Alternative Culture: Pope Francis and his legacy

Pope Francis passed away on 21 April 2025. He was elected Pope in 2013 (the first South American to be Pope), and had served till his death.

He will likely be remembered as a transformative yet polarizing figure in the Catholic Church. Despite not being Roman Catholic, I want to give my nuance take on his legacy.

The People's Pope? 
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he chose the name "Francis" after St Francis of Assisi to indicate his intention to pastor to the poor, the marginalized, and the suffering. 

His 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ was a landmark, framing environmental care as a moral imperative and linking climate change to systemic inequality. With regard to migration, he called for building bridges rather than walls, and also criticized unbridled capitalism.

In addition, he cleaned up the Roman Catholic Church by defrocking high-profile abusers (e.g., Theodore McCarrick) and issuing Vos Estis Lux Mundi (2019) to hold bishops accountable. He also appointed more Cardinals from the Global South to have more representation in the College of Cardinals.

The Establishment's Pope?
Yet many do not see Pope Francis positively. His focus of inclusivity often confused the Christian message. For instance, he famously said “Who am I to judge?” in 2013 regarding gay individuals seeking God. This is weird because homosexuality is explicitly a sin in Roman Catholic doctrine, and also that the pope is given an authority to judge by "having the keys of heaven".

Another concern was the Pope Francis’s warm reception by secular media and world leaders (e.g., his influence at the UN on climate issues) has led some to view him as a pope who courts globalist agendas. He often made political statements that favoured the progressives in Western countries over the conservatives. The Hollywood movie, The Two Popes, even portrayed him very positively without any criticism of his progressive views. 

Furthermore, the cardinals he appointed form the Global South were often seen to be based on sharing of his political views, rather than adherence to theological matters.

His silence on controversial cultural issues in the West (e.g., abortion in political contexts) while emphasizing climate or migration can feel like a strategic alignment with progressive elites, alienating grassroots Catholics who expected a bolder defense of traditional values.

Interfaith meeting in Singapore 2010

My take on Pope Francis

As a Christian with Lutheran/Calvinist leanings, I do not recognise papal authority. Nevertheless, I do see him as a important political figure among Christian circles.

One thing I think he did well was to clean up the image of Christians, and attempt to reach out to the underrepresented. He managed to rally Western leaders to be more compassionate in their policies, especially with regard to immigration and climate change.

Yet, the most important thing I do hold against Pope Francis is that his explicit silence on the suffering of Christians worldwide.

In one example, Francis has spoken broadly about peace and religious freedom, notably during visits to Iraq (2021) and South Sudan (2023), where he met with Christian communities under threat. His interfaith efforts, like the Document on Human Fraternity (2019), aimed to foster dialogue to protect religious minorities. However, his statements often avoid naming specific perpetrators (e.g., Islamic extremism or communist regimes) to preserve diplomatic ties, frustrating those who wanted a more confrontational stance. 

In another example, he endorsed the 2018 Vatican-China agreement on bishop appointments (renewed in 2020 and 2022). Intended to unify China’s underground and state-sanctioned Catholic communities, it was criticized for conceding too much to a regime that persecutes Christians. Figures like Cardinal Joseph Zen accused Francis of betraying China’s faithful for geopolitical leverage, reinforcing the “establishment” critique.

Conclusion
Pope Francis was a great political leader, but a poor pastor. He had an uncancellable platform to bring attention to Christian persecution worldwide, but chose instead on focusing on imaging and tackling on well-established issues like climate change and transparency.

With Due Respect: They killed Jesus!

Accusing groups of people of killing Jesus diminishes what Jesus intended to accomplish at the cross

One of the most disheartening things I read on social media, especially Facebook is the rising antisemitism posts that has been spurred on by recent global events, chiefly the Israel-Hamas war. 

Banking on this, some political leftists see the Jews as an oppressor in the oppression-oppressed Marxist narrative. Weirdly these leftists find themselves aligned with some members of the political right who hold racists views that the Jews are the source of the problems.

Thus one of the common accusations I hear is that the "Jews killed Jesus" in an attempt to stir up hatred among the Christian community. 

