Monday, December 2, 2013

Not safe. . . then who is?

I have read on several sites the Obama move to take the US Embassy to the Vatican out of the Vatican and make it simply a department within the Embassy to Italy in Rome.  Apparently this will save some money.  What is most amazing, however, is that the rationale for the move was the judgment that the US Embassy in the Vatican is no longer safe...

As they say, I have no horse in this race but I cannot help but focus on the idea of safety.  It is a curious statement to say the least.  If our embassy personnel is not safe within the confines of the Vatican, what does it say about the embassies and consulates that remain in every Muslim nation where we have one or in every third world country where rules change with the wind or in every lawless nation in which the country is controlled less by a government than by factions who are up and down depending upon the political tide?

So why get excited at all?  I am not excited or even miffed.  What I am is concerned.  What does it mean that in the center of Rome, in the Vatican city state that survived in tact through world wars and terrorist acts that have long dominated our world stage, we are not safe?  If this is true, then it belies an even unsafer world than any of us have ever imagined or admitted.  If it is a lie or a diversion from the truth, it signals only one more reason to be suspicious of our government as a whole.  In any case it is a decision sure to ignite the political banter and blogosphere for a long time...

8 comments:

ginnie said...

Sad to say but my gut feeling in light of recent events is that its being a safety factor is another lie.

Katy said...

Although I have not seen any specific reports of this, I assumed it was unsafe because of a greater threat of Muslim terrorism on the Vatican City. If Muslims suicide-bomb anything in/near Rome, where do you think they'll do it?

Anonymous said...

If anything happens to Rome, then Mecca will be nuked back to the stone age. (At least that is what I hope will happen. In fact, Mecca should have been completely destroyed decades ago.)

Carl Vehse said...

Keep track with this Ramadan Bombathon 2013 Scorecard.

Dr.D said...

The one thing we can be certain of with the current US regime is that, whatever they say, it is not the Truth. They are deathly afraid of the Truth, and will avoid it like the plague. Every word from the Won, or any of his toadies, is a LIE, which, by the way, tells us for certain who his father is.

Fr. D+
Anglican Priest

Janis Williams said...

No horses here either, but since God protects what He chooses, I figure what He wills will happen in the Vatican, no matter what our current president (dictator? god?) does or doesn't do.

I would assume the majority of Americans/Evangelicals might even secretly applaud. Romaphobia even infects the catholic (Lutheran) church.

Janis Williams said...

Sorry Fr. D Anglicans fit in the "little c" group.

Dr.D said...

Dear Janis,

I certainly agree that Anglicans are "little c" catholics.

I don't quite see how that relates to anything here; perhaps I am being extra thick today. Would you explain, please?

Fr. D+