06/18/2018, 13.09
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Pope: slander, the first step towards destroying people, erecting dictatorships

"The dictatorships, all of them, began like this, by adulterating communication, by putting communication in the hands of an unscrupulous person, of a government without scruples". "Communicating scandals is hugely seductive, a great seduction. You can seduce by scandal. Good news is not seductive".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Slanderous communication" is the first step towards destroying people or institutions, as evidenced by the "many 'white gloved 'dictatorships" and the drama of the slandered Jews who "ended up in Auschwitz". "All dictatorships begin like this", said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the story - narrated in the First Book of Kings - by Nabot, heir to a vineyard desired by King Ahab.

The King offers money, but Nabot refuses, because that land is part of the legacy of his fathers. So Acab who was "capricious, behaves like children do when they do not get what they want: cries". Then, on the advice of his cruel wife, Jezebel, he accuses him of falseness and murder and takes possession of the vineyard. Nabot, stressed the Pope, is therefore a "martyr of fidelity to the inheritance" that he had received from his fathers: an inheritance that went beyond the vineyard, that was "a legacy of the heart".

The story of Nabot, highlighted Francis, is paradigmatic of the story of Jesus, of St. Stephen and of all the martyrs who were condemned through slander. And also about the way in which so many people and "many heads of state or government" proceed. It begins with a lie and, "after destroying both a person and a situation with slander", they are judged and condemned.

"This method is used even today, in many countries: the destruction of free communication". "For example, think about this: there is a media law, a communications law, that law is erased; the whole communications apparatus is given to a company, to a society that slanders, tells falsehoods, weakens democratic life. Then the judges come to judge these weakened institutions, these destroyed people, they are condemned, and thus a dictatorship moves forward. The dictatorships all began like this, with adulterating communication, by putting communication in the hands of an unscrupulous person, of a government without scruples".

"Even in daily life it's like that". If you want to destroy a person, "start with communication: speak badly of them, slander them, recount a scandal". "And communicating scandals is hugely seductive, a great seduction. You can seduce by scandal. Good news is not seductive: 'Yes, but how wonderful it is!' And it passes ... But it is a scandal: Have you seen this! Did you see that other thing he did? This situation ... But it cannot, you can not go on like this! 'And so the communication grows, and that person, that institution, that country ends up in ruins. People are not judged at the end. The destruction of persons or institutions are judged because they cannot defend themselves ".

"The seduction of the scandal in communication leads right to the corner", that is, "it destroys" as was the case with Nabot who only wanted "to be faithful to the legacy of his ancestors", not to sell it off.  The story of St. Stephen is also exemplary in this sense. He makes a long speech to defend himself, but those who accuse him, prefer to stone him rather than listen to the truth. "This is the drama of human greed", said the Pope.

Many people are, in fact, destroyed by an evil communication. "Many people, many countries destroyed by evil and slanderous dictatorships. Think, for example, of the dictatorships of the last century. Think of the persecution of the Jews, for example. A libelous communication against the Jews; and they ended up in Auschwitz because they did not deserve to live. Oh ... it's a horror, but a horror that happens today: in small societies, in people and in many countries. The first step is to appropriate communication, and after destruction, judgment, and death ".The Apostle James speaks precisely of the "destructive capacity of evil communication".

Concluding the Pope invited those present to reread the story of Nabot in chapter 21 of the First Book of Kings and to think "of so many destroyed people, of so many destroyed countries, of so many 'white gloved 'dictatorships that have destroyed countries.

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