Sigh. Pope Leo’s first sermon…

[CurlewKate]

“"A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,"

I don’t know why I expected anything different. Maybe because he likes Wordle?

He most definitely isn't right to intimate that the negatives he mentioned are all only ever caused by those with 'a lack of or the loss of faith'!! 🙄
In fact that's utter rubbish and it's not a difficult thing to prove either as many of the most violent, cruel and pointless wars and atrocities throughout history have been instigated either because of one group's insistence on the superiority of their 'god' over someone else's, or just simply between different religious groups who just don't like each other for no particular reason!! 😡
The pomposity, arrogance and entitlement of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church when claiming unquestionable loyalty and blind allegiance without practising what they preach is sickening and the hypocrisy is off the scale!! 😱

This! Come the fuck on. It's like complaining that the sky is blue.

A daily journey of conversion means an individual converting themselves to be more Christlike. In other words, don't just come to mass on Sundays and then cheat your customers on Mondays, but undergo a journey of conversion every day and live out on Monday what you heard at mass on Sunday.

But hey, you want to interject your own spurious interpretations, go for it.

Converting themselves?

When he talks about all that stuff in his sermon?

How convinced are you that is what he meant in that sermon?

What do you think that sermon was about?

He's talking about people's personal faith, their own conversion in turning towards the Lord.
He is not talking about people going out and converting others. That's not what he means there.
@aloris is right.

I think he is going to get a lot of criticism because Trump and his nasty gang don’t like him. Too liberal for them.

Well, good.

Pope Pius’s response to fascism is a hotly contested topic . en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII_and_the_Holocaust

(And obviously they’ll be all over social media about it, as is their tradition. Mostly anonymously).

Of course he’s a Catholic. Of course he wants everyone to be Catholic-that’s part of his job. But he said that people without faith are moral vacuums likely to commit “appalling violations of human dignity”. Surely nobody can think that’s an OK thing to say?

@TheBlueUniform I’m talking about the body count under Bolshevism/Stalinism, Pol Pot and Mao.

i found this quote online:
Whereas progressives and atheists must go back 800-1,000 years to chronicle significant “Christian” violence, atheist communist despots of the 20th century collectively killed an estimated 100 million human beings, according to “The Black Book of Communism,” “The Naked Communist,” and articles in Le Monde magazine. Professor Dr. R.J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii estimates the loss of human life from atheistic communism to range from 40 million to 259 million with a median estimate of 110 million.

eu.phillyburbs.com/story/opinion/columns/more-voices/2015/03/17/religious-wars-many-more-have/18069632007/

@CurlewKate i think he’s talking about regimes and governments rather than individuals. I am certain that he would recognise that there are very many good people of all religions and none. Many non-religious people put religious people to shame!

He strikes me as a very humble and kind man. He’s not about calling individuals names or denying the goodness in their lives. But he’s pointing out that the denial of God can lead to some bad things on a societal level.

You only have to go back thirty years to when people were blowing each other up in Northern Ireland because they were the "wrong" type of Christian.

Not done in the name of atheism.

Atheism is the lack of belief in God.

These atrocities were not done in the name of atheism but by people who happened to be atheists.

They were also male. They probably also had many other things in common.

Do you think they did these atrocities because they were atheists?

I agree with you OP. Being religious is no guarantee of being a good person. Sadly history and the current day is peppered full of people committing violent acts and showing no mercy in the name of righteousness and faith. People being cast out of their families for being gay. Women being ostracised for getting pregnant outside of holy matrimony although a man was involved and he doesn’t get blamed and shamed. Religions that are run by men - I could go on. I’m not referring to any particular religion but I agree something fresher and more relevant from the new pope would have been inspiring for everyone including non-Catholics.

@cakeorwine The Soviet regime explicitly persecuted the Orthodox Church. I don’t know how much more “in the name of atheism” you want? Indeed, I can’t think of a Communist regime which didn’t try to wipe out religion.

It used to be that being a pagan or a tax collector was the low to which you didn't want to sink, now it's being a practical atheist ... or a Christian with the 'wrong' view of Jesus.

Interesting that after his election Pope Francis said that Christians should see atheists as good people if they do good. I appreciate that sentiment.

The Soviet regime persecuted many people - religious and non religious.

What makes you think it was done in the name of atheism?

@cakeorwine because they said so
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist–Leninist_atheism

Exactly!

Atheism is the absence of a belief in God.

You appear to have referenced something different.

Christ, that’s the most banal, immature and ignorant attempt at a theological discussion I’ve ever seen. Why do such mouth breathers think they’re really clever for catching that ‘God’ is a concept?

No he isn't.
Nothing to do with lack of faith, more lack of height.

@cakeorwine from my link:
“Marxist–Leninist atheism, also known as Marxist–Leninist scientific atheism, is the antireligious element of Marxism–Leninism.”

It feels like I’m participating in a bad version of the Monty Python argument sketch.

Atheism is not anti religion.
It's the absence of a belief in a God.
I don't believe in fairies
I am not against those who do believe in fairies.

Just as I am not opposed to people who believe in God. Atheists just don't believe in God. If people want to believe in God, then that's their choice.

You appear to be talking about a view that actively does not want people to believe in God and will commit atrocitties against people who do believe. That's not atheism.