Why One Atheist Wants To Hear The Pope Speak In Philly

[rug]

Max Hodey may not agree about God, but he thinks the pope could do some good.

Nadya Agrawal
Posted: 09/25/2015 08:46 PM EDT | Edited: 09/25/2015 08:48 PM EDT

Philadelphia native Max Hodey is an atheist, yet he's going to hear Pope France speak Saturday on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Why does a 25-year-old man who professes no faith in a divine being plan to battle crowds to hear another who goes about dispensing religious counsel?

It's Pope Francis himself, Hodey said.

"He's very refreshing and he almost has a much more pragmatic approach to things," said Hodey. "I can't even remember the last pope's name, I was so disinterested."

Plus, Francis is "probably the only pope that's not 50 years behind the times."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pope-atheist-philadelphia_5605c3d9e4b0768126fda28a

[cantbeserious]

1. Agnostic Here - What A Refreshing Perspective Pope Francis Brings

eom

[AtheistCrusader]

2. Unfortunately, some atheists are ignorant and can be fooled by clever PR.

Francis differs from John Paul II in nuance only, and from Ratzinger in little more than packaging.

Nobody's perfect, not even us atheists.

[rug]

3. And, unfortunately, some just seem to embrace anti-religious bigotry.

Nobody's perfect.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Francis has repeated the same homophobic things JPII said.

Only the packaging varies. It's not 'anti-religious bigotry' to point out deeply ingrained homophobia in the RCC leadership.

[rug]

6. It's antireligios bigotry to claim its members are part of a criminal organization.

It's antireligious bigotry to claim its members are complicit in misogyny and homophobia.

It's antireligious bigotry to claim its members must leave the Catholic Church to cleanse themselves of complicity.

It's also exceedingly stupid.

Don't suggest for a second that that the "critique" is limited to the leadership or the doctrine. In more enlightened quarters that is the case but it is not the norm in here.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. I specified the scope of my reply. The leadership.

Members are usually more circumspect about getting in front of a TV/Mic and proclaiming:

Gay marriage is "an anthropological step backward. If there's a private union, then third parties and society aren't affected. But if they're granted marriage rights and can adopt, there could be children affected. Every person needs a masculine father and a feminine mother to help them settle their identity."

He insists, in his book, that gay marriage is that, without the religious context. Get that through your head. He is a bigot. Personally. In the flesh. The man himself. This is not catholic doctrine. This is not him speaking with his pointy hat on from the funny chair everyone is supposed to listen to. He is of the opinion that it is harmful, from his feeble grasp of a personal and scientific viewpoint.

“We know that in times of momentous change the homosexual phenomenon grew, but in this period it is the first time that the legal problem of assimilating it to marriage has arisen, and this I consider an anti-value and an anthropological regression,” says the Pope. “I say this because it transcends the religious issue, it is anthropological.”

Get that through your fucking skull. He is a bigot. Period. Before we get anywhere near the question of catholic doctrine and what he is and is not 'allowed to change', he's not going to change a fucking thing. He's a bigot to the core.

And YOU are in denial, and full-throated deflection/cover mode. You'll play the bigotry card whenever someone criticizes the catholic faith, and you can't recognize the bigots hiding in plain sight in the catholic hierarchy right in front of you.

Catholicism completely aside, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man, the self-important mammal with the goofy hat, is personally and thoroughly, a bigot.

[AlbertCat]

8. I like how homosexuality is now a "phenomenon"....

.... and it grew!

This to me shows a profound ignorance of human sexuality. But what to expect from people who drop out of all regular society.

[goldent]

4. While the social doctrine of the Catholic Church has not changed, the messenger has

One of the Pope's primary duty is PR. I'm quite happy for PR for the causes being espoused by the Pope.

The vast majority of the Catholic doctrine is inline with the liberal causes Democrats espouse and t needs all the PR it can get -- Pope Francis is simply putting into action a famous verse from the Bible:

Then Jesus asked them, "Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.