Usually I find that to be true. Atheists tend to do good because they want to, not because they are commanded or obliged.
Thatās cute. I feel the same way about Jesus.
Francisās reaching out to atheists and people who belong to no religion is a marked contrast to the attitude of former Pope Benedict, who sometimes left non-Catholics feeling that he saw them as second-class believers.
Atheists arenāt believers.
OMG they replaced the Pope with an android! Thatās the only explanation.
Iām sure there is a fascinating backroom political story behind this guyās selection after Ratzinger. Iām also sure the Ratz is gnashing his teeth right now.
And letās face it - if there were an all loving god heād likely have more respect for them than those that are hassling him for favours all the bloody time.
Hmmā¦Now Iām picturing the Ratz coming out of retirement and staging a coup. Like a game of Junta! but with halberd armed Swiss Guardsā¦
Forget the Ratz, team sola fides is going to be Not Happy(though, they never liked Rome much, so maybe itās no additional love lost).
Iāve never been much concerned about it, not finding myself in need of salvation goods; but I always figured that John 14:9 leftā¦limitedā¦room for alternate modes of salvation.
As best I can tell, that particular needle is being threaded by asserting that (while nobody comes to the father but through him), he is a pretty chill kind of guy, and is totally OK with all sorts of riffraff coming to the father through him, so long as certain āworksā related requirements are upheld.
I doubt the atheists were all that concerned about the Popeās approval.
Still, the new pope, on the jackass meter, measures significantly lower than the last.
My last round of set theory firmly convinced me that my intuition is of absolutely no use whatsoever when it comes to transfinite objects; but I have to wonder whether omnipotent deities, possibly ones that exist outside of time, are even hassle-able, or whether any finite, temporal, entity, no matter how insufferably whiny, simply cannot generate a load distinguishable from zero.
Well, Iāve long been a fan of Jesus. Itās his dad that is a prick.
Jesus- lets do lunch after the holidays?
It isnāt of much use in itself; but it seems likely to puncture the cozy self-assurance (at least in the US) shared by the more obnoxious catholics and the more obnoxious protestants that they were united on godās own side on important matters of faith, like women knowing their place, homosexuals being icky, and old men with funny hats and invisible friends being the rightful rulers of society.
That has its uses.
Well it doesnāt matter whether heās a believer or not, āHisā Noodly Appendages will welcome him regardless. Itās obviously all true then.
It may be that when Pope John Paul II died, the cardinals, seeing declining membership in the church, wanted to select a pope that would bring back those who had strayed. Much like Republicans who think theyāre losing elections for not being right wing enough, the cardinals thought if they returned to the past that those who had left the church would come back. After a few years it became obvious that the new pope was driving more Catholics away rather than bringing them back in. Rather than spend decades bleeding membership, Ratzinger was encouraged to step down for the good of the church. With the new pope, they had a chance to go in the direction of humility and service rather than pageantry and condemnation. Seems to be working, at least in the US.
Of course this is all speculation on my part but to me itās what makes best sense out of what has happened.
Thatās a feature, not a bug, as far as Iām concerned.
Man, I know the fundamentalist Baptists say this about all the popes, but they have got to be freaking out right now, totally convinced that this guy is the Antichrist. Bob Jones University is probably full of amusing rhetoric these days.
Sounds like the Pope is kickstarting the old āFaith vs. Worksā debate again.
I predict Jack Chick will be selling out of some of his Chick Tracts soon.
If I were Catholic, Iād probably be very stoked about him. And yes, for those of us who are not, he is probably going to mend some relationships. However, my own feelings about the Catholic church are not going to soften until I see Pope Francis address and find some way to make amends for the child abuse that has gone on for years and their CYA approach to that and at the very least lead the church to soften the views on abortion and birth control.
