Person of the year 2013

Pope Francis has been chosen as Time magazine's person of the year for 2013. Do you agree with that decision or do you think they should have chosen someone else, and why?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/11/living/ti ... -the-year/

Francis is a neat guy to be honest. I like is down to earth reactions and humble nature. The Catholic church has a lot of challenges it needs to take on. While I admired Benedict the 16th he just never came across as all that friendly. I'm glad Francis go the honor. I believe that Bl. John Paul II also got the Person of the year at one point.

Yeah, I was actually really happy to see Pope Francis get the distinction. He continues to amaze me with pretty much everything he says. I really like his openness with those of other faiths and those in the atheist community, like with his washing the feet of Muslim prisoners. I read an interview he did with a prominent Italian editor who happened to be atheist and the two seemed to have a real mutual understanding on a moral level, which I think is so cool. The church and the secular world don't have to be at odds, we should all agree on a kind of baseline consideration of other people.

Bragatyr wrote:

I really like his openness with those of other faiths and those in the atheist community, like with his washing the feet of Muslim prisoners. I read an interview he did with a prominent Italian editor who happened to be atheist and the two seemed to have a real mutual understanding on a moral level, which I think is so cool. The church and the secular world don't have to be at odds, we should all agree on a kind of baseline consideration of other people.

Pretty much this. I still disagree with Francis's and the Catholic Church's overall stance on some things, but without a doubt, Francis is a breath of fresh air, especially from his immediate predecessor. It's very nice to hear far less judgmental things coming from him about those from non-Christian faiths and especially from the nonbeliever community. Bragatyr, would you happen to have a link to that interview or know where I could find one? I've not read it, but it sounds interesting to me…especially since I'm so used to hearing questions like 'well, where do your morals come from?' as an atheist (which is one of the absolute meanest and most judgmental things a person can say to someone else, seriously). It's just incredibly refreshing to see a religious leader pursue understanding with atheists and those of other faiths, instead of division, and assume the best instead of the worst.

That said, in in terms of the real social impact that the candidates had, Edward Snowden should've been the winner, for better or for worse, in my opinion. But I'm also not surprised to see Francis won it instead.

Hey Wolf Bird, here's the link in case you were still interested.

repubblica.it/cultura/2013/10/01/news/p ... -67643118/

I really like his views about proselytizing, specifically how it's not really a good idea and we should just get to understand each other more naturally. I agree with you, the whole question of "Where do morals come from in a secular perspective" is incredibly annoying. That's one of the things I like about Francis, like in this interview, that he acknowledges that morals have to come from the individual on a certain level, even if you believe they ultimately derive from a creator.

But yeah, I unfortunately find that people from both sides of the spectrum have a deep mistrust of each other, which I find kind of silly. I find that so often people who really aren't that different in the grand scheme of things just can't get along because of a personal decision about something that can't even be proven one way or the other.

Boy, that's a long interview! Thanks, Bragatyr - I'll have to read it later though, as today I'm trying to complete one of my final projects (and I'm taking a short brain break at the moment). I also agree with basically everything you said…quite frankly, people who try to proselytize to me just turn me off even more from religion. Jamming it down people's throats just is not the best way. And it works the other way just as much, and I'm equally aggravated by the non-religious calling believers derogatory names. Ultimately, it just comes down to trust and understanding, and accepting differences. That's where I think Francis is doing well and in that, at least, I support him 100%.