So who killed Jesus then?
While one can point out the Jewish leaders of the time plotted to kill Jesus and the Roman authorities carried out the execution, it clearly states in Isaiah 53 that Jesus died for our sins ("he was pierced for our transgression").

Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all. -- Isaiah 53: 4-6

This is further corroborated by the New Testament authors.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:24

In other words, we (humans) in our sinful nature, killed Jesus. To single out a single group and blame them for the death of Jesus is to defeat the message that Christ died for all humanity.

So how should Christians respond?

Instead, Christians should acknowledge that Jesus's death was good news - good because his death has provided us a way to reconcile with God, and news because this is true.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:10

Alternative Culture: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump

 

After the shooting, Trump raises his hand to encourage his base

On 13 July 2024, a person opened fire at presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Trump Rally in Pennsylvania. While Trump survived, two others (David Dutch and James Copenhaver) were wounded and one (Corey Comperatore) was killed. The secret service opened fire and killed the shooter. Trump later would attribute his safety to a chart (Trump shifted his head to look at it, causing the shooter to hit Trump's ear), the secret service, and God.

The purpose of this post is not to talk about the politics, security or even any conspiracy regarding the incident. This blog is a theological blog, and I will give my theological thoughts on this.

Is Trump the anti-Christ or the chosen one?
As with any major public event, there many Christians who are too hasty to condemn or praise Trump. 

Because of Trump surviving a head wound and Revelations 13, some point out that that he could be the anti-Christ, or the beast of the anti-Christ. 

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. - Rev 13:3

On the other extreme end, some supporters see him as divinely chosen as he was shot at 6:11 pm. 

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil - Ephesians 6:11

As with any interpretation, Christians ought to be open but cautious. In fact, the Bible itself encourages believers to be wary of following such trends.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. - 1 John 4: 1-3

In my sceptical mind, I reject notions him being the anti-Christ because his wound was obviously not fatal. And I also reject the use of Ephesians 6:11 to support Trump as it is obliviously arbitrarily chosen. Why not John 6:11 or Hosea 6:11?

Was his survival the luck of the draw?

How did Trump see his survival?
On 19 July 2024, Trump gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. As part of his speech, he covered the assassination attempt from his point of view. I put a few quotes below:

"There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side."

"I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God."

"But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God. "

Trump felt that his survival was due to the intervention of God. In my opinion, his speech at the RNC surprisingly showed much humility as he thanked the Secret Service for protecting him and his supporters for not panicking at the event.

"Bullets were continuing to fly as very brave Secret Service agents rushed to the stage. And they really did. They rushed to the stage."

"This massive crowd of tens of thousands of people stood by and didn’t move an inch. In fact, many of them bravely but automatically stood up, looking for where the sniper would be. They knew immediately that it was a sniper. And then began pointing at him. You can see that if you look at the group behind me. That was just a small group compared to what was in front. Nobody ran and, by not stampeding, many lives were saved."

He also provided a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, a retired fireman who was killed, shielding his family from the bullets.

His speech was also more unifying than usual.

"As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America."

Now I do not know how much God intervened for Trump's survival, but I do know that whatever happens, God is in charge. 

"The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from the Lord." - Proverbs 16:33

Looking ahead
Now whether America becomes more or less divisive from this incident, or whether Trump goes back on his speech of unity remains to be seen.

Regardless of outcome, know that God is ultimately in control.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
 who brings princes to nothing,
    and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40: 21-23)

Alternative Culture: A theological view of recent moral scandals of Singapore politicians

 

According to Arthurian legends, the illicit affair between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere led to fall of Camelot and King Arthur. This screenshot is from the game Pendragon.

Recently, my country Singapore has been hit by a wave of scandals. These incidents involved Transport Minister S Iswaran, Speaker of House Tan Chuan-Jin, Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui, Member of Parliament Leon Perera, and senior member of the Workers' Party, Nicole Seah. 

The purpose of this post is to provide a theological view of the incidents. I am not here to give a political analysis or probe into their personal lives. I will also not be speculating on the character of those involved. For a factual view, I attached links from Channel News Asia in the first paragraph.

