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Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple,

 And said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, And said to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan: for it is written, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matt 4:1-11)

Desperation sure does make for strange bedfellows!

Yesterday, we learned that Francis, the bishop of Rome might be looking for a new employment opportunity.  

So along come reports that his services might just be needed at another European institution. The story appeared in the UK’s Daily Express under the title: Divine intervention! EU leaders will turn to the POPE over plans to revive struggling bloc.

Which raises the question, why Francis?

The answer just presented itself over at the Zero Hedge website. In a post titled Juncker Has Meltdown While Debating Future Of EU: “Shit! What Do You Want Us To Do?”

Well, what appears to be an answer to this last question, Juncker reached out to Francis.

Here is the CONTEXT

In a speech to the European Parliament, Mr. Juncker, the head of the European Commission (ruling board) explained what his thinking is, an explanation which gives us an insight as to why Francis could be the ideal individual suited to Mr. Junker’s needs. Here is the passage:

“There are many traditionalists, many conservatives, who cannot accept changing a method and my method has been criticised.

So it would appear that Mr. Juncker has the same problem as has Francis, bishop of Rome, namely traditionalists and conservatives.

Here is how Mr. Junker explains his specific problem:

“What I will say to those who think that the Commission has chosen poorly, is that in Europe you can’t have enough innovation.

Hmmmm…

So who else is a big promoter of “innovation”?

Cutting to the chase, what we see is aligned interest between the “direction” in which Jr. Juncker’s wants to take his institution and the one in which Francis, the bishop of Rome wants to take his institution.

What is striking about these two individuals is that the “directions” in which they want to take their respective institutions, are not grounded in anything that can be describe as being OBJECTIVELY TRUE.

How do we know this?

From Francis’ side, he is presently just making “stuff” up (cough, cough …personal teaching office) as he goes along.  It’s so bad, that Francis has recently even lost Phil Lawler! Yet, as an absolute monarch, Francis can afford this luxury.

Juncker on the other hand, does not have the luxury of being an absolute monarch. Therefore, Juncker must rely on what is known as SOPHISTRY, to keep his institution afloat. NB: Please view the video at the top of this post for a good discussion on the subject of SOPHISTRY.

So one sophist strategy that Mr. Juncker has employed is to allow multiple “scenarios” to be presented, yet having a preference for one of these scenarios.

So why is Mr. Juncker even allowing different scenarios to be presented? The risk is that the member states of the European Union might actually adapt one of the alternative scenarios, or come up with their very own, one that could put Mr. Juncker out of a job.

Hold that thought for the moment…

So how is Mr. Juncker hedging his bet, so that he is not left jobless at the end of this process?

Naturally, and according to the Daily Express article, he is trying to employ one of the oldest logical fallacies known to man, namely the ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY. And who is the AUTHORITY that will be anchoring Juncker’s argument? Well, none other than Francis, the bishop of Rome.

Here is that passage that leads us through this “thought” PROCESS:

EUROPEAN leaders are set to hold an historic meeting with the Pope later this month when they head to Rome to unveil their make-or-break plans to revive the struggling EU.

Brussels chiefs are hoping the Pontiff can provide them with the “leadership” they are lacking to help solve the debilitating crises tearing the bloc apart.

So what’s the thinking behind Francis being introduced into this discussion?

One pro-EU think-tank official said that, with Barack Obama gone from the White House, the head of the Catholic Church was the “only moral authority” European politicians had left to follow. 

Where have we heard that before? Why yes, here.

But there are critics:

The news that the EU’s most powerful men and women are seeking divine intervention from the Pope may raise eyebrows amongst critics who feel they have no answers to the bloc’s growing problems.

Once again, desperation makes for strange bedfellows!

Moving on…

Later today Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker is set to unveil an historic white paper laying out five “pathways to unity” for the future of the project in a desperate attempt to turn its fortunes around. 

And why is Juncker laying out five “pathways to unity”?

For the answer to this question, we move back to the Zero Hedge post where the thinking behind this is laid out:

“So we are putting forward on this occasion a number of different scenarios. Not all of them have met with approval, I’m sure that you will understand that amongst the scenarios put forward there is one that I would like more than the other four.

“But if we were simply to put that forward then there wouldn’t be any discussion and voices would be raised against us saying that we had stifled the debate and saying that we had not listened to the voices of our citizens.”

On an aside, the explanation did not go over too well, which led to this gem of a quote:

Finally losing his temper at the Catch-22 situation, he then raged

“But sh*t, I would say sh*t if we weren’t in the EU parliament. What do you want us to do?”

Again moving on…

So given the above, Mr. Juncker has appealed to a “higher power”…

And now diplomats have told EurActiv that EU leaders will discuss the plans with Pope Francis in Rome ahead of holding their own heated debate on which “pathway” to choose. 

The options are expected to range from scaling back Brussels’ duties, whilst not necessarily handing more powers back to member states, right through to the creation of a European superstate. 

But Juncker’s problem was caused by BREXIT which returned powers back to the member state.

Sow how’s that gonna work?

A rhetorical question…

But at the end of the process, if no powers returned to member states, Juncker is still needed, therefore he keeps his job.

So just to review, Mr. Juncker has a problem. He has a “favored” solution to the current Euroland crisis, he is being forced to make alternative proposal for purely optic reasons, those choices do not allow for any real change, i.e. options are expected to range from scaling back Brussels’ duties, whilst not necessarily handing more powers back to member states, so he needs to find a manner in which to fool get the 28 countries to agree on a “scenario” that does not include any real change.

In other words, Mr. Juncker needs a SOPHIST solution by which he can force his solution past the 28 member states.

So where does one find a casuist SOPHIST when he needs one?

Enter Mr. Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta. Malta… where have we come across that country lately? Oh yes, here. But I digress… Here is that passage:

Earlier this week Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, raised the prospect of consulting the Pope on which path to follow. (see here)

He told delegates at a conference in Valetta that the Pontiff could “provide leadership that politicians miss” as the bloc grapples with crises as varied as migration, terrorism, economic instability and Brexit. 

He added: “I do think he [Pope Francis] is the ultimate world leader that within the circumstances has the skills and the vision to say things that transcend the obvious and banalities we all say in politics.” 

For those who do not follow Malta politics, Mr. Muscat is a communist leftist, so there is an outside chance that he could in fact think the above, i.e. that Francis is less banal than he. But I digress…

And why would Messers Juncker and Muscat think that Francis, the bishop of Rome can help?

The Pontiff has previously made what have been interpreted by many as pro-EU remarks in speeches, and even addressed MEPs in the parliament in an historic speech in 2014.

Just as a reminder, the 2014 speech in which Francis did not mention Jesus once.  (see here)

Concluding, even though Francis has criticized the European Union on several occasions, the core of the FrancisMercyGospel is perfectly aligned with the likes of Mr. Juncker and Mr. Muscat and the agenda of the leadership of the European Union. Not to mention the UN’s Agenda 21…

The other common characteristic that all of these folks share is that they are promoting an agenda based purely on SOPHISTRY. As we see from the text above, Mr. Juncker makes no rational arguments based on facts or evidence. His appeal is purely emotional, and from a position of FEAR.

And once the argument from emotion becomes ineffective, he agrees to bring in a prop, a Deus Ex Machina: i.e. Francis in a desperate attempt at deploying the argument from authority.

The only mistake that Mr. Juncker might have made is the following: he still thinks Francis has some degree of authority.

As for Francis, all one can say is, When The Salvation Of Souls Just Ain’t Enough…, the Holy Gospel according to Matthew just doesn’t pack the same punch.

And we have come full circle!

As The Donald would say: Sad!