I’ve got a soft spot for the Pope.
I don’t know why; I’m about as religious as a satsuma.
But given that Mum’s an Anglican preacher, my Dad’s an atheist, my brother a Catholic, and my Aunt and Uncle devout Jews, I’ve probably picked up second-hand religious interest somewhere.
Anyway, I like him.
He seems friendly and humble.
And I bet he’d be able to wear a white top for a day without dribbling spaghetti on it. Mad skills.
Perhaps his most surprising skill is that he knows how to get good PR.
PR-savvy and the Church are fish and raccoons: unlikely bedmates.
But today, as one article sniffed, Pope Francis gave another one of his snappy soundbites. He announced that creationism and evolution are compatible.
Now for any modern Christian, this is a, “well, obviously” moment.
Only the most extreme believers think that God waved a wand, and out popped the human, the hippo and the hummingbird.
Every other modern Christian knows that Darwin was right.
Furthermore, that the Old Testament should not be taken literally.
The reason I find it interesting is that this announcement will have a bigger effect on atheists than Catholics.
They will be the ones going what? Really? Religious people think that?
See, every time I have a conversation with an average atheist, I realise that they have this idea that anyone religious believes in creationism.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard, “but the Bible’s been proved scientifically wrong!”
There are a lot of assumptions that we make about young religious people these days.
We don’t really judge old religious people; they were raised in a time when churchgoing was normal.
Or middle-aged religious people, because they were raised in a time when feeling guilty for not going was normal.
But young religious people? We think that’s weird. We think they’re a bit ignorant, prudish, and more than a bit intolerant. Continue reading
Source:
- Verity Johnson in The New Zealand Herald
Verity Johnson is a writer who is passionate about giving young people a voice.