A boy is so fearful and tormented that his recently deceased nonbelieving father may not be in heaven. The pope "comforts" him by saying that - since he had his children baptized - then he surely made it to heaven.

What an asnine answer.

If the father did not have the children baptized, then he would have gone to hell? I hate the fact that religion caused such torment and pain for this young boy.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/heartsick-boy-asks-atheist-dad-193340202.html

Oh! That poor little boy!

Losing a father is traumatic enough in the life of a young child.

would this be the same "pope" that said there is no hell ?

good grief,the Pope told him that his father was a good person and would go to heaven. Would have rather the told the kid his father was in a lake of hellfire and brimstone? Whoever told him his father would go to hell was wrong, but that wasn't a
The Pope. Francis couldn't do anything right for some of you

bona dea Wrote:
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> good grief,the Pope told him that his father was a
> good person and would go to heaven.

No, actually, he didn't. I guess you didn't read it.
He said the kid's father had a "good heart." And he said "god" decides who goes to heaven. He didn't say his father had gone to heaven.

> Would have
> rather the told the kid his father was in a lake
> of hellfire and brimstone?

Personally, I'd rather that nobody made up stuff about afterlives, or pretended they "know" what happens if/when such a thing is real. Since you asked.

> Whoever told him his
> father would go to hell was wrong, but that wasn't
> a The Pope.

It was the people in the church the pope runs.

>Francis couldn't do anything right for
> some of you...

And, apparently, can't do anything wrong for you.

Who put the idea of heaven and hell in that boy's mind in the first place? Organized religion

Why did the boy think that his atheist father would not be in heaven? Organized religion.

It was the teachings of the pope's own religion that caused the torment in that boy's mind. And when he tries to comfort the boy by saying that his father would go to heaven because he consented to have his children baptized, he's going against his own church's teachings.

The original post blames religion for causing the pain in that boy's heart.

Or maybe he got it from bullies at school. As I said, I attend a Catholic Church and hell and who goes there is never mentioned. The emphasis is on the scripture reading. There may be exceptions, but in my experience hell is seldom discussed. It is in some churches,yes, but not so much among Catholics. He may have gotten it at church, but bottom line,we don't know. Wherever he got the idea, the Pope corrected and reassured him.He also corrected Catholics who believe atheists go to hell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2018 12:53PM by bona dea.

Well, Kolob, why dont you tell us what he should have said when a child asked if his atheist father was in hell. He said that God decides and wouldnt condemn a good man to hell.How awful.As for the OP he didnt say that the father had been granted and exception because his kids were baptized and he isnt the one who put the idea of hell in the kid's head.We dont know where he got that. Could be at church or school or any number of other places. From my experience hell is seldom mentioned in the Catholic church. Regardless, the pope isnt responsible for what someone else said especially since he said the opposite.Damned if he says thefather is in hell and damned if he says he is not. Geesh.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2018 05:28PM by bona dea.

I'm not Kolob, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll answer anyway :)

He could have said....

"It doesn't matter what you father believed in this life. If he was a good person, he has gone to a good place. You have nothing to worry about.

or

"Hell and heaven aren't real places. We create our own hell and heaven during this life. If he was a good man, you have nothing to worry about regarding your father."

or

"If you don't stop worrying about your low life atheist father, you're going to go to hell!"

Lots of ways he could have said it without tying it back to baptism in a church as being a requirement. That just perpetuates the cycle of false claims and real fears.

bona dea Wrote:
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> Well, Kolob, why dont you tell us what he should
> have said when a child asked if his atheist father
> was in hell.

OK.
He should have been HONEST.

He should have said, "There's no evidence of any kind that there's any heaven or hell. Or that there's a god-thing who rewards kiss-asses who believe nonsense with a "heaven," or punishes good people who didn't join some stupid church with a "hell." Your father was a good man, remember how much he loved you and how much you loved him.

That's what he should have said.

> He said that God decides and wouldnt
> condemn a good man to hell.How awful.

