The Gripe with Christianity:

[Leanne]

Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that the position of the Catholic Church is that the existence of God is not contradictory to the Big Bang, evolution OR climate change.  I know, you born again types think the Pope is the devil incarnate and consider Catholics to be terrible idolators who even have the audacity to have a different Biblical canon (you know, one not censored by the Reformation -- which is another word for pogrom against Catholics), but there are around 1.2 billion of them in the world getting on pretty well with atheists. Many of them are scientists.  In fact, around 70% of the world's scientists identify as religious -- but that doesn't stop them from understanding that Genesis is an allegory intended to explain difficult scientific concepts to primitive people thousands of years ago (probably by aliens ).

As for your heaven, nibbed:  "A beautiful mansion on streets of purest gold where the walls are made of jasper and there's a tree that bears the manner of every kind of fruit. The gates are made of pearl, big giant doors made of strong, solid, luminescent, pearl."  That sounds like the sterile, cold and vulgar imaginings of a capitalist demagogue -- certainly not my idea of heaven.  But then, my life isn't defined by the pursuit of material goods to the exclusion of all else -- maybe that's why the Protestants really hate Catholics.  

Or is it because Pope Francis is Hispanic, and therefore obviously a criminal and a rapist?