Pope Francis: The Lord Has Redeemed All of Us…Even Atheists!

The Lord has redeemed everyone with the Blood of Christ, including atheists. So says, Pope Francis:

As he celebrated Mass this morning, Francis said that the possibility of doing good is part of creation, and that Christ redeemed all of us, not only Catholics. Doing good “is a beautiful path towards peace” whilst “killing in the name of God is blasphemy.”

Asia News continues:

Pope Francis spoke about doing good as a principle that unites all humanity.

The pontiff began his reflection with today’s Gospel about the disciples who wanted to prevent a person from outside their group from doing good.

“They complain” because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.” But Jesus corrected them. ‘Do not stop him,’ he said. ‘Let him do good’.”

“The disciples,” the Pope said, “were a little ‘intolerant’, set on the idea that they owned the truth, believing that ‘all those who do not have the truth cannot do good.’ And ‘this was wrong’.” In fact, “Jesus ‘broadens the horizon.”

“The root of this possibility of doing good,” which we all have, “lies in creation. The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: Do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, he is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. ‘He cannot.’ He must! Because he has this commandment within him. Instead, such ‘closing off’ [of the mind], which makes us think that all those outside [of our group] cannot do good, is a barrier that leads to war as well as to what some throughout history have thought [possible], namely killing in the name of God, [the idea] that we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply put, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”

“On the contrary, the Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in our heart: Do good and do not do evil. The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, what about the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us first class children of God! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all!

Rest here.

 

Godlessness Fails, Again

Speaking of failure:

Our experiment of godless society has failed. We have tried to run our government by godless policies. We taught our children a godless worldview. Our biggest mistake was subjecting hundreds of millions of people to this failed experiment for so long, without recognizing or correcting its failures.

Worth a read in full in the Christian Post.

HT

 

Little Rock Church Cancels Performance Of Merry ‘Christmas Charlie Brown’ Over Atheist Outrage…

The Grinch Atheist who stole Christmas.

Via Fox News:

A Little Rock church has cancelled a student matinee performance of “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” after critics complained the show was too religious and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“It is not our desire to put hard-working, sacrificial teachers and cast members in harm’s way,” said Happy Caldwell, pastor of Agape Church, in a statement to Fox News. “While we regret the loss of students who will not get this particular opportunity right now, we have taken the school matinees off the table.”

The cancellation came as the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers told television station KATV they had received legal advice on pursuing a possible lawsuit against the Little Rock School District.

“We’re not waging a war,” said LeeWood Thomas, a spokesman for the group. “We’re basically calling a foul against the separation of church and state.”

A spokesperson for the school district told Fox News they had absolutely nothing to do with the cancellation of the performance. They said they had consulted with their legal team and determined the field trip was appropriate.

Keep reading…

Source

 

William Lane Craig ‘Eastwooding’ Richard Dawkins

Euangelion:

In this three minute video William Lane Craig does an “Eastwooding” of Richard Dawkins.

No wonder Dawkins refuses to debate Craig, he’d get his bum handed to him on a platter!

Craig “Eastwoods” Dawkins on other arguments too, find them here.

 

Atheists Sue Museum for Displaying 9/11 Cross

Angry God haters…

American Atheists have filed a suit against the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation because the WTCMF is displaying a cross formed from some steel beams left after the building collapsed.

The fact that the cross was on display for five years as a symbol of hope to thousands of people makes it an historically significant artefact worthy of display in a museum.

That is not good enough for today’s atheists whose hatred for the God in which they disbelieve is so bitter that they cannot countenance any reminder that billions of people know that he is real. As Kenneth Bronstein, New York City Atheists President pointed out: “That a worker resurrected one of these girders and dubbed it a Christian cross is an affront to all of us who believe in our constitutionally based right to have public places free of religious propaganda and religious coercion.” That the cross is an affront to those who are perishing is not exactly a new idea, but that its display is somehow religious coercion defies all the rationality that atheists are so eager to claim as their own.

Contemporary atheists will not rest until all expression of Christianity is expunged from our civilisation and its citizens’ lives are rendered as narrow, unimaginative, and vacuously meaningless as theirs.