It is awful. He pretends to know such things, when he doesn't know squat, and when there's no evidence any such things exist. He promotes the fantasy bullshit of the church he leads to the detriment of all humanity.

> As for the OP
> he didnt say that the father had been granted and
> exception because his kids were baptized and he
> isnt the one who put the idea of hell in the kid's
> head.We dont know where he got that.

Yes, we do know -- he got it from the church he was raised in. That's their doctrine. That's what they teach. Stop pretending "we don't know where he got that" -- we know exactly where he got that.

> Damned if he says
> thefather is in hell and damned if he says he is
> not. Geesh.

Nobody is "damned" -- that's another ridiculous made-up religious concept.

The pope is a promoter of bullshit. This kid was traumatized by the bullshit the prop promotes. That the pope was, for a brief second, the tiniest bit "kind" by denying his own church's bullshit which he regularly promotes isn't "wonderful." The kid wouldn't have had his head filled with this bullshit in the first place if the pope's church would stop promoting it.

Is this pope "better" than some other popes? Sure. I'll grant that. But being the tallest of the dwarfs still means you're awfully short.

Uh, the Pope told the boy what he believes is true and I really don't think the boy would have found much comfort in hearing that his father no longer exists. Geesh.
My use of 'damned if he did and damned if he didn't' is a common expression and doesn't refer to literal damnation. It means that for you and a few others, the Pope would be wrong whatever he said or did,but then you knew that



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2018 12:15PM by bona dea.

bona dea Wrote:
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> Uh, the Pope told the boy what he believes is true
> and I really don't think the boy would have found
> much comfort in hearing that his father no longer
> exists. Geesh.

I don't think the boy found ANY comfort in the church telling him his father was going to be tortured in a fiery hell for eternity (which is all made-up nonsense anyway).

Me, I'm not a fan of lying to little kids just to "comfort" them. Especially after you've already lied to them, which is the reason they need "comfort" anyway.

> My use of 'damned if he did and damned if he
> didn't' is a common expression and doesn't refer
> to literal damnation. It means that for you and a
> few others, the Pope would be wrong whatever he
> said or did,but then you knew that

Just pointing out yet another pernicious religious term that is pervasive in society that should go into the dustbin.

And yes, as long as the pope (or anybody else) continues to promote ignorant superstitious nonsense, he's wrong. He wouldn't be wrong "whatever he said or did" -- I'd give him big props if he was honest. He wasn't.

And you are a religion hater who apparently expects the Pope to lie to the kid by telling him something he doesn't believe himself. The Pope said what he believes and that isn't a lie. Lies are deliberate. This kid is a baptized Catholic and he started the discussion. If the Pope had initiated a conversation with an unbelieving child or a child of a different faith,you would have had a point. As it is you are just looking for something to whine about. You don't like religion. Got it,but lots of people do raise their kids in a faith and that is their right,just as you get to raise your child to be an unbeliever or whatever else you want.

He didnt say that. He simply said the father was a good man. He mentioned that the children were baptized because the boy told him so. It wasnt the reason he isnt in hell.Rather it was an example and the kid brought it up

>> "He didnt say that. He simply said the father was a good man. He mentioned that the children were baptized because the boy told him so. It wasnt the reason he isnt in hell.Rather it was an example and the kid brought it up"

He said....."That man did not have the [gift] of faith, wasn’t a believer. But he had his children baptized."

So in spite of not having faith, not being a believer, he is in heaven because he did have his children baptized.

Sounds like he brought the focus right back to the religion as a requirement to get to heaven to me.

He didn't say, because he took you fishing he's in heaven. It was all about religious baptism.

It was an example,not a get out of hell free card. He also said God loves as a father and doesnt send good people to hell which was thenpoint. He did not say he was not in hell because he had his kid baptized

In other words, he was on Santa’s “nice” list.

I hope that little boy is comforted by the Pope's words. I hope that he can now be at peace.