Pope Francis Seems To Talk Sense A Lot

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ve probably gathered that none of us here are the biggest fans of the religion thing. I think I can speak for Carin when I say that much of the time it seems like a lot of what organized religion offers is poorly disguised racism, discrimination, intolerance and even downright silliness.

But that said, this Pope Francis fellow seems pretty alright. It’s not easy to enact institutional change in even the smallest, most progressive of organizations under the most ideal of circumstances, so he deserves some respect for even giving it a shot when his institution is the Catholic church, the views of which even the dark ages look at now and then and go “What the fuck, guys?” It’s sad that things as obvious as gays are just as human as the rest of us keep running up against opposition, but good on him for continuing to stir that pot among others.

Pope Francis says the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real, and God did not wave a “magic wand” to create the universe.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church said Tuesday that current scientific theories concerning the start of the universe and the development of life are compatible with church doctrines – a landmark declaration for a religion fraught with conflict over literal translations of the Bible.

Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City on Tuesday, Pope Francis urged Roman Catholics to embrace current scientific theories as “required” methods to understand existence. The pope’s suggestions fly in the face of more traditional views that read the Bible as a literal record of the creation and development of the world.

“When we read about creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Pope Francis said.

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But Pope Francis suggested on Tuesday that such theories still rely too much on God as a supernatural force who breaks the laws of nature. Instead, Francis said God “created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment.”

You know what? I can deal with that. Maybe I don’t believe that Sky Guy built humans from scratch, but if you want to believe that something spiritual beyond our understanding is helping you along the way and has a hand in making you the person you are, have at it. I can make that compromise, especially when even the Pope is at the point where he’s giving a little.