From here:

The American Atheists organization has sued the National September 11 Memorial and Museum over the installation of the “9/11 cross” in the museum. The organization’s president, David Silverman, insists that it will not “allow this travesty to occur in our country.”

The 20-foot cross — two steel beams that had held together as the building collapsed — was discovered in the rubble of Ground Zero on September 13, 2001, by construction worker Frank Silecchia. The 9/11 cross became a venerated object, and many of those who were searching for survivors and clearing debris from the “pit” took solace from its existence. On October 4, 2001, it was moved to a pedestal on Church Street, where it was treated as a shrine by visitors to Ground Zero for the next five years. In October 2006 it was removed to storage, and in July 2011 it was returned to the site for installation in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to Debate Richard Dawkins

This is one debate that I’m looking forward to watching.

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins and Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks will meet on Wednesday in an hour-long debate on science and religion, as part of the Re:Think Festival in Salford.

The festival, hosted by the BBC at MediaCityUK, runs from 12-13 September.

It aims to explore and debate ethical and religious issues affecting society.

This will be the second time that Prof Dawkins and Lord Sacks have exchanged their opposing views on faith and science in a public arena.

In October 2011, Andrew Marr discussed the wonders of nature with Prof Dawkins, Lord Sacks and cosmologist Prof Lisa Randall in BBC Radio 4′s Start the Week.

In that occasion, Prof Dawkins’s contribution touched upon the beauty of the physical universe, and highlighted the supremacy of scientific discourse over myth or faith in the explanation of reality.

But Lord Sacks said that, while science provides facts, religion gives meaning; humans, he said, need both.

Ahead of Wednesday’s debate, the Chief Rabbi reiterated that view.

He told the BBC: “There is a belief that science and religion cannot coexist, that the advance of one is to the detriment of the other.

“I believe this is wrong.”

He added that there was “more to life than science and more to religion than ignorance and superstition”.

“What is needed, now more than ever, is a conversation between the forces of science and those of religion,” said the Chief Rabbi.

“Richard Dawkins is a gifted scientist and someone who has contributed a great amount to our understanding of the world.

“I hope we will be pleasantly surprised and realise that there is a very strong argument for saying that, despite obvious differences, there can, and must, be a great partnership between science and religion.”

New year’s debate

The Chief Rabbi will also meet Prof Dawkins in a BBC documentary to be broadcast on the same day.

The programme will mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

During an interview with Richard Dawkins filmed for the documentary, Lord Sacks put it to him that hope was based on having faith that good things might happen.

Prof Dawkins replied: “You don’t need religion to have hope. You don’t need the supernatural.

“Hope is an attitude to the future. The future is an unknown and you can take a scientific attitude to prophesy the likely future.”

“Hope is not something that you have evidence for – it’s something that you feel in you.”

Aaqil Ahmed, commissioning editor of Religion & Ethics at the BBC, has high hopes for the Dawkins-Sacks debate: “Jonathan and Richard are two of Britains most revered thinkers in this area,” he said.

“I can’t wait to listen to them explore the complexities of the relationship between religion and science.

“This is a chance to see in the flesh if the gaps between these two worlds can be bridged by possibly the only two people who could manage it.”

The Rabbi is an intellectual and he should give Dawkins a good run for his money.

 

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin: Religion and Atheism in Ireland

Vatican Radio:

A survey published this week has revealed that only 47% of people in Ireland consider themselves to be religious. Responding to the findings of the Global Index of Religion and Atheism, Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says the data is a further reminder of the need to take religious education – particularly among adults – seriously. Emer McCarthy reports Listen:

heherttp://212.77.9.15/audiomp3/00328809.MP3

In a letter published on the Archdiocese website Abp. Martin states that “Catholic Church…cannot simply presume that the faith will automatically be passed from one generation to the next or be lived to the full by its own members”.

He notes that “the emphasis on religious education in schools – vital as it is – has perhaps taken attention away from the need for adult religious education. By adult religious education I mean religious education of such quality that it treats men and women as adults, addressing the questions which adult Christians have to face as they live their faith in today’s changing world”.

