originally posted in:Secular Sevens
[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html?utm_hp_ref=religion]Linky[/url][quote]Pope Francis rocked some religious and atheist minds today when he declared that everyone was redeemed through Jesus, including atheists.
During his homily at Wednesday Mass in Rome, Francis emphasized the importance of "doing good" as a principle that unites all humanity, and a "culture of encounter" to support peace.
Using scripture from the Gospel of Mark, Pope Francis explained how upset Jesus' disciples were that someone outside their group was doing good, according to a report from Vatican Radio.
[i]"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can... "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!".. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”[/i]
Of course, not all Christians believe that those who don't believe will be redeemed, and the Pope's words may spark memories of the deep divisions from the Protestant reformation over the belief in redemption through grace versus redemption through works.[/quote]Thoughts?
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Can some one explain to me why people who don't believe in heaven in the first place care? Is it because of the acceptance thing?
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I would say Good Guy Frank, but I know he's not a good guy so Better-than-the-last-guy Guy Frank seems more fitting.
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Great. I've always been an atheist, but I try to follow the Christian philosophy of doing good and forgiving others. I'm glad this new pope is taking a new, more reasonable approach rather than demonizing atheists, which up until now seems to have been the norm.
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Why should atheists care about this?
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What about us Agnostics?
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All of us atheists sure are excited to get into heaven!
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Seems like one of the few popes that I could agree with seeing as he sounds more accepting than any of his predecessors.
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[quote]Psalms 14:1; Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.[/quote] I actually just quoted that in one of my groups. It is funny how religion is evolving and going against its roots. Well, guess it is time to re-canonize the Bible...again.
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Death to Christians and Christianity!!!
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An atheist would still have no care because they dont believe in any of it.
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I actually like Francis
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Sweet. Now that the religion war is somewhat settled, lets go on to make the world a better place for all of us! [spoiler]if only it were that easy[/spoiler]
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Can Bleeee go to heaven?
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I've thought the same way for years.
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[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catholic-church-confirms-atheists-still-go-to-hell-after-pope-francis-suggests-they-might-go-to-heaven-8634479.html]LOL okay talk about back peddling[/url]
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This is why Catholicism should be thought of as a seperate religion from Christianity.
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This is very good to hear. I certainly have adhered to this brand of logic for quite some time now, even though I am Catholic. I hope this holds true. I can think of a couple people who are atheists which I hope to meet again one day...
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I feel like I just won a staring contest.
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I don't believe in that stuff, but I have to say I'm really starting to like and respect this Pope Francis guy. He seems much more open-minded and humble than I expected.
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I was raised a Catholic, and in theory, Catholics promote toleration and salvation for all. It's good to see that practice is catching up.
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That's nice, also the first pope in a while who doesn't look like a sith lord, he seems quite humble.
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Just a heads up to Atheists: this isn't an attempt at converting you, and most Atheists are very wrong about what this means. He isn't saying Atheists are saved just because they do good things. This was a mass to Catholics, for Catholics.
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For what it matters, Cardinal George Pell, the highest ranking Catholic in Australia, did actually say some time last year that atheists can go to heaven if they're good people.
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JK, guys.
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Nope still gonna fry -Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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This means nothing to me since I don't believe in heaven or hell anyway.