Sometime when I was in what was then known as “Junior High School” my mother clipped a one-panel cartoon out of the newspaper (remember those?) and posted it on the fridge.  There it sat well into my adulthood disappearing only sometime well after I had moved out-of-state altogether as a adult.  The cartoon depicted a stone wall with graffiti that read what titled this post.  My mom said it was there to remind her, but it became seared into my memory – so much so that here we are, 50 years later and it popped in my mind instantly when I came across what I want to discuss this morning.

Apparently, on yesterday’s version of The View they decided to pile on Trump’s extremely ill-considered AI image post from over the weekend.  So ill-considered was Trump’s post that he took it down.  Such self-censorship from the man is rare and really should be enough for all of us to know that he knows he made a big mistake.  But Trump derangement cannot be satisfied so media has continued to discuss it ad nauseum.  But as if discussion until you want to puke is inadequate, the ladies of The View took it a step further, discussing it omnino ignoranter (completely ignorantly.)  Here is the clip courtesy Mediaite.

There is enough proof-texting in the whole discussion to drive any seminary prof up a wall, but Joy Behar’s ignorance of simple and basic Christian doctrine is absolutely stunning in its vacuousness.  So bad is this discussion that it almost makes Trump’s egregious mistake look justifiable.  Trump’s was a mistake of ego, this was a mistake of sheer and utter ignorance.  That such ignorance is permitted on national television is horrifying.  Clearly the ladies of The View are unfamiliar with the advice my mother kept emblazoned in my face for more than a decade.

But while we are on the topic of Trump’s very poorly considered social media post, now withdrawn, we need to consider briefly the nature of “the beef” between Trump and the Pope.  The Pope has adopted a completely pacifist view when it comes to the current conflict with Iran.  I have argued with Christian pacifism since the outset of this conflict.  This is far-and-away the most morally justifiable conflict the U.S. has ever entered – provided you recall that we did not know just how utterly evil the Nazi’s were until the conclusion of that war.  I did not agree with the Pope when he made his statement, but not being Catholic, I figured it was not my place to argue with him.

Fortunately there are those with better credentials than I to argue with the Pope.  This morning in The Free Press appears a piece by Gerald Murphy. “Fr. Gerald Murray is the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in New York City. A canon lawyer, he also serves as a guest commentator on religious news for EWTN and Fox News Channel.”  The piece opens:

Is the United States war against Iran morally justifiable? There is a strong argument that it is, because the American and Israeli attack on Iran’s leadership and military meets the centuries-old conditions for a just war under the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

The Church is not pacifist in her doctrine. Waging just war is a last resort to protect the innocent by defeating the enemy. It is a virtuous act to take up arms in defense of the nation against an unjust aggressor.

One wishes the President were that eloquent.

My mother offered some very good advice all those years ago.  We would all do well to remember it.