As soon as I read the pope's actual words, my first thought was that he probably was not speaking of physical walls and bridges, but rather of emotional, spiritual, and verbal walls and bridges.  Admonitions to tear down all the barriers one has erected around one's heart in order to open it to Christ's love is, after all, a standard theme in Christian sermons.  I ran that past people from two different evangelical Christian perspectives, and they concurred.  Whenever they hear a religious leader speak in terms of tearing down walls or building bridges, their first thought is that those phrases are metaphorical devices.  They also thought the pope is on solid theological ground: a Christian must tear down walls of hate and prejudice and build spiritual bridges to other humans in order to spread the Gospel.  Charity confined to those who are exactly like us is tribalism, not Christian virtue. If their goal is actually to win an election, I...(Read Full Post)