I remember the exact moment i lost my faith in all things Catholic. It was at an early age and i asked a nun a question in religion class about why my grandfather, (who was an incredibly nice man, albeit a Lutheran), would not be permitted into heaven when he died?
The answer shocked me to the core; "because he was not Catholic," the best he could hope for was purgatory. I found that unreasonably unfair. Wasn't the whole purpose of religion to insure we lived our lives in a God-like way? Apparently not to this nun (and a host of others).
Loved the column today Steve and the deep dive into Pope Francis's answer. Of all the popes over my 75 years, this is the first time i've read about or watched one whose actions mirrored Christ's teachings. We all know the challenges of interpreting the bible, but for some reason he has always been more grounded in forgiving and understanding rather than shaming.
I will admit the coverage that I saw left me feeling that the pope said it was OK for a priest to bless the union, but not perform a marriage of same-sex couples. That made me sad. I need to drink more coffee and reread what you wrote to try to understand better what the pope was actually saying.
I’ve lost trust in anything the media says about religion a long time ago. Every single day of my life someone in the media is telling me that “evangelicals” love Donald Trump. I have considered myself an Evangelical for many many years and go by the long accepted definition. But I no longer call myself that in public or online because I don’t want to be associated with Donald Trump. The media has a long history of changing the definition of many words. Thank you for the information and I will read it again very soon.
I remember the exact moment i lost my faith in all things Catholic. It was at an early age and i asked a nun a question in religion class about why my grandfather, (who was an incredibly nice man, albeit a Lutheran), would not be permitted into heaven when he died?
The answer shocked me to the core; "because he was not Catholic," the best he could hope for was purgatory. I found that unreasonably unfair. Wasn't the whole purpose of religion to insure we lived our lives in a God-like way? Apparently not to this nun (and a host of others).
Loved the column today Steve and the deep dive into Pope Francis's answer. Of all the popes over my 75 years, this is the first time i've read about or watched one whose actions mirrored Christ's teachings. We all know the challenges of interpreting the bible, but for some reason he has always been more grounded in forgiving and understanding rather than shaming.
How refreshing is that?
I will admit the coverage that I saw left me feeling that the pope said it was OK for a priest to bless the union, but not perform a marriage of same-sex couples. That made me sad. I need to drink more coffee and reread what you wrote to try to understand better what the pope was actually saying.
I’ve lost trust in anything the media says about religion a long time ago. Every single day of my life someone in the media is telling me that “evangelicals” love Donald Trump. I have considered myself an Evangelical for many many years and go by the long accepted definition. But I no longer call myself that in public or online because I don’t want to be associated with Donald Trump. The media has a long history of changing the definition of many words. Thank you for the information and I will read it again very soon.
The media is long overdue for a good dose of humility and truth, but I won’t hold my breath.