on Religion
August 20th, 2007
I know, I know, a controversial topic.
Whatever.
There are a lot of things about the church and religion in general that irk me, and for the most part I choose not to discuss them because well, people will believe what they want to believe, and I don’t know that there’s a really good defense to, “It’s what I believe, so there.”
It’s like me and cats.
I believe that cats possess mystical, unearthly powers and that if I lock eyes with them bad, unspeakable things will happen to me.
They might possess my soul.
They are evil, malicious creatures capable of committing terrible acts and I am paralyzed with fear when one so much as comes within my line of sight.
It’s what I believe.
So there.
You see? 100% irrefutable.
Religion isn’t something I’ve spent a lot of thought on in the past few years. But since I just went to Baby Hailey-boo’s Christening (see pics here and here), had a facebook wall fight with my brother about his use of the phrase, “self-thinking Catholic,” and read a Vanity Fair article by Christopher Hitchens of God Is Not Great fame I decided I had a few thoughts to expound.
Disclaimer: Haven’t read God Is Not Great nor do I intend to. I’m not an atheist and I like to think that God and I are pretty down.
Anyway, my issues with religion are exactly that and they don’t extend to the higher presence out there. And yes, they can be mutually exclusive. And yes, more often than not–and unrealized by practitioners–they are.
__________
on Godparents
I’ve always loved the concept of godparents–aunts and uncles especially assigned to you, to:
- pay extra attention to you,
- buy you presents, and
- oh yes, bring you up in “the faith” should anything happen to your real parents.
Well since nothing ever happened to my parents (yay!) I only experienced 1 and 2.
(thank heaven for small mercies)
I’m lucky enough to be the godmother to two of my adorable nieces and that holds a lot of water with me. Regardless of the BS I had to go through to be “approved.”
Yup, I had to register for a church, take a godmother certification class, and present documentation of my Catholic pedigree.
And that doesn’t even compare to what the parents had to go through in addition to all the aforementioned.
Whatever.
I guess I can kind of understand.
It’s kind of understandable that the church puts #3 first even if I don’t really. Not that I don’t but I guess, I haven’t had to. If I had to, I’m pretty sure I’d take it seriously.
I definitely had some issues with the ceremony and the sermon but that’s okay, I can calmly chalk that up to believe what you believe.
You can’t accuse me of not being open-minded.
What really irked me, though, is the story of my sister-in-law’s cousin whose relative was not “approved” to be a godmother because (shock shock horror horror)…
she had a child out of wedlock.
Seriously?
They deemed her fit only for the lesser title of “Christian Witness.”
Dude, that’s so wrong.
That shit just ain’t right, yo.
That’s so clearly and unequivocally wrong that on that on the strength of that one act, I could give up religion altogether. (I’ve toyed with the idea but haven’t ever been prepared to do anything about it.)
The Judging. High-Mindedness. It just makes me sad.
So Unbecoming.
What happened to us all being equal in the eyes of God?
Amen to that. Now that’s a philosophy I can wrap my head AND heart around.
Dude, I’m pretty sure growing up in Trinidad that you didn’t even have to be Catholic to be a godparent, much less jump through the hoops they make you go through nowadays.
__________
So there were two quotes in the Christopher Hitchens’ Vanity Fair article that struck a chord with me and iterated my feelings on religion (read the article here):
“Name an ethical statement or action, made or performed by a person of faith, that could not have been made or performed by a non-believer.”
and
“What can one say about a religion that describes its adherents as a flock?”
Technorati Tags: christening, Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair, godparents, fear of cats
August 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
When I had to be a godparent for my friend’s daughter, I filled out a form and had a 10-minute conversation w/ a priest. That was it. No documentation or class required…and I ain’t a saint.
I guess a lot depends on what parish you are in. Sounds like you got bit by kindergarten Catholics.
Hitchens taught at Berkeley when I was there. I haven’t read his book because I expect to find no new arguments against religion I haven’t already encountered. The scriptures are of course imperfect and God is a logically difficult notion; but it is also logically difficult to accept the universe started when a small speck *spontaneously combusted* (the Big Bang).
