Duck Dynasty Guy Should Learn From Pope Francis

EJ Dionne argues that religious people should be less convinced they have the answers
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 23, 2013 1:50 PM CST
Duck Dynasty Guy Should Learn From Pope Francis
This undated image released by A&E shows Phil Robertson from the popular series "Duck Dynasty."    (AP Photo/A&E, Zach Dilgard)

Phil Robertson is convinced the word of God justifies his controversial comments about homosexuality. Rev. Frank Schaefer is convinced that performing gay weddings was an expression of Christian love. "If any given religion and its holy writings can be used to support diametrically opposed conclusions about how to live life and how to approach politics, why should religious faith be taken seriously?" asks EJ Dionne at the Washington Post . The answer might be found in Pope Francis' comments about homosexuality: "Who am I to judge?"

"When even the pope wonders aloud as to whether it’s appropriate for him to judge, you begin to see the difficulty of deciding what 'true Christians' ought to believe," Dionne writes. He believes Christians like himself must adopt humility, understanding that humanity's interpretation of God's will is imperfect and swayed by society. The church has evolved on issues like slavery, the role of women, and geocentrism, and he believes it's evolving now on homosexuality. "This humility defines the chasm between a living religious tradition and a dead traditionalism." (More Phil Robertson stories.)

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