If you're a Christian who exploits people, leads a double life or manages a "dirty" business, perhaps it's better not to call yourself a believer, Pope Francis suggested in a homily on Thursday in Rome.
"So many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others," Francis said during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, according to Vatican Radio. "How many times have we heard -- all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere --
'But to be a Catholic like that, it's better to be an atheist.' It is that: scandal." "But what is scandal? Scandal is saying one thing and doing another."
In the Catholic Church, causing scandal also a grave offense.
Examples of such sins abound, the Pope said, from money launderers to business owners who take beach vacations while stiffing their employees.
Well this is essentially what I have been saying for years.
Of course I would probably just have stopped with "It's better to be an Atheist." But still the Pope makes a good point.
There are SO MANY so-called Christians who use the religion as camouflage to do terrible, and even criminal things, while using their "faith" to deflect criticism.
We have seen that with tons of politicians, performers, and even pastors.
And these "Christians" seemingly feel absolutely no guilt in judging all of those around them while acting in ways that are direct violations to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
And yes, Sarah Palin of course definitely falls into that category.
Personally I am typically FAR more trusting of a person who openly rejects religion than I am of somebody who constantly reminds everybody about their faith.
Don't get me wrong there are quite a number of very kind, and very moral religious people in the world. And some of them have been good friends of mine.
But since I place such a premium on critical thinking skills there is always a little distance between myself and those who can accept the existence of extraordinary things without the benefit of evidence.
I disagree with the Pope. There is no such thing as a bad Christian. Donald Trump is not a bad Christian. Jeff sessions and betsy devos and Paul ryan and yrtle the turtle and all like them are not bad Christians. They are so called Christians. To truly say u are Christian u have to follow the teachings of the gut who it is named after, like Jimmy and Rosslyn Carter
ReplyDeleteIt's named after a gut who taught?
DeleteXINOs? Christians in name only.
DeleteDonald Trump is NOT a Christian! He doesn't live their teachings and is just as bad as was Hitler. He needs to be stopped and put away in some manner SOON!
Delete@8:03
DeleteHe is if he says he's one.
Hitler was a christian, too. Sorry to have to break it to you like that.
And this is where the term heretic comes in useful for monsters like Trump and jerks like Pence, who sold his soul for power.
DeleteI agree. If you follow your faith and not false prophets, live and practice the fundamentals of that faith, then you're a Christian.
DeleteIf you live a life in violation of it, you are a "so-called" Christian. Like committing adultery every week but going to confession, say your Hail Marys and then wipe the slate clean, only to do it again and again. Yeah, you're not supposed to. But plenty of Catholics live that way.
Christians that lie, steal, covet, commit adultery.
Jesus said love thy neighbor as thyself. Either these people don't love themselves very much or they aren't Christians. You have to RESPECT and care for others or you're not a Christian.
And you don't have to be Christian to practice these so-called Christian principles. They are the base of all faiths. To be kind, generous, thoughtful, helpful, caring, loving.
All faiths agree that lying, stealing and killing are BAD and if you do them, you're not faithful.
Maybe instead of calling them "so-called" Christian we should call them "faithless" Christians. Because there is a lot more to Christianity than just believing in Jesus and God.
Makes sense, mlaiuppa.
DeleteSalon:
ReplyDeletePope Francis warns against populist leaders “like Hitler” in interview given during Donald Trump’s inauguration
Pope Francis appears ready and willing to troll Donald Trump in an effort to prevent World War III.
In an interview that lasted more than an hour with Spanish newspaper El Pais and conducted just as Donald Trump was being sworn in as the 45th U.S. president on Friday, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church warned against the rise of populist leaders like Adolf Hitler.
“Hitler didn’t steal the power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people,” Pope Francis noted.
Read more at:
http://www.salon.com/2017/01/23/pope-francis-warns-against-populist-leaders-like-hitler-in-interview-given-during-donald-trumps-inauguration/
http://www.naturalnews.com/2016-12-16-in-the-30s-adolf-hitler-arrested-and-executed-fake-news-journalists-who-rightfully-claimed-jews-were-being-exterminated.html
DeleteI think we should take the pope's warning to heart. Trump is now Bannon's puppet and neither of them cares at all about our system of government.
DeleteBeaglemom
Russian Flags @CPAC
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/cpac-scrambles-to-control-damage-after-attendees-wave-russian-flags-during-trump-speech/
On drumpf>“When he says he believes he could shoot somebody in the head and get away with it, he’s proven he can do that over and over again,”
“He’s going to do everything he said they were going to do,” Moore said. “And next week [Rep. Jason] Chaffetz and the are going to go after Hillary server thing again next week. Again. Because that whole ‘LOCK HER UP’ thing, they’re not done with that.” M. Moore
drumpf @ CPAC
Deletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/this-is-bizarre-the-internet-recoils-in-horror-at-trumps-incoherent-cpac-rant-against-fake-news/
Oh THIS one's good!
