On Sunday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church proposed banning all weapons so that the world could live in peace without “fear of war.”
Pope Francis tweeted: “Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war.”
Francis’ tweet was met with harsh criticism and mockery on social media, as many pointed out numerous problems with the overly general and idealistic assertion. How exactly do you convince all nations, including those so committed to violence, like Iran, that they sponsor terrorism to disarm? Would his ban of “all weapons” include non-military weapons? What qualifies as a weapon? Knives, like London is now in the process of banning after its murder rate surpassed New York City’s despite a gun ban? On the level of conflict between nations, a lot of today’s warfare is not fought using conventional military weapons but rather through economic and cyber means. Here are just a few of the thousands of responses to the Pope’s tweet: