Yesterday (and today so far, at least on reddit), he of the ridiculous hats and fancy dresses, Pope Francis I (insert snicker and apology to all decent people named "Francis" here), claimed that all of us are "god's children" and that we are all "redeemed," "even the atheists."
I've been mulling this around in my head for the last eighteen hours or so, and I'm still a bit confused. I've bitched about it on facebook, I've bitched about it to my lovely missus. The missus asked me why I cared what this man thinks or says. I'll get back to that.
This morning on reddit, there were several links to more quotes from Sir Papal-Lapa-Ding-Dong (thanks for that to Katy Farrell) referencing that as long as atheists "do good," we can meet somewhere in the middle. This is more confusing, and angering. I'm not going to try and speak for all atheists out there, but I will speak for myself when I say that any sort of statement made by the pope toward unifying us as a species, while superficially commendable, is shallow and hollow and really fucking condescending.
To me, this implies that we weren't 'doing good' up until recently. Now, I'm not sure what kind of social and cultural impact my life has on this web of shit, or exactly what he considers to be "good"-- but I'm pretty sure I haven't been harming anyone while I've been living my godless life. I don't kick puppies. I don't steal, I don't kill (unless insects and arachnids count. And they do not.), and I try, some days harder than others, to not be an asshole. I love my stepson like he was my own (that's something Jesus would do, right?), something some other people of other denominations have failed to do for generations. So while I don't consider myself a do-gooder (I rarely donate to charities, I don't work in soup kitchens, etc.), I'm not doing anything bad, so why the fuck would you zero in and actually say the word "atheist?"
You're not going to convert anyone, Franny. What you're going to do is confuse and earn the ire of atheists worldwide for even mentioning us specifically. And this notion that we have to "do good" to get along, while it's a nice sentiment, you're still blowing papal smoke up our asses. We should not have to do anything to make our existence acceptable to your dubious authority, you arrogant prick. Because while many of us non-believers go about living our godless lives harmlessly, you, the figurehead of one of the richest religious organizations in the world, still oppose gay marriage and abortion and making contraceptives readily available.
I started to research before writing this, just to see what other bullshit opinions you have about things, but you know what? Those three things alone, be they catholic church line-towing or not, are some of the most evil things I can think of this day and age. To oppose a biological predisposition to sexual identity, to oppose the option to have an abortion and the social and psychological ramifications of such, to tell people it's immoral to use condoms or birth control of any sort is horrible and wrong.
So for you, oh high priest of the uninformed, to come at me from this moral high ground, as if we need to do more to earn some sort of acceptance, is kind of fucked up.
I reject this notion that we can all work together to make a better world until you catch up with the good we do by simply not opposing things that are basic human rights. You have no high ground to preach from, Franny. You don't. I would almost go so far as to say that atheists do more good by their inaction and vocal support of gays, abortion, and contraception than you do by running off at the mouth with these hollow platitudes about how we all need to come together. While I won't deny that there is good to be found in the catholic church, and that as a species we need to come together to further ourselves and this planet, it isn't the non-believers who need to catch up and do good: it's you. You have a responsibility, if you take anything about your job seriously, to do more good. And you can start by catching up to reality with your views on gays and abortion and contraception.
So: why do I care what an old man in a dress says? Because other people do. Other people believe this man has authority, and structure their opinions and beliefs based upon what he says. While this has no direct effect on me, it effects millions of catholics around the world, and holds us back as a species just as much as any other religion promoting hatred and oppression and limiting freedoms because your book of fairy tales says it was wrong, regardless of how science says different or how social attitudes have changed in two thousand years. It's realistically and morally irresponsible.
I'll meet in the middle when you and your organization come to terms with the world we are living in and stop promoting ideals that restrict and harm people who only want to live their lives. And if that day comes, I will still make fun of your ridiculous fucking hat.
Cheers.
-Swift
