what you're saying is that this is not the time to turn the other cheek." Kimberly Guilfoyle whispered "oh, my goodness, Brian, oh God." Fr. Morris, after starting to say that Kilmeade was putting words in his mouth, recovered: "I would say you have to look at what an imminent threat is and how to stop an imminent threat." He gave us an example of how, if somebody wanted to punch Tucker, he, Fr. Morris, would "go after him and stop him." Carlson said Fr. Morris' example was "really nice."
Yowza - propaganda delivered with a double down on love!
Would Jesus offer him his other cheek?