As a non-practicing Catholic, I find myself drawn away from
organized religions. I was raised as a Catholic and was confirmed in the
religion and what not, but even with all the Catechism and my mother taking me
to church I am drawn away from Catholic traditions because I see it as a set of
rules that I’m not allowed to break. I kind of attribute that to the church in
my home town, it lacks any real enthusiasm and the teachers I had for catechism
were always old and unpleasant. But, the set of rules that religions set forth
to follow seem to be a standard that is impossible to live up to and this is an
unappealing aspect of organized religion for me. I feel that people turn
towards religion to find comfort or to alleviate the stress from everyday life,
but if one has to do penance for the slightest mistake or if God is going to
frown upon you for indulging the senses then I feel like most people would
spend most of their time being disappointed in themselves and not actually
finding much comfort. Though I could have this completely wrong, it seems that
organized religion tries to exploit sins to gain converts and followers.
Claiming that certain beliefs or actions will get you eternal damnation unless
you repent and convert to a certain belief seems to be a shady tactic.
Also, as a history major I have been exposed to the terrible
things that have happened in the name of certain religions. The Catholic Church
has a bit of a corrupt past that is always lingers in the back of my mind when
I attend church. The First Crusade is the first thing that comes to mind and
how the Church manipulated the noble class into taking up the Cross and going
on an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem that involved the senseless slaughter of
Muslims. However, on the other hand the First Crusade was groundbreaking for
medieval society and its impact is fascinating to study. The sale of
indulgences is another part of Catholicism’s corrupt past. It’s tough to put
full faith into an organization that is willing to “overlook” and forgive sins
for a price. Though this has all changed and is in the distant past. In today’s
world, there seems to be a lot of extremes of religion that are giving all
sects a bad name. It’s tough to subscribe to a religion that claims killing
people of different beliefs is justified.
However, despite all of this, learning the actual foundation
for Christianity in this introductory theology is very beneficial to a
non-practicing Catholic like myself. I’m able to see that these religions are
more than just a set of rules to follow if you want to get into heaven and that
there is a lot to be gained from studying the concepts behind the religion. Studying
these concepts can give you insight into how certain things developed the way
they did.
I am practicing Catholic, but I do agree with the feeling of too many rules with religions. As a Catholic, I feel that there are many rules and that if they are not met, we are punished by God. God is viewed also as forgiving, which makes me think that if we committed a sin, he would be there to forgive us, not criticize or judge us. I went to a Catholic grade school and high school, so I have learned the rules over and over throughout my school life. My family, teachers, and priests have made sure that I understand my religion and that I follow it well, but sometimes it was hard to do.
ReplyDeleteDo not get me wrong, my love for God is important to me and I do not mind being part of a religion, but I do not follow the rules all the time. I feel like as long as you do good that brings you closer to God, you are being religious. Sometimes if you follow the rules but are miserable by doing it, you are not being a religious person. I respect people no matter what religion they are or if they even have a religion. If someone does not have a religion, that does not make them a bad person. Sometimes without a religion, you have more opportunity to explore other religions.
I do believe that religions are not all about rules, although they are a big part of it. It is interesting to hear about other religions or from those who do not have a religion. In some ways we may have similar beliefs, and not realize it. Or there are big differences that are interesting to converse about. Most religions have a center person or symbol that they believe in, which we have in common.
Trevor,
ReplyDeleteI have a similar background to you. I was raised catholic by my family, being taught to attend church from a very young age and attended a catholic school. I was confirmed catholic in my church. Like you, I have had my own troubles and concerns with the catholic church and my personal church as well. If it is not too bold to say, I have some advice I would offer on the subject as well as my own input to make.
Although I have not considered myself a practicing catholic for many years, recently I attended a non-catholic christian church with a friend who wanted me to go with her. Although I was not looking forward to the experience it turned out to be great. It was very different from my experience with my parish. It was energizing, purposeful, and, dare I say, fun. These are qualities I feel many catholic institutions lack. For that reason, I would strongly encourage you to try out different churches even from different denominations because you might find one you like, even if it does not fully bring back any beliefs you might have lost.
