King of a World Gone Mad

On the Pope's visit to Lampedusa

Note: I wrote this after reading the responses to the Pope’s visit to Lampedusa and his July 4th speech on social media. I’m trying to capture the general sentiment here of a certain group of people who felt betrayed by the Pope and ask what they should do next.

The majority of people do not want to know. They are comfortable living their normal lives - working, watching television and not questioning anything. Imagine you are a member of the small minority of people that can predict disasters while are still far away on the horizon. The type of people that warned about communism, nazism, the 2008 financial crisis and all other global crises ahead of time - long before there was any mainstream concern. Those autistic nerds that care less about social status or being popular than about the truth and who spend countless hours researching subjects they are concerned about. Those that can see through the fashionable modern beliefs because they simple don’t care about them.

You saw mass migration as a global disaster in the making, something that had the potential to destroy nations and possibly civilizations. You talked about it to your friends and neighbors - they laughed it off. It kept you up at nights.

As the problems from mass migrations increased, more and more people came to share your views. You discussed the situation and how it seems that that world had gone mad. You began to turn against and other modern beliefs and look for something more permanent, more real - perhaps something eternal.

You looked towards religion, and that ancient rock, the Catholic Church. It gave you solace and meaning. Many like you converted, but you hesitated.

Finally, the issues with mass migration became public knowledge, as you knew they would. You felt vindicated. However, there were those that claimed that mass migration was never the problem, you were. People like you were just full of hate and afraid of change.

You weathered the storm, and kept fighting against what you saw as a great injustice.

Then, the Pope took their side. He said we most do more for migrants. He welcomed them. He shook their hands. He gave several speeches on the issue.

162 Eritrean immigrants were brought ashore at Lampedusa right before his visit

His view was not nuanced. He never mentioned the murders, the rape gangs, the terrorist attacks, the social problems caused by demographic change. His words seemed to be a direct endorsement of the very thing you were fighting against: naiveté and suicidal empathy with ZERO concern for the consequences of these policies.

It seems like he has the backing of the powerful - the world leaders, the news media, the NGOs - all the powers and principalities unite behind him, king of a world gone mad. While others like you rage against him on Twitter.

For you, someone once on the cusp of converting, you now have a choice - what do you do?