Here are my theological reflections:

These incidents are not unique or as rare as we think
This is definitely not the first time such scandals had arose from positions of power. In 2012, Speaker of the House Michael Palmer was also caught in an affair and resigned his post. American President Bill Clinton used his position of influence to have an sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Even in Biblical times, King David (paragon of faith) had an affair with a married woman.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” - 2 Samuel 11: 2-5

As Canadian businessman Stewart Butterfield noted "It [Power] makes you more than who you already were.". In other words, being in positions of power increases the resources and opportunities to sin. Power amplifies our flaws.

A common theme in the Soul Calibur fighting game series is the corrupting influence of power.

We should use such incidents to reflect and repent of our own sins

Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
- Luke 13:2-3

While it is tempting to join the bandwagon and condemned moral failures, we must be on guard for our own potential failures. If we are being honest with ourselves, we all are 2-3 small mistakes from our moral atrocities made public.

Prior to controversy, Tan Chuan Jin claimed that he had to be even more vigilant as a Christian in public office because his "own vanity, ego, social pressures and expectations" are now in the open. This is echoed in the Casting Crown song, Slow Fade, warning on how easy it is to slip into sin if we are not careful.

For the Christian, these incidents are reminder to remember how much we need Jesus.

Alternative Culture: Christianity Today and Trump

One of the more murky topics in Christianity is politics. Unlike other religions, Jesus did not established an earthly government or write a political thesis before he ascended back to heaven. Thus is it hard to argue for a political system, one way or another.

As a result, many of my Christian friends and I have differing political opinion. So it came no surprise to me when Mark Galli (editor of Christianity Today) wrote a critical article on the American President Donald Trump.

For this post, I am not arguing whether we should or should not support Trump, but to give a nuance view.

Galli's view

Galli argued that Trump should be removed for two reasons.

(A) That he illegally sought a foreign government's help to undermine a political rival

(B) His immoral behaviour while being President

Trump's supporters' view

To supporters of Trump, they argue that

(A) There was lack of strong evidence 

(B) They did not vote for Trump for morality; Trump's policies had protected the rights of the religious.

The bigger view

The most disappointing thing is that our American siblings-in-Christ have made support for Trump a "Christian" identity issue. This reminds me of what was written in 1 Corinthians 3: 4-5

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

By making support of or against Trump a religious issue, our Christian siblings have split themselves unnecessarily. We have to remember that we are united in Christ.

Alternative Culture: Trump becomes the next president.

Map of the continental United States, from the board game Pandemic

In early November the unthinkable happened -- Donald Trump, a businessman with zero political experience was voted in to become the 45th president of the United States.

In this post, I want to get some theological reflections from this year's election. Before I get misunderstood, I am not a Trump supporter, nor am I a Clinton supporter. As an observer from Singapore, I would much rather see a Sanders VS Kasich election. If you are looking at a political analysis of a Trump presidency, go to another blog.

Theological observations
1) Liberal bias of the media

By watching the news alone, I would assumed that Clinton would win the election easily with 70% of the vote. After all, no major newspaper and news agencies openly endorsed Trump, especially with his seemingly divisive speeches. (Even Fox News, which traditionally supported the Republicans which Trump was representing, called the election result "unreal".)

However the media failed to reflect the reality on the ground. This should fuel our scepticism of the media's objectivity. This leads on to the next point.

2) The frustration of the masses

The key issues that were brought up were immigration, job security and trade. While there have been benefits of free trade agreements, the American masses do not feel those benefits. Trump may have been divisive in statements concerning political and social issues, but his economic promises were music to the ears of factory workers.

3) The importance of contingency plans

As Trump now begins to pull out of trade agreements and implement protectionist policies, my country of Singapore will feel the impact. We can ill-afford to be complacent and must adjust accordingly.

Conclusion
As Christians, we should be wary of what we read and what we hear. While we seek for news that that favour us, we should never be taken astray from the reality of the world and the truth of God's word.

And no matter what happens, God is in charge.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

-- John 16:33

Video reference