POPE FRANCIS’ HEAVEN FOR ALL AND A POEM ABOUT IT

The following poem is not the work of a Catholic. Even if it were I would still be justified to say recent papal statements about the acceptability of atheism are misleading (bit.ly/13PpQc6). To suggest unbelief is somehow acceptable if sincere, marks a complete rupture with classic statements like, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). Pope Francis moreover distorts the source he uses to support his claim. Referring to an incident in the gospels he calls Jesus’ disciples (and anyone like them today) narrow for their unwillingness to accept good works in outsiders. That’s not quite what the story tells. In the relevant Mk 9:39, Jesus refuses to forbid someone to exorcise in his name. The Pope thus appears to ignore:

1).The outsider follower does his exceptional work in Christ’s name, not that of other gods or none.
2). Elsewhere Jesus even maintains that right belief is part of a work to be done (Joh 6:29). Belief, because if sincere it engages both mind and will, is always vital.
3).It’s too easy to do good outside God’s will, good which risks finishing ineffective or harmful for that reason. Jesus even sees evil being done in the name of supposed religion (Joh 16:2). While anyone can do “good” and the gospels don’t suggest they can’t, no one is righteous (Rom 3:10). If salvation could be earned by a tally of good deeds only, Christ’s sacrifice would be meaningless. And the Bible does not affirm with the Pope that all are naturally and automatically God’s children. It’s a matter more of belief and adoption (Rom 8:2-17, Eph 1:5 etc).

Pope Francis is almost re-inventing religion against biblical tradition at the same time as I doubt he’d deviate from any Roman tradition over excommunicating, say, those who have abortions in Catholic El Salvador. (I refer to the scandal there over a dying woman, “Beatriz”, currently needing an abortion and whose son risks being orphaned through the effects of Catholic “right to life” obsessions, whose cause Amnesty International has rightly taken up (bit.ly/18n8PXZ). I hope I’m wrong since much Pope Francis says is good or well-intentioned, but being generously inclusive of atheists and seeing good everywhere yet reportedly being obsessed with Satan, the new pontiff gives every indication of being a well meaning, conflicted eccentric.

          HEAVEN FOR ALL

I am your new Pope Francis and I really love you all
I hope you won’t accuse me of a mind too Christian small.
Like God I love the infidels and every atheist too
He brings them all to heaven just as he’ll do for you.
I know the gospels speak of decisions, choices, hell
But it’s only words and parables, a sort of warning bell.
Like my friend the Dalai Lama my religion’s doing good,
I hope you could agree with that else faith’s not understood.
Within a strife torn world today we guard against division
Our task is building unity, that is the true religion.
My thought is much like Teilhard’s, I’ll say mass upon the world
And reach the point Omega where the all-Christ is unfurled.
It’s true observant Buddhists in Burma, Vietnam, Laos [1]
Have tortured Christian converts and left orphans without house
While Saudi bans our worship and they bomb it in Iraq
But if you’re like the mystics it will only seem that’s dark.
Given time each soul will know it is a child of the same God
Let’s speak of love and friendship not judgement and the rod.
Some say I am the last Pope, the last in Malachy’s line
So with Antichrist approaching you’d take it as a sign
That any combination means a world faith’s on the way
And think the future looks so grim you only want to pray.
But apocalyptic thought like that belongs with superstition,[2]
I’m left so vexed by talk of it, I could send it to perdition.

[1] I wrote concerning The Hell Hole of Laos in the Sept 2012 Blog. Buddhist/Marxist Vietnam has a nasty, evil habit of attacking Christian orphanages whether Catholic or Protestant.
See for example:
http://catholicism.org/vietnam-police-send-thugs-to-attack-orphanage-priest-beaten-into-comma.html
http://barnabasfund.org/AU/Christian-orphanage-in-Vietnam-raided-and-destroyed-children-beaten.html
I have included in my The Great Circle: Asia, David and God Consciousness concerning the absurdly whitewashed reputation of Buddhism which has long presided over unbelievable levels of corruption and cruelty still too often evident today. Buddhism has easily given down to atheism as it is itself a kind of atheism, and the Pope and Christian liberals intoxicated by feelings of togetherness and easy forgiveness are in bad need of realizing just how much damage to the faith, including to precisely works of charity, some atheisms can finish up doing. One needs to take more seriously Christ’s words “Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Luk 11:23). This is of course generalization,but as a generalization it is still considerably certifiable and while, for example such as Boko Haram Muslims are slaughtering Christians at worship in Nigeria, it borders on betrayal and the unworldly interfaith mystic’s feel-good self indulgence to then refer to our Muslim “Brothers” as Pope Francis has done. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” doesn’t go so far as to call the Roman soldiers of the crucifixion “brothers” in faith! It implicitly blames their ignorance.

Pope Francis’ beliefs belong to a new mood and trend reflected in such universalist works as Rob Bell’s Love Wins and Dr Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven and the Dalai Lama’s Towards a True Kinship of Faiths. But as stressed in my Dr Eben Goes to Heaven poem earlier on this Blog, note that for Eben and in parallel to Francis’ Satan obsession, there is a hellish dimension which like some repressed unconscious impulse comes through despite everything.

[2]  Since I wrote this this surprising Pope of the unexpected has now declared our times to be precisely end times apocalyptic http://bit.ly/ILpzkt  It’s an open question whether with this new emphasis he brings himself nearer to the Malachy prophecy’s last Pope, a “bishop of Rome” who protects the flock under the persecutions of the Antichrist.