Pope Francis received a singular honor this last week when he was named as Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Although I am an atheist, I have no problem with that choice -- and evidently I'm not the only atheist who feels that way. A new YouGov Poll (taken between November 28th and December 2nd of 1,170 nationwide adults) shows that atheists have a very positive impression of Pope Francis -- and the percentage of atheists with a positive impression is surprisingly higher than the percentage of catholics or other christians.Now don't get me wrong. These atheists, including myself, do not have a high opinion of the Pope because of his religion, or because he is a religious person. We would probably like him even more if he wasn't. He is liked because he has parted from past Popes in what he has chosen to use influence for.
While other Popes chose to use their power to protect pedophile priests and to protect the vast wealth of the church, this Pope has chosen to use his influence to highlight the plight of the poor -- and to take capitalist countries to task for making corporate greed a higher priority than taking care of the poor. And that is a stance that anyone with an ounce of common decency, even non-religious people, can appreciate and support.
