I don't think I'm all that unique in my religious practices. I'm the kind of Catholic who attends mass on the holidays and the kind of friend who says, "My thoughts are with you," rather than "my prayers." I believe in God, or at least I think that belief in God is a positive and inspiring factor in one's life.
My non-committal dealings with my religion don't bother me for the most part. However, when asked to define my relationship to Catholicism, I have a difficult time. Perhaps this is alright as far as I am concerned, but I have a daughter, and have recently begun to think about what I'll tell her one day -- she's only two -- about the religion she knows through her family. I think about what I would like the church to look like when she's old enough to understand it.
Talking to your children about God is a popular subject and various websites and books address the practical how-to of doing it. There is no shortage of expert opinion on the subject. Yet the proper means of defining the man -- or woman -- in the sky to my child is not what I'm after.
I'm talking about the difficulty of defining oneself as a member of a church even while disagreeing with some of its core beliefs.
I believe the Catholic Church does an excellent job on many of the most important issues, such as opposing the war in Iraq and taking a proactive approach to modern environmental concerns. The Church is steadfast in its fight against poverty, both in the United States and abroad. My grandmother remembers being taught in Catholic school as a young girl: "It was the first time I realized other people needed our help."
But its stances on items such as birth control and the role of women in the church, not to mention a blatant mishandling of sexual abuse cases, that tend to dominate their public image -- to put it mildly.
When I tell someone I'm Catholic, I immediately follow up by defending myself with examples marking my liberalism. I'm pro-choice. I lived with my husband before we got married.
I recently spoke with Father Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, former editor of the Jesuit magazine America, and a contributor to the Washington Post's On Faith blog. He speaks and writes openly about the problems the modern Catholic Church faces.
He gets it.
The human is a questioning animal by nature, he explained, and will, of course, disagree with the hierarchy from time to time. "That's what we call conscience in the Catholic Church," he said, "and in the Catholic Church, conscience has always been supreme."
This notion, that questioning the system is not only expected, but is important, gives me some peace and reminds me that this innate intellectualism is another one of the qualities I admire in the Church.
But the problem isn't a philosophical one. It's practical. Maybe Catholics want to discuss these issues, but where? And with whom?
"People take religion very seriously so it gets very emotional," said Father Reese. "There's a lot of condemnation and name calling over it. The sad thing is we can't just sit down and talk this over. It's like Thanksgiving when everyone has had too many drinks."
And the hierarchy is a "self-perpetuating elite," he continued. "They're promoting people who agree with them. How do you get a church to change when its leadership is that way? When they're disconnected from the people?"
It's a problem, he concluded. Yet he believes it's a problem that the laity can, and should, take into its own hands. One's religion exists beyond the confines of a church. Start a social ministry, he suggested. Study the scriptures. "If we get hung up on the things we can't do and don't do the things we can do, then we're in real trouble."
For me, I don't know what, if anything, is next. But in discussing and writing about the subject, I return to the issue of defining myself as a Catholic with better, if not complete understanding.
What will I tell my daughter? Perhaps I will tell her that I am still Catholic because I understand that Catholicism is imperfect, and that we should not be afraid of discussing our concerns out loud.
I may continue to call myself Catholic and list my grievances in the same breath. But I will tell her that I've stayed with Church because you don't necessarily abandon people or ideas when you disagree with them.
I'm Catholic because I often find my religion in simple acts of service, and that's enough. Because I believe in something larger than the individual. Because in the face of a sometimes incomprehensible world, I hope.
Follow Cara McDonough on Twitter: www.twitter.com/caramcd
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That alone is enough reason to leave this church.
That alone is enough reason to leave Islam. Unfortunately, apostates in Islam are condemned to death.
Soldiers are not all alike, but they wear the same uniform and follow one leader.
You live in a nation where most gay people can not marry legally? Why do remain (here) and "continue to be part of something you don't agree with?"
The Catholic Church for centuries tortured women, for me that is unforgivable. As for the argument, well, its just a few men here or there that did the bad stuff, the church as a whole condoned atrocious behavior over centuries, and until the Church comes clean about all the child rapes they covered up, until then, I will never step down their aisle. again
You're going to teach your children that you don't abandon ideas that you don't agree with? This strikes me as one of the most anti-progressive assertions that can be made. The infectious nature of this nasty little cult in regards to the human mind is telling, to say the least. Enjoy navigating through a mental gymnasium in attempt to explain away the discord between your civility and your compulsory commitment to that backward group of hysterical, misogynists but don't subject your daughter to this doublethink. Instead, why not give her the chance at cognitive consistency that you apparently never had?
And by the way, one does not have to ascribe to Catholicism or any religion to be or to affect, what we want to or go where the integrity of our inner souls lead us.
"The human is a questioning animal by nature, he explained, and will, of course, disagree with the hierarchy from time to time. "That's what we call conscience in the Catholic Church," he said, "and in the Catholic Church, conscience has always been supreme."..
