Four for you, Pope Francis. You go, Pope Francis

I consider myself an expert on a couple of things — cable television, Lindsay Lohan’s career and Harry Potter chief among them — but one thing I am no expert on is the Catholic faith, nor any other Christian religion. I’m not really an expert in any religion.

But I’m a pretty seasoned player when it comes to not having a religion, which is why I feel I’m abundantly qualified to share my opinion regarding Pope Francis’ recent statements on atheists who do good being redeemed in the eyes of God and Jesus Christ.

In a recent homily during Mass in Rome, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of everyone practicing good deeds in the world regardless of their faith. He cites a Bible verse in which Jesus’ disciples were upset because someone outside of their ranks was doing good, but Jesus implored his disciples to see the ability of everyone in the world to do good, not just his followers. This is Pope Francis simply asking for inherently good people to be seen as good even if they aren’t following Catholicism and Jesus Christ.

I’ve been a witness to Catholicism my whole life. For starters, I find it to be a fascinating religion filled with beautiful history and tremendously storied traditions. My best friend is Catholic and we’ve had many enlightening conversations in which mutual respect was held for the other party’s ideas and beliefs.

As someone raised to simply be nice to people and promote good things in the world instead of evil, even without religious faith, Pope Francis’ remarks mean a great deal to me. Especially when these words are coming from the leader of a church which doesn’t support several things I unwaveringly believe in, like abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

When I was 11, I moved to an extremely religious city in central Indiana. Middle school cliques were centered around which church you and your friends attended. Not being a church-going person, this created a great divide for me. I fell in with a group of kids who were nice enough, but they could never get past the fact that I wasn’t a Christian and had no plans of becoming one.

Pope Francis’ remarks make me wonder how I may have been treated growing up had my friends realized that I didn’t need to believe in any higher power to be a good person. While I do believe religion can build morality and ethical behavior in people, it is not the only way to have strong character.

I know plenty of people who call themselves Christians who are supreme jerks. Religion doesn’t cause good behavior — it’s merely a possible correlation. The same goes for those of us without religion beliefs. We can still be good and righteous people. But it’s only through mutual understanding between those with religious convictions and those without that we ever have a chance of working towards a greater wellness for all people.

So that’s why I’m raising a glass to Pope Francis. He may not be my religious leader, but he currently seems to be one worthy of my respect.
­
— wdmcdona@indiana.edu