I tend to draw a split between faith (what you believe in your heart) and religion (man-made ideology). Hitchens seems to attack religion, which is the same as attacking any ideological system. I’d probably agree with some of his attacks. Remember when the bishops pretty much implied a vote for Kerry was immoral because of his stance on abortion? But how immoral is Bush’s Iraq invasion, based on manufactured intelligence? (Hitchens, by the way, supported the Iraq war. He also went after Mother Theresa.)
All religions are faulty because you have imperfect human beings interpreting what is spiritual.
In any case, I think Hitchens is probably attacking the wrong thing. People are less swayed by what their pastor says in church than by what their friends say on the street, or what advertisements tell them on TV. Consumerism is today’s religion, at least in the United States.
All I know is this: if God exists, we all get time off in purgatory for working with Miser.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:57 pm
guess What ??
Dylan is gonna be Anglican, and Zoe will probably be going to more Anglican churches than Catholic. The Godparents that I have chosen are not Catholic , so they can’t be godparents ( do you really think he gets pissed off if we don’t capitalize ?)to a Catholic child. Not to mention the fact that my in laws , wife and Zoe’s Cayman God mommy all go to Anglican church regularly, unlike me the “self thinking Catholic”. So the kids are gonna get an Anglican upbringing. Think it’ll make a difference?
The Catholic church, just lost 3 souls .
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:40 pm
I don’t need a Catholic God right now. Certainly not when the ideology tends towards excluding everyone around me. But what was it like growing up? Did we need one then?
I remember as a kid going to church, I didn’t listen to what the priest said at least half the time. The closest I came to actually doing what I was supposed to in church, was doing some spritual reflecting. And even then I didn’t need church to make me do it. It was just something to do for the hour, that was somewhat in the vein of what I was there for anyway.
What will happen to my kids? Certainly everyone around them can teach them right from wrong. But do I want to pound a 2000 year old doctrine into their heads for about 18 years? Because the minute they become introspective, they’ll realize it’s all bunk, just like we each did. They won’t need someone else to tell them that.
I THINK…I think…that I will bring them up in the Catholic faith. Not because it’s something I believe in, or even like or respect. It’s because it’s *A* branch of a tree, and that the tree needs to be examined as a whole. And I’ll personally make sure they’re not blinded to the idea that Catholicism should pervade every aspect of your life. Obviously it shouldn’t.
I think it’s pretty bad that I’m going to be working against the Catholic church in this respect, and even a little hypocritical (e.g. going to church with them, letting them believe the crap that’ll be pounded into their heads, etc.) of me. But I do believe that some form of spirituality can be found there, and just like me, they’ll need to learn all about the rules, before they learn why it’s necessary to break them.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Wes, you have to give your children a religion to accept or reject, you have to give them a framework to judge and compare .
August 25th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I’m only basing this off of my own experiences. At that age I wouldn’t have understood something so broad as sprituality or the existence of a higher being, on a broad scale. I think the least worst way to do it would be to give an example of how it’s done, and then when they get older, and they’re given the idea that it is what it is - just an example - then they’ll choose their own path.
I don’t like the idea of Confirmation at age 14. As far as I know all of us still just followed orders at that age. You have to stand up and with a mike in your face, and exclaim to a congregation that you’re doing this of your own free will. Bollocks.
But anyway, getting back to the original idea…..this is elitism at its purest form. My religion is so much better than your religion, that your adults aren’t fit to be around my children. This reminds me of a great story I once read. Sneeches, by Dr. Seuss.
Anyway, I hope what you’ve seen isn’t indicative of what’s happening everywhere. Hopefully when my kid’s time comes, I have some freedom afforded to me on that.
August 29th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Hmmm..I like cats and have always been involved in the church…maybe there is a connection there?
August 30th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Both words don’t start with the letter “w”.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Thou shalt keep they religion to thyself.
-Me.