New Pope is elected

reply to post by MadhatterTheGreat

and i thought i was the only one who noticed that!
well, johnathan pryce DID play a zealot cardinal in the movie, "stigmata". kind of makes you wonder, hmmm?


seriously, though. i am not catholic. i do hope that his election will help bring peace to all who follow and to those who do not.

Originally posted by Thorneblood
Granted i am looking for it, but there is something about the number 13, the devil, and this event that has my curiosity peaked.

In connection to my previous post, factor this in.

Martius has always had 31 days. (13 reversed)

Thats alot of 13 for one new pope isn't it?

It is quotes like this that lead me to question why I joined this website.

*Shrugs*

Then you probably wouldn't find it interesting that he chose to name himself after a Saint who just happens to have the devil in the painting of his death?

Reuters

On behalf of all the non-Catholics, and non-religious on ATS, can I please get some clarification as to why the Jesuits are being pegged as evil and equated to the S.S? My spouse is a former Roman Catholic and says all Jesuits are are essentially very liberal Catholics, who tend to be academics. He further clarified that for me by saying "maybe more like Protestants who haven't left the church yet." Now, if that's the case, I suppose I should warily eyeball anyone who says anything negative strongly, as they're likely to be conservatives. Unless someone can accurately, and succinctly type out a good explanation for the rest of us, that is.

For the record, I'm an atheist and am already liking Francis as much as I liked John Paul II. He still has to prove himself to the people, but I have a feeling this guy's going to be a good morale boost for everyone.

Originally posted by ausername

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens

Goodness almighty - people cannot come to terms with the fact that 7 billion humans exist, on their own, in this cold dark and unknown universe with no guiding supernatural hand.

7 billion humans on a tiny speck near a star in a remote area of an outer strand of a spiral galaxy containing hundreds of billions of stars, in a universe of hundreds of billions of galaxies.... A universe that began from nothing, a void that physics cannot explain, only theorize and call it a "big bang" ... The essence of creation still escapes you?

Continued...

The real problems between humanity and their creator began when the words of men were either spoken or written and portrayed as the words of God.

Evil destroys, where there is any evil, there is the absence of God.

Faith in God should be an internal relationship, a personal relationship. Each and every person has within their souls the ability to know evil from good, right from wrong, good from bad. That is all you ever needed.

You do not now, nor have you ever needed "religion" or religious leaders. You have mistakenly placed your faith in the church and religions, books and texts of men, and not in your creator. You need no pope, no religious leaders no savior. You can follow the path of evil, or the path of good. It is a simple choice.

Evil is winning the battle for souls ...

Where is yours?

if this pope is going to be a "man of the people"...i guess he'll throw out all the peadophiles, hire some honest accountants, sell off the billions in treasure to help the poor....yeah, right...and i'm going to win a 100 million dollar lottery...and by the way, i just went out to see what was on the tube and everybody is talking up this pope like he the second coming of christ...isn't there any other news out there?

reply to post by ausername


"Evil" and "goodness" do not exist. They are concepts and constructs of the human mind. They are not universal.

Sure, Hitler was "evil" - but what he did had no bearing on the Gliese star system, for example. The stars in the Andromeda galaxy did not tremble for example and wail at the "evil" that occurred. Anything that we humans do here on Earth does not even make a sound some light years away. Even if we nuke ourselves to oblivion, nothing will care. There will be a silent explosion unheard in the vast expanse of the Cosmos.

I do not need faith. I can go about as I please.

God is a strange concept - he is an anthropomorphic concept - if I asked you how he looked, what would you say? He would be given human qualities - kindness, love etc etc. He would be anthropomorphic. And yet, humans are not the sole species of the Cosmos - goodness knows what is out there in that vast expanse...

reply to post by ausername


Why/how will my faith soon be tested?

reply to post by Thorneblood


So you think that because people have had faith in unverified things, that that proves its veracity or legitimacy?
I'd venture to say that such excessive faith-based religions are/were responsible for such slow progress in humanity!

Would anybody like to tell me why it has taken Homo Sapiens Sapiens so long to come this far? Modern Homo Sapiens Sapiens is 50,000 - 200,000 years old. Why the heck has it taken so long for this intelligent species to progress? Why so long?

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens
reply to post by ausername

 

Why/how will my faith soon be tested?

It happens to everyone. Not just you.

Exactly how and when are not something I could possibly know.

reply to post by ausername


It's all well and good that you're irreligious but still believe in a deity. I respect that.

But I would also like you to question why "God" is so anthropomorphic.

reply to post by ausername


Faith in what?

Apparently he's already had his own human rights scandal...

His tenure has been marked with controversy. On April 15, 2005, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Bergoglio, accusing him of conspiring with the junta in 1976 to kidnap two Jesuit priests, whom he, as superior of the Society of Jesus of Argentina in 1976, had asked to leave their pastoral work following conflict within the Society over how to respond to the new military dictatorship, with some priests advocating a violent overthrow. Bergoglio\'s spokesman has flatly denied the allegations. No evidence was presented linking the cardinal to this crime

Catholic.org

So maybe he wasn't a Nazi youth, but it sounds like even this guy has his own skeletons.

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens
reply to post by ausername

 

Faith in what?

Exactly.

Another line to say that you must answer that question, no one else on earth can answer that for you.

reply to post by ausername


Chap, do stop being mystical.

I've learnt to channel all of my mysticality and "supernatural feeling" into some good storylines.

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens

I would also like you to question why "God" is so anthropomorphic.

"God created man in his own image"?

Without evoking the image of a man being God, people could not be made to fear God, they could not follow the "flock" ... It is one of many elements religion has used to exploit the fears of mankind.. Fear of death, fear of God's wrath. The bible often speaks of a vengeful God, one that from time to time inflicts his wrath upon humanity... When the only force in the universe that would do that is EVIL....

Need I go on?

reply to post by ausername


Exactly.

So if we agree that "God" is anthropomorphic, then what do we argue for?

Originally posted by ausername

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens
reply to post by ausername

 

Why/how will my faith soon be tested?

It happens to everyone. Not just you.

Exactly how and when are not something I could possibly know.

And once again, a mystical answer that has no substance. It's like someone saying "I curse you and bad things will happen to you now" What a load of guff.

But on the election of a new pope, after much thought, even though I don't care for any religion, I think I am glad that the catholic church will continue. It has been around for a long time now and wow what a void would be left if it dissolved. I imagine it would be like the passing of a dirty old uncle. Everyone knows what he is like but tolerate him because he does have some good points and sometimes livens up a family get together.

And imagine all of the confused and confounded ex followers. They would either be looking for a replacement crutch, would just passively go on with life and realise that nothing has changed or most worryingly, they would come to the conclusion that right and wrong are just fluffy concepts and start destroying and gutting whatever they liked due to a hollow space left in their lives due to there being no hell as a consequence.

reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens


Yes because having faith in something is the first step in proving its veracity.

Throughout history it has been those who have faith in that which is considered impossible, incredulous or even ridiculous that have seen great things and learned great truths. It is faith, the simple and honest belief in ourselves and in all we can accomplish that has driven us this far. It is faith that built the pyramids, painted the sistine chapel and wrote many of the most moving and powerful pieces of music and literature of our time. It has simply been the driving force behind every major accomplishment we have ever achieved.

So bite me.

Originally posted by HomoSapiensSapiens

So if we agree that "God" is anthropomorphic, then what do we argue for?

To agree with that, one must also agree with everything else that "religion" says about God, and that it is the absolute truth. When the absolute, pure and simple truth, is already within every living soul here.

No need to argue further.