Revered by millions worldwide, Pope Francis has shifted long-standing Christian dogma with his views on homosexuality, evolution, and capitalism. This departure from the norm has several American conservatives in an uproar, such as presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
Conservatives in general might disagree with Francis, who holds several opinions in common with President Obama. The conservative website Drudge Report has even gone so far as to have publicly labelled Francis as the possible Antichrist. The report was originally published on Charisma.com, a militant evangelical website, then linked on Drudge Report’s homepage.
The author showed that a larger number of Google results occurred when users searched “Pope Francis Antichrist” instead of “Pope Benedict Antichrist”, the latter search taking an extra tenth of a second. American Christians who share the views of Charisma.com cannot see the tragic irony that if these views were publicly shared in the not-too-distant past, the reward would be death by burning at the stake.
Devotion to the Pope is a key tenet of Roman Catholicism and betraying him in any fashion routinely resulted in your death, or at the very least excommunication. Abdicating that responsibility shows how many conservatives use faith when it is to their advantage, for political gains or otherwise.