DeleteThere are images on Twitter, too.
I saw them in Wonkette's comments section only 20 min ago, and now this thing's catching fire!
6-6-6 little 'boy toy blocks' maybe>
Deletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/photos-easily-disprove-trump-boast-about-six-block-crowd-waiting-to-hear-him-speak-at-cpac/
Some of the worst offenders, are those who call themselves born-again Christians. I learned a LONG time ago that if I meet someone who claims to be one, I need to run away as fast as I can while I still have my wallet and pants. I have NEVER met one who actually LIVES as Jesus said a Christian should.
ReplyDelete6:37, those whom you describe as Christians are in the minority in my opinion. And they are the ones Gryphen is talking about. Those who speak the loudest are usually the worst.
Are you listening, $arah? Just like the congressman at the town hall meeting, when cornered with questions concerning is behavior, "I believe in Jesus as my personal lord and savior."
DeleteTHIS IS NOT A FREE PASS!
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/cpac-scrambles-to-control-damage-after-attendees-wave-russian-flags-during-trump-speech/
ReplyDeleteOooofda!
Well, those flags DID have the word 'trump' on them, one side only and not printed out too flashily.
DeleteThe other side looked JUST like the Russian flag to me. Co-inky-dink?
OT-VICE:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/24/is-vice-really-a-shark-in-the-media-bloodbath.html
LOL Gryphon we'll bring you around yet.
ReplyDeleteClassic christian style, you didn't even spell his nom de plume correctly.
DeleteGive it up, your fairy tale is dying.
http://www.naturalnews.com/2016-12-16-in-the-30s-adolf-hitler-arrested-and-executed-fake-news-journalists-who-rightfully-claimed-jews-were-being-exterminated.html
ReplyDeleteEd Schultz [RT]@ CPAC
Delete"THE BIG IDEA: Ed Schultz speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference would have been inconceivable a year ago. But Donald Trump is president now, and his brand of protectionism is having its moment."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/02/24/daily-202-as-trumpism-coopts-cpac-the-reagan-era-ends/58af8869e9b69b1406c75cf0/?utm_term=.102e117caa04
Starting to think that Ed Schultz had some kind of subliminal 'message to middle america' in his $how before he 'left' msnbc...
Deleteand 'hooked up' with RT
Ed Schultz was a speaker at CPAC?
DeleteObviously, Anon at 8:13 am, 21st century conservatives are very pro-Russia. What an about face!
DeleteBeaglemom
Calling on Jude to give us all a smug, self-righteous, christian talking-to for our own good! Come in, Jude!
ReplyDeleteI wish more people could be like humble, real palin who admits mistakes, apologizes when needed and has ensured her kids and grand kids believe and do good while Civily combatting psychopaths who pretend to know Them.
ReplyDeleteAlicia you really need to up your meds ASAP.
DeleteHow could you forget about those college funds saved up for all the payme kids, 7:58?
DeleteIs it because you're a paid shill who can't speak or type proper English(or, American, as your queen esther called the English language)?
bwahahahahaha!
DeleteWhatever you say, 7:58 AM.
I like how this guy thinks - being an atheist and all (and raised Catholic!).
ReplyDeleteSo it's ok to be an amoral blogger who calls himself an atheist?
ReplyDeleteYES.
DeleteAmoral? Yeah, right. You may wish to look up the word.
DeleteAtheists are not amoral, faulty thinker.
DeleteTo do something truly evil, it takes a fundie, not an atheist.
Atheists don't get that "get out of hell for free" card you xtians have.
We don't need the threat of an eternal spanking from your imaginary sky-daddy to do the right thing.
I don't need the empty threat of 'hell' to make me do what's right.
I do the right thing, BECAUSE it's right, not because I want some candy/heaven from sky-dad, or because I'm all fraidy of your sky-dad. This is why I try harder than you to do right. I want to look myself in the mirror every night and know that I tried my damnedest to do my best that day. I don't forgive myself so whimsically, like your sky-dad would.
Here's a MAJOR difference btwn me and your skydad: I'd stop a child rapist if I caught one. I wouldn't watch & wait until they were finished raping that child, like your sky dad does, only to offer them eternal forgiveness...for child rape. OOOPS, I raped another kid....good thing god forgives me each and every time.
Only a dyed in the wool xtian would think that way. Stay in church, you'd fail in school. That way you can to hang out in your heaven with all those forgiven child rapists for eternity.
