Pope Francis I is beloved by millions around the world for his progressive stances and open mind. Recently however, American conservatives have decided that not even the patriarch of their religion can tell them how to think about critical issues. In a show of incredibly disrespect, Catholics like Rick Santorum have been criticizing the Pope for attempting to lead his flock into a new future, one of inclusion and rationality. The fact that the Pope and President Obama see eye to eye on a lot of issues, especially economic justice, is certainly a factor in their outrageous rejection of the father of their faith.

It has gotten to the point that Drudge Report somehow felt the need to question whether or not Pope Francis is actually the anti-Christ, because of his “stand on homosexuality, Islam, capitalism, and the New World Order.” Never mind the fact that such an outrageous statement would once have earned you a burning at the stake, it is astonishing to see American “Christians” turn against everything they once held dear in order to continue propagating their ignorant and hateful agenda. To interpret his calls to show love for one’s peers and to reach an understanding with foreign people and to not despoil the earth for profit as a reason to attack and reject his teaching calls into question the point of having a pope at all if they won’t listen to him.

Drudge linked to an article on Charisma.com, a militant evangelical website that is obsessed with the “End Times,” that notes that:

“If you type “is Pope Francis antichrist” into Google, you’ll get about 425,000 results in .37 seconds. By way of comparison, if you ask Google the same question about Pope Benedict you only get 137,000 and it takes a little longer—.47 seconds.”

Ridiculous as it sounds, it really goes to show just how far the American far-right has fallen. Devotion to the Pope was once one of the key tenets of Roman Catholicism. To spurn him as such over political issues shows them to be false in their faith; that they are hypocrites who use faith as a weapon when it suits them.