It seems that there are a few atheists who are drawn to Pope jokes like second graders to poop jokes.
Francis says that there may be atheists who make it to heaven by their good works. An interesting theological olive branch extended to cultures of unbelief. Now some atheists have acknowledged the graciousness of his comments.
“We are a community that is just trying to do good and live good lives, just like most communities are,” said Greg Epstein, Harvard University’s Humanist chaplain and author of “Good Without God.” ”His statement is an acknowledgment of that. It is welcome and it is gratifying.”
But, today Bill Maher replied on Facebook, “The Pope says Atheists can go to heaven! Yay, I’m booking my flight right now. Right after my cruise to Atlantis. Thanks, Francis!”
A couple days ago, an atheist friend of mine (Kile B. Jones) said a similar thing on Facebook,
“***Breaking News***”
“Pope allows Boy Scouts to become Catholic if they become atheists first and do good works.”
Of course, Kile is combining the news of the Boyscouts admitting gays, and the Pope extending his doctrine of grace as far as atheists.
Chris Reiss saw Bill Maher’s post on Facebook, and almost unliked his page. Chris felt that the Pope’s gracious response deserved positive acknowledgement, not sand kicking. As Chris says, “It’s the kind of behavior that should have been weeded out of you in second grade.”
Second grade behavior from some atheists toward the graciousness of the current Pope? What do you think? Obviously, I think they are stuck in a kind of second grade poop humor, and can’t get out.
Phil Wyman: Dim Saesneg 
I think Chris Reiss overreacted – first of all, Bill Maher is a political humorist, and I would not lambaste the things he says that I might disagree with. Second, there is something either inherently ironic or disingenuous for a Pope to say folks who don’t believe in God can go to Heaven. Does this same Francis who wrote terribly hurtful statements about the GLBT community when opposing gay marriage hold similar grace toward them, and has he softened his stance (where he implied that Satan was at work with gays adopting children) to publicly state that gay folk have a place in Heaven, too?
Obviously, I disagree David. What comes out of the mouth is from the heart – even in humor. I think it was the Pope’s boss who said that first.