Morality is not about religion. You can be very religious superficially and not very moral; you shouldn't be but you can be. And you can be an atheist and a very moral person.
DeleteBeaglemom
Morality is subjective; it is a defined by either cultural values or those that participate in a religion that sets rules.
DeleteThere is no "natural" morality that we are born with, and without outside influence we would all develop our own sense of "right and wrong", what we call morality.
I believe the Pope is saying if you're going to live an amoral life, don't call yourself a Christians because you're not a "bad" Christian, you're not a Christian at all.
DeleteBTW I doubt the Atheists will take you either because they have moral and ethics. They are within and not imposed on them by an invisible omnipotent supreme being.
I kind of get why people would think this is a 'compliment' to atheists but I really don't think it is. Frankie is not saying atheists are good, they are just less bad than rotten Xtians.
ReplyDeleteCompared to a LOT of places on Earth, THAT'S a COMPLIMENT! Used to be that the Pope considered atheist downright EVIL and automatically ordered them burned at the stake!
DeleteI think the pope's comment is an amazing recognition that some so-called Christians are bad Christians. Unfortunately, right now they seem to get all of the attention in the US.
DeleteBeaglemom
Right On, Beaglemom!
DeleteTrump is now in the White House signing an Executive Order.
ReplyDeleteWhy does he always ask for a compliment when there's a group of people in the White House?
Just more proof that he's a a self-centered, egotistical idiot who will do ANYTHING to feel like someone likes him.
DeleteMore and more shrinks of high repute are telling us he has MAJOR psychological problems. His "need" for approval is merely proof of those claims.
He's freaked out by his daughter Tiffany's resemblance to him,too.
DeleteHer mother Marla is still, on the outside a beauty. STILL.
Tiffany looks weird, and it's her father's genes that are to blame.
THIS is another reason they aren't around each other much.
He's disappointed he can't run for Pope so that everyone must kneel before him and kiss his ring.
DeleteI'm an atheist, & generally wary of organized religion. Ever since he became Pope, I've been impressed by this man. Despite his office, he at least attempts to be humble. He refused a lot of the traditional, opulent perks that popes tend to have. He refused the huge ceremony after he was chosen, & wanted to live in the same place he did as a Cardinal.
ReplyDeleteI remember him saying about gay people, (paraphrased) "Who am I to judge them? Jesus calls us to love."
I saw a video on YouTube of him that I will never forget. It was shaky, unedited, obviously filmed by a regular person with a phone. It showed the pope's motorcade passing through a rural area. Lots of black cars, BMWs, I believe, for the security team. Then, one blue Ford Focus, with Pope Francis in the back seat waving at people who had gathered to watch. Among those were about 3 adults who had brought an obviously very disabled woman there. I think they had signs written to him, asking him to stop and bless her.
He did! The reaction of the three was so touching. They were at first screaming with excitement as he got out. He came toward them and touched the three, held their hands. They calmed & then he did touch the disabled woman & blessed her. I remember one of the 3 was an elderly woman. Perhaps the mother of the disabled woman. She cried with gratitude. He then regarded the group one last time. They stepped back, with effort. And we're calling after him as he got back in his car. I think they were thanking him."
Awesome guy. I know he won't reform the entire Catholic Church. Who could? But he's setting a wonderful example. I'm a fan!
Remember the 'million men march' on DC in the 1990s? Well, we had a contractor who was very proud to have been a member of that march, and who was a 'devout Xtian'. HE TOOK US TO THE CLEANERS! If anyone has seen the video, 'The Money Pit', then you know what we went through with that guy. We finally were able to fire him, but unfortunately, we had paid him quite a big sum of money (we were inexperienced, and it was our first house and first remodel). He went on to swindle several older people, too, and one day the cops showed up at our house to ask about what we had gone through. He had been OK until we hired him (he was listed with the BBB), and he had virtually no insurance (a total of $6000 worth, so nobody got any money back from him) No idea, if he ever got caught and jailed for what he did to us and others.
ReplyDeleteGood Xtian - NOT!!! Now, we stay as far away from Xtian as possible.
Sounds like one of those "Born again Christians" I was talking about. I repeat: Those who scream the loudest are usually the worst.
DeleteIf you are in an area and can do it, hire the Amish.
DeleteHaving been raised Atheist it is just the way things are for me and I just can't find it in me to understand those that have "faith".
ReplyDeleteIt only takes a generation to deprogram; hopefully we see more of that because religion is causing a whole host of problems, as it has ever since it raised its ugly head.
Freedom.
Since so very many christians, especially high profile ones, are so hypocritical, the correct statement should be "if you cannot be good, you should call yourself Christian."
ReplyDelete