In anticipation of his arrival over the past few weeks, many right-leaning media outlets have discussed the Pope with horrible accusations and insulting portrayals of the Christian faith; many of these slights were in response to the Pope’s outspoken concerns about our capitalist-dominated society. Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano, for example, mentioned that the Pope’s “job is to get people into heaven. Period. His job is not to tell governments how to spend money.” Mike Huckabee, presidential hopeful and career-homophobe, criticized President Obama for inviting trans and gay citizens to the Pope’s welcome ceremony. Rush Limbaugh was upset with his (always exaggerated) interpretation that the Pope urges us “to give and give and give until we’re all poor” (No, Rush- only if you’re following your own faith’s statute which commands Christians to “sell your possessions, and give to the needy” -Luke 12:33) Jeb Bush, GOP frontrunner-wannabe, urged U.S. voters not to take too seriously the Pope’s support of the Obama Administration’s position on climate change, as the Pope is “not a scientist, [but] a religious leader.” The fact that Jeb Bush just gave American voters permission to dismiss his own beliefs regarding climate change due to Bush’s lack of scientific credibility is a discussion for another day- but the dismissal of the Pope, who has spent most of his life serving and living amongst our world’s most vulnerable poor, as an authority figure and voice in the political community is disturbing. The causes that the Pope is fighting for- making our environment a safer and cleaner place to live, serving our world’s poorest and most marginalized communities, and turning our country’s economy (which frankly reflects an obsession with wealth accumulation) toward principles of service and inclusion- should be taken most seriously in our current political discourse. These are not political matters- they are human matters.

I come from a family with deep Christian roots; while I definitely have my critiques of the Church, I have always admired the message of the Gospel. Jesus did not spend very much of his time with Pharisees or the ruling class; he chose to spread his message through the marginalized populations of his time. Prostitutes, tax collectors, poor fishermen, and women. So that’s why Huckabee’s comment was the most upsetting to me, as I know it reflects the feelings of many American voters. I think I can say in good faith, Jesus- as Pope Francis did- would have also denied lunch with congressmen to instead dine with Washington’s poor. Had Jesus arrived at the White House this week, you bet he would want to be greeted by America’s most sidelined transvestites, lesbians, Muslims, Jews, Black Lives Matter activists, immigrants, diseased, and poor. This country’s hyper-partisanship has become toxic; if we as a country cannot unite over feeding our needy, addressing grotesque inequality, and playing our part in reducing the impact of climate change while promoting diplomacy and peace- we are not a country worth even the slightest bit of attention from either Pope Francis or the God Christian Americans claim to serve.

Olivia Reader is a senior studying Comparative Cultures and Politics.