Right. So let's take a trip down conscience being supreme fantasy, lying from the roots of her correctly doubting soul, lane.
-- Scholars estimate that the Crusades of the middle ages cost from 58,000 to 133,000 lives.
-- The most realistic figure for the Spanish Inquisition puts the total killed from AD1480 to AD1808 at up to 31,912.
-- Records indicate that the number of witches killed may be over 30,000. Some argue that records don't tell everything and suggest that maybe even 100,000 were killed.
-- The lowest number of dead during the Protestant Reformation, in which the Church actively engaged in warfare against the "conscience" of a people, are around 150,000.
-- The rejection of liberation theology...so much for conscience.
-- The rejection and ejection of Jews for 1600+ years (since the council of Nicaea)
-- The abortion schism and the "straight to hell" talk issuing fromt he pulpit
-- The refusal to allow teaching of "greek philosophy" for a 1000 years during the dark ages
-- The murder and hounding of countless intellectuals for the unacceptable crime of thinking and following their conclusion.
Yep...Cara sure is talking about the church I know...
Not saying you need to be in a church or mosque or synagogue or temple to find God but there is something about the quiet and peace that can be found in a a dedicated worship space.
The Christians, on the other hand, burned as many of the ancient texts as they could get their hands on. Sure, some monks did some good work, but a typical middle ages monastery might have a dozen books in the library, while a simple merchant in Cordova could have hundreds.
The greates library in the world was at Alexandria. The head, Hyapatia, was chased down and flayed alive by Christians who then burned the library to the ground, beginning a long tradition of Christian rejection of any thought but their own.
Millions upon milllions upon millions (20?) killed in the atheist state of the Svoiet Union.
Millions killed in the athetistic state of China.
So. Let's see. Let's be "generous" and say that over 2,000 years, the Catholic Church, the various Protestant churches, and the Orthodox Churches have killed ... oh, a million.
Now don't get me wrong. My main gripe with Islam is that people kill in the name of Allah (God), and I don't think there's a more grievous sin than killing in the name of God. That goes double when you kill in the name of Christ, who preached peace.
But let's get real. Pound per pound of human flesh, more people have been sacrified on the altar of atheistic "progress" than in the name of Christ. Dispute as you will.
And as for philosophy, there is no faith that has done MORE to embrace the basics of Western philosophy than Roman Catholicism. Without Plato, Aristotle, and others, we would not have the common theological language we have now.
You can't say you are a vegetarian because you agree with their philosophies, yet continue to consume meat
The truth is, people love the pomp and majesty of the Catholic church...much how I feel about Prince concerts without actually liking many of his songs;)
You know that most of the people that go to these churches don't REALLY believe it all. It is really just a show... a magic show. Because, essentially, that's all they got: pretend magic and ceremony...Israel4Ever.
Yet the Church believes Galileo was wrong: http://galileowaswrong.com/galileowaswrong/
There is so much wrong with the Church to make it nothing but a sad and sick joke.
I dont think you stay Catholic so much because you wont abandon its people but more because you are afriaid of leaving the herd mentality. The Chruch will not change as long as people keep putting money in its pocket.
When no on shows up and refuses to donate a dime, then the Church may take notice. Until then you are just an enabler to the continuing abuses by the Church.
Why so long? And why be part of an institution that takes so long to right it's wrongs?
Community - Got it...makes sense.
Good Deeds Doers...Got it...makes sense.
Tradition based in historic and social connections...Got it...makes sense.
Walking on water and all the rest of the magic that the Catholic Church want's its followers to believe...Don't get it...Doesn't make sense.
There are SO MANY good organizations to belong to. You have your pick. Why would you choose to belong to something "Bigger" that doesn't really fit your needs?
I REALLY don't get that.
Either you buy into it, or you do not.
Just know that every time you put money into that collection plate, that it's being used to finance church corruption around the world. Sure, there are other uses, but acknowledgment of this specific usage is critical. Do you want to be complicit in the crime of the rape of children by these church leaders?
Catholic leaders have been raping children for centuries. This is not a case of "imperfection." Instead, it's a very clear case of intentional corruption.
By remaining a member, you are acknowledging that you find this behavior to be acceptable, and are financing the activity.
Do you really want this for yourself?
She takes the faith she was spoon fed, and warps it into a logical pretzel to justify her own positions.
It's sad, it's pathetic, it's banal, and it shows a lack of insight and more clearly, a lack of integrity.
Like someone else mentioned, Galileo's trial is but ONE very common failure of this Church.
If this were an isolated event, sure, you could have an argument...but that's not what we're talking about here. The Catholic Church carries ALL of it's history.
My son demands others do what he says...then replies "but your telling me-e-e-e what to do" when I make him stop bullying others. Same argument...OOPS...my son is 6.