Another point you made is that the catholic church has committed many wrong in it's past. This is definitely true, however I think it's important not to completely lose faith in the institution. The church is also responsible for much good in people's lives which is very often overlooked. The church, like any institution is dynamic and, although stubborn at times, does make efforts to improve, even issuing apologies for some wrongdoings.
Lastly, I want to express my agreement with you on your point that the church is responsible for you losing your faith, if I interpreted what you were saying in the right way. I think the catholic church has a lot to learn when it comes to addressing the concern of young people. I as well as many people I know have the very same problems with the church as you do. I think the church could do a lot better job working with people's doubts they naturally experience, because in my experience when my doubts arose I found no answers in the church. I think this was a very good and thought provoking post.
Unlike the previous two posts, I am not Catholic and sometimes I struggle in class because I am ignorant of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. (On these occasions, I frantically take exquisite notes! :D). Each individual has the right to believe as they wish. I think we all agree on this. This very free will in our choices of beliefs actually stems from what I believe is the meaning of our lives. God created all things, including the angels in heaven. Why did He create man, when He already had angels to worship Him? I believe it's because of free will. I believe He wants to be loved and worshiped out of choice, rather than by design or command. I believe that sometimes there are various religious leaders that threaten hell and require specific religious actions in order to achieve heaven. However, I believe it is more a matter of the heart. My belief is simple...the Bible is the only inspired Word of God. The Bible is clear about eternity and how to achieve salvation. Like almost anything in life, the key is balance. None of us are perfect, but we should do the best we can. There is no one on this Earth who is infallible, because we're all human. If we mandate religious practices in order to gain repentance for sins, are we actually repentant for our sin or just paying the price to secure heaven? God is forgiving and Scripture states that there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." All that I've stated here is my personal view and I respect the fact that we all have different beliefs. The main point that I would like to make in response to the above comments is that religion is not an impossible task if balance is applied. Balance between the truth within the heart and actual practice of doing good will lead to repentance but not condemnation whenever you feel that you've "failed" God. Keeping in mind that we are all human and can never be perfect is key.
ReplyDeleteWhat you have written truly represents a large population of people who call themselves "Christians" but whom aren't truly devout with their lives. Humans really really like labeling themselves and classifying things to create differences they can disagree about. Which brings me to my next point, where I believe that a majority of Christians are such, because that is the only religion they have truly been exposed to. If they had grown up in a society where being Islamic or Hindu is more common than Christianity, then they may see those religions as being more "powerful". It is understandable to read the Bible, and take it figuratively as a metaphorical story-book that is attempting to teach humanity to deal with social and personal conflicts. Catholicism does seem to put high limitations on what a person can and cannot do without committing a sin.
ReplyDeleteWith what you're commenting on about the crusades, I agree that what they were doing was not very sensible, but for the time, they thought it was. It was if they were attempting to teach Christianity and peace, with acts of violence and inhumanity. I feel like this is similar to the metaphor "you have to spend money, to make money." It is as if they feel that to attain peace and a common religion, they must attack others while saying their own is all accepting. Once humanity realizes that they are all different beings with consciousness that love personal freedom and thought, and learns to accept that, we will forever be attacking one another for saying "mine's better than your's" to make ourselves feel better about a thought that attempts to define something that is undefinable. Everyone is in some way spiritual, but not necessarily religious. This is where a lot of people are confused.
I consider myself as a non-practicing, very on-the-fence catholic. I truly don't know what I believe, and like Wendy I sometimes struggle in class because of this as well. I was raised Catholic and was confirmed in 8th grade, but since then I have had a lot of questions about my faith. Like you I've sometimes felt that organized religions exploit humans in that they make these big promises of fulfillment and redemption while guaranteeing a life after death. I've often felt that humans have an innate need for the latter. We are always concerned with our death, and the thought of an after-life motivates many of us to practice our religions. Sometimes I wonder if this kind of life really exists and often come to question the true motivations of the Church as a whole. Is it focused on exploiting people's emotions?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I tend to think very rationally. The problem with religion is that you often cannot think that way at all. Most organized religions are based on assumptions with little concrete, definitive proof. For example, the Bible was written thousands of years ago. How do we know that the writers were genuine? How do we know that things did not get mistranslated or misunderstood? I'm not saying that the Bible is a lie, but it's truth is not 100% validated. For me, many religions simply have too many questions and not enough answers.