The Archbishop of Dublin also points out that Church leaders need to garner the visible enthusiasm for strong catechesis that they encountered among ordinary Catholics during the recent Eucharistic Congress, before it’s too late. He urges parishes to redouble their efforts in applying the National Directory of Catechesis Share the Good News suggesting the upcoming Year of Faith announced by Pope Benedict XVI presents the perfect opportunity of this.

Global Index of Religion and Atheism
Comments of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

The findings regarding Ireland of the Global Index of Religion and Atheism, while they still require closer critical reading, remind believers of the challenges facing people of faith in a changing Ireland. The Catholic Church, on its part, cannot simply presume that the faith will automatically be passed from one generation to the next or be lived to the full by its own members. This survey is just one further reminder of the need for strong on-going education in the faith.

In my recent talk at the recent MacGill Summer School I drew attention to the fact that the Catholic Church in Ireland is far behind other European Churches in the way it addresses the formation of people in their faith. The emphasis on religious education in schools – vital as it is – has perhaps taken attention away from the need for adult religious education. By adult religious education I mean religious education of such quality that it treats men and women as adults, addressing the questions which adult Christians have to face as they live their faith in today’s changing world.

The excellent and stimulating National Directory of Catechesis Share the Good News was launched some years ago by the Irish Catholic Bishops but its application has been very slow and it has not yet made the inroads into popular catechetics and parish life that it needs to.

However, findings such as those contained in the Global Index must not be read in isolation – but as another signpost of the reality of our journey of renewal in the Irish Church. The enthusiasm and joy expressed by people who attended the recent Eucharistic Congress in their thousands is another – more positive – signpost.

The forthcoming Year of Faith announced by His Holiness Pope Benedict gets underway in October and provides the Irish Church with another opportunity, just months after the moment of renewal that was the International Eucharistic Congress – to contribute to a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith.

There are, without doubt, many in the Irish Catholic Church willing to take up the challenge of turning the corner of renewal and to witnessing in the Ireland of tomorrow to the hope that comes to them through their faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Anglican Priest Joins Atheists Calling for End to Bible Study in School

In New Zealand:

Rev. Clay Nelson wants to put a stop to Bible study in schools because it violates the students’ human right to “freedom of religion”.

From here:

An Anglican leader is urging state schools to ditch the Bible in Schools programme as he believes it is trying to create a loophole around the New Zealand Bill of Rights.

St Matthew in the City Reverend Clay Nelson has joined the atheist run-Secular Education Network in a bid to get the religious education programme out of the country’s primary and secondary schools.

Nelson said the programme is an imposition on the human rights of children as it restricts the freedom of other religions which is protected under the Bill of Rights.

“The biggest reason is the issue of human rights,” Nelson told TV ONE’s Breakfast.

“We believe in freedom of religion and to have Bibles in public schools is in an imposition on the religious freedom of others. To have religious freedom you have to have freedom from the religion of others.”

In the video below Clay declares that he is a “non-theist”, doesn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus and doesn’t believe any of the historic creeds; his faith, he says, thrives on “uncertainty”.

Oddly enough, he still insists on calling himself a Christian; nevertheless, as Kierkegaard pointed out, it doesn’t matter how many times you call a cow a horse – it remains a cow.

See, it’s next to impossible to remain, in good conscience, an Anglican. Pretty soon, it’ll be like saying you’re a non-Christian: One and the same thing.

 

Atheism

Source

And in Australia…

Aussies: Godless overtake Anglicans, as Hinduism doubles.

Catholics 5,439,268
No religion 4,796,787
Anglican 3,679,907
Uniting Church 1,065,795
Presbyterian and Reformed 599,515
Hindu 275,535

People professing to have no religion have moved past Anglicans to become the second-largest grouping after Catholics in the 2011 Census.

Almost 4.8 million people said they had no religion, up 29 per cent from 2006, but the number of people not answering the question dropped by 2 per cent. This suggested that more people were claiming a religious identity (including no religion), said Monash University sociology professor Gary Bouma.

The total Christian population is 13.2 million, or 61 per cent, down three percentage points. Catholics have dropped half a percentage point to 25.3 or 5.4 million, Anglicans are down 1.6 percentage points to 3.7 million, while the Uniting Church is down to 5 per cent, or 1.1 million people.

Read it all..