Opinion: Why the Pope Shouldn’t Have Addressed Congress

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PolitiChicks.comWith all of the hype surrounding the Pope’s address to Congress, I can’t help but wonder one thing: why is no one outraged that the world’s most prominent religious figure is giving a speech to Congress?

In my mind, the Pope shouldn’t be addressing Congress. That goes against one of the biggest aspects of our nation: the separation of church and state.  If the Islamic faith had a religious figure and he or she spoke to Congress, there would be protests and outrage by Christians.  People would cite the separation of church and state as their reason for outrage.

Why is no one in an uproar over this? My guess is that a large portion of the Beltway are Catholics. Because they’re Catholic, they’re mystified by the Pope. They’re blinded by their religion’s high regard for the Pope. Their blindness is dangerous.

Some will say the Pope’s address to Congress isn’t political, yet we heard him bring up policy points, like climate change and the Syrian refugee crisis. He abused his power as a religious figure to influence American politics. Liberals aren’t complaining about it because, for the most part, what he said favors their agenda. Conservatives on the other hand, are afraid to criticize the Pope because it would look as though they don’t support religious freedom, a huge platform of the Republican Party.

It’s simple, really. If the Pope wants to call upon Congress to make particular policy decisions, he should do it the traditional way, via the media and a press conference.

(Note from Editor:  Muslim clerics have opened with prayer before Congress several times, including 2010 and November 2014.)

Beth Baumann

Beth Baumann is a California native, who grew up with an interest in politics from a young age. Beth attended Northern Arizona University, where she was a member of the NAU Conservatives, an activist organization dedicating to spreading conservative ideals. She also founded the NAU chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, took part in the Flagstaff Smart Girl Politics chapter and helped a local conservative run for Flagstaff City Council. Beth has received national attention due to the First Amendment restrictions on her college campus. She defended her Freedom of Speech when she was ridiculed for handing out flags in remembrance of 9/11. Although she faced misconduct charges, up to and including expulsion, she stood by her Constitutional rights and beliefs. With the help of the Leadership Institute and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), she was eventually exonerated of all charges. During her tenure, she was copy editor for the newspaper, marketing director and film festival director for the campus TV station, and news correspondent for political talk radio. Beth was the Communications Assistant at The American Conservative Union, where she helped with planning and executing different aspects of CPAC 2014, including social media, media strategy and crisis management. Beth works at a well established public relations firm in Southern California. Her work has been featured in The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, World Net Daily and Human Events. Follow Beth on Twitter: @eb454

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