Inspirational Sunday - Religious Beliefs

I saw this quote today and immediately started investigating on its truth. Although I know Pope Francis to be more 'in tune' with today's Roman Catholics, I found it a bit interesting to hear a Roman Catholic Pope to actually state that one does not have to believe in God to be a good person. It just didn't sound like something he would say.

I was right in some ways and not in others. The above quote does not match anything Pope Francis has ever said. The above quote was instead a twisting of what Pope Francis did say. Even a Vatican spokesman (Thomas Rosica) who specializes in translating the Pope's remarks for English speaking Catholics and the media, issued a clarification:

....those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ and his Church but sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, try to do his will as it is known through the dictates of conscience can attain eternal salvation.

I don't know about you but that statement still left me confused. I was baptized and raised Roman Catholic. I attended Catholic grade school, high school, and graduate school. Today I still attend the Roman Catholic Church but I can attend any church and still find God. I firmly believe that yes, you do need to believe in God in order to be saved. But I do not believe that a person has to believe in the God I believe in to be a good person.

So what does being a good person or not good person have to do with believing in God, believing in a religion, or believing in eternal salvation? I know quite a few people who believe in multiple Gods, a few that do not believe in any God, and the rest who believe the same as I do. I don't think they have anything to do with each other. I am not the one who is standing up at the end of days in judgement of others. I am standing there at the end of days for myself, for what I have done with my life and not anyone else's.

I also believe that my 2 babies who never got to experience life let alone God, are a part of God's family and I will know them when I get to see them again. But I also believe that people who kill or do not follow God have to meet Him on judgement day. I do not stand in judgement in this world.

I believe in God. I, however, have a real problem with organized religion as it is today. That organized religion gets between what I believe in and in what I believe is the difference between good and bad. I do not have to go to church to find or talk to God. I find Him in every person I meet, in everything I do, and in the world around me. He is the one who created it.

This week also brought a person in Kentucky into the spotlight for her beliefs. In her case though, she brought her beliefs into the separation of church and state. She has a full right to believe what she believes. But she does not have a legal right to force that belief onto another. Personally that is one reason I do not think I could ever be an elected official because I cannot separate church and state.

Why? Because I believe in God.