melinda ribnek
mribnek.bsky.social
melinda ribnek
@mribnek.bsky.social
That’s not strength. That’s a collapse of moral courage. And it’s not just politics—it’s spiritual failure.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
This isn’t just about disrespect or trolling. It’s about power. It’s about a narcissist demonstrating he can mock both the overtly sacred and the quietly sacred—and no one close to him will dare object.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Because at the end of the day, we’re being shown something chilling: not just Trump’s cruelty, but the loyalty of those who refuse to challenge it. Even when their own faith is on the line. That’s power. That’s control. And it’s control based not just on fear, but on complicity.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
And when the loudest voices in our faith community stay silent—not just about a meme, but about the abuse of the sacred in human form—we see clearly what has been lost.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I love Pope Francis. I mourn his death. I have deep reverence for the papacy and the Church.
But when cruelty is aimed at the most vulnerable—when the sacred is desecrated not in symbol but in personhood—it strikes even deeper. That’s where offense becomes moral emergency.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
But the migrant, the refugee, the vulnerable—they too are sacred. Perhaps not as visibly or ceremonially, but sacred in the most profound sense. We are called not just to recognize that sacredness, but to seek it out. When the state mocks their suffering, it’s not just offensive—it’s sacrilegious.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
But here’s the deeper truth: both of these images—the Pope and the migrants—represent the sacred. The Pope is a visible, overt sign of the sacred in our tradition. That’s why the meme was so brazen.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
We’ve seen outrage over vague gestures or artistic missteps. But when Trump or his White House engages in direct mockery of the sacred, they go silent. And not just silence, complicity.
Their outrage is selective. Their principles are conditional. Their witness crumbles in the presence of power.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Of course we should point out the hypocrisy. Prominent Catholic figures—like Bishop Barron—have loudly condemned liberals for offenses a fraction, a hundredth, as serious as these.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
It mocked the suffering of the vulnerable through dystopian theatrics—stylized, manipulative, and grotesquely disconnected from human dignity. And they did it proudly. That video should offend the conscience of every Christian. It should move us not just to critique, but to lament and protest.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Let’s also be honest: the same White House account has posted content far more morally grotesque. The ASMR migrant video didn’t just cross a line—it dehumanized people.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
It was a calculated humiliation. He knows they won’t push back. He can post something that openly mocks the Pope, and instead of rebuke, he gets silence. That’s narcissistic control. That’s power. He’s testing how far he can go in mocking them, and they keep proving they’ll take anything.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
This wasn’t just about provoking liberals. It was about asserting dominance over his own supporters—especially the Catholics who populate his staff, his voter base, and much of the conservative movement.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
He sees them as tools—for votes, for image, for loyalty. He finds them laughable, but useful. That post wasn’t made from conviction or even ideological contempt—it was made because he knew he could get away with it.
May 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
God I hope you’re right. And that’s a prayer.
January 26, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Sounds right, least amount of damage possible
January 22, 2025 at 11:18 PM