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November 7th, 2013
12:30 PM ET
Even atheists love this PopeBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-editor [twitter-follow screen_name='BurkeCNN'] (CNN) - With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics. Hell, even atheists love him - as amply demonstrated by the surprising displays of affection tweeted after the Pope publicly embraced a severely disfigured man on Wednesday. MORE ON CNN: Why the pope's embrace of the disfigured man is so powerful Here's what some atheists had to say on Twitter:
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I like anyone who can smile and laugh and make others do the same at the same time. Stone faces and smurks is what makes other folks leary.
He is like Tim tebow!
Tebow ever make anyone feel good about themselves?
Yes – there are a lot of happy defensive backs when Timmy is QB.
atheists judge people on their actions, not their beliefs (unlike fanatic teavangelicals)
Even atheists loooove the leader of the false Christians (Pharisees). /fixed.
Has he really changed any of the church's position on an issue? He's just talking about unpopular things (gays, atheists) less, not changing any teaching.
With that being said though, I can appreciate the fact that he's not the next Benedict.
I think his key to success is not to tell people what he thinks they are doing right or wrong but to live a life that he sees as right and let other glean insight from that on their own because, in the end, its always a personal decision. There is no amount of finger pointing that will ever change someone's mind.
the golden rule is the basis for all laws of man and god. It is based in our survival instinct. It is as old as humankind. If you help me to survive, I will want to help you survive. If you hinder my survival, I will hinder/end yours. It applies to every decision we make no matter how large or small, towards nature and even towards ourselves. If you help yourself, eat right/exercise... if you hurt yourself.. drink heavy/do drugs... get the picture... or rather... can you see the light...
I think Pope Francis will help the Catholic Church die a much more graceful death.
He encourages tolerance for those who walk a different path, even heathens like myself, and that makes him okay in my books. Now if only he could do away with the nonsense about birth control, that crap leads to a lot of lost lives and misery.
i'm an atheist and a former catholic, but I have to say I too am impressed with this pope. even though I don't believe jesus was a god I think his philosophical teachings have a lot of good stuff in there and the current pope has really taken that to heart. atheists can respect religious people even though we don't believe their religion. to an atheist it isn't about what you believe it's the kind of person you are, displayed best by your actions.
I agree. I am far from Christian and have a great deal of respect for the man.
The Pope is irrelevant to me. This one seems better than some in the past, although he seemed to team up with the Right Wing Death Squads in the past. Probably not a good man
I like him 'more' just as I like Putin 'more' than many of the former Soviet leaders.
But, Putin rarely has any impact on my life, just like the Pope.
After 2,000 years of intense ignorance, hatred and violence, the bar to be the "nicest" Pope pretty low.
I think this just shows that someone with common sense can be appreciated by all.
By their constant accusations of hypocrisy, atheists seem to be quite the authorities when it comes to what is and what is not normal Christian behavior. Why go to your priest when you can go to your atheist?
An excellent idea .. the atheist doesn't have an agenda of getting butts in the seats! Besides who needs a Pope or priest to tell you how to behave, don't you have a book for that?
"Normal Christian behavior" is an oxymoron.
Hate to be the one to break this to you, but most priests are atheists.
"The Pew Forum on Religious Religion and Public Life released a survey on religious knowledge today. Atheists and Agnostics scored higher on it than anyone else, closely followed by Jews and Mormons, all Christians, Protestants and Catholics, were far behind."
Probably not a bad idea Fred seeing as how on average atheists know more about your religion than you do.
A 'Light' That Obscures: The Misrepresention of Secular Thought in Pope Francis's First Encyclical
http://ordinaryphilosophy.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-light-that-obscures-misrepresention.html
From 43:
'Children are not capable of accepting the faith by a free act, nor are they yet able to
profess that faith on their own; therefore the faith is professed by their parents
and godparents in their name.'
Still all a mind game Fred !
Perhaps if people who call themselves Christian started acting more like Christ - in a manner similar to the current pope – then we atheists would be less inclined to point out the blatant hypocrisies against Christ's teachings that they claim to embrace so much.
Johnny,I couldnt agree more with you ,some who profess to be Christian, are simply using their self rightousness as a weapon against any one they disagree with .
i don't....the man's a wolf in sheep's clothing, who also wears a pope costume
Frank, you really have no idea about what is truth and what is fake do you?
"Even atheists loooove this Pope"
Can CNN beg for more atheists to come on here?
Can't blame them ... we're awesome!
"R we all nothing more than DNA copiers?"
This was a great question a few pages back. We are not "just" DNA copiers, but we are DNA shufflers. We also know that DNA is not a blue print. The environment affects how our DNA is expressed (see epigenetics). That means we can get more out of DNA if we create the right environments. We also live socially and have culture, science, art, and technology. This breaks the genetic shackles. A little education would go a long way.
That wasn't a question; it was an accusation (i.e., these atheists believe we're nothing more than DNA copiers). Thinker seems to enjoy toppling straw men, presumably because it's too difficult to respond to atheists' real positions. A common thread evident in the posts here (and something I believe as an atheist): action matters, not talk or membership in a particular religious association. Modifying a line from Forest Gump: "Good is as good does." In response to "Thinker's" post (which predictably focuses on attaching labels), most atheists would probably say, just be a DNA copier who does the right thing, that's all that matters.
This pope appears to personify what a real Christian is, does, thinks, acts. I am not Catholic, but I wish Francis well–he is a breath of fresh air.
This Pope is a closet Buddhist, compassion at the forefront.
Actually, he is a model Catholic.
Actually is a model follower of Jesus so far.
I believe many atheists see him as a model humanist, much like the Christ of the gospels. Too bad very few Christians seem to be able to follow his lead and prefer to lean on the hate, violence and greed esposed in the rest of the bible when they are imagining their heavenly reward or the fiery reward of those they dislike. I have yet to hear of a humble American Christian turning the other cheek or giving up their guns to rely on the God they claim is watching out for them.
I do like the guy. I don't believe in his god but if he uses the myth for good, more power to him.
Some people need it .. and for that I am thankful. It's the forcing it on others part that causes the problems.