I wanted to go to church today.
But the car's transmission is fried.
And the only Catholic Church in the area is rabidly Anti-Choice.
I know. That is the stance of the Roman Catholic Church right?
Except that the beauty of Catholicism, for me at least, is that while the Vatican can dictate all it wants to, the real action is in the churches and the faithful on the ground. In the tradition of syncretic and insurgent parishioners the world over, and throughout history, I feel as though there are rules that I need to take and rules that I need to leave behind when I kneel before the altar. The so-called evil of abortion is one of them. My total subservience as a woman is another (ha! Mr. would laugh if he read that).
And I need a Catholic church that is cool with me doing that. They don't necessarily have to endorse a pro-choice stance or say, that "hey! divorce is cool!" But they do need to back up off my values a bit and let me reflect on the mysteries of the faith in a way that fits me best.
After all, ain't no glass house like the Catholic one. And their stone throw trumps my stone throw any day. (Would you like a slave with your child sexual abuse?)
Today, I choose to stay home and reflect. Until the car is fixed.
And my question to you, if you care to share, is: When do you choose to follow and when do you choose not to follow your faith? And how? Any and all faiths are welcome, and atheists too. Throw down in the comments. (No trolls please.)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Choices
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3 comments:
Kismet, I struggle with this so much.
My mother is a devout Baptist, brought up in a socially conservative church. It is our family church and has become too wingnutty for me.
But Mama has always believed and taught us that the essence of Christianity is love. For everyone. She has fiercely supported me in my support of Alex and Coti against homophobia in our community. She always has a kind word or encouragement for people who feel that "churchpeople" are dismissive of them.
I am so glad she was the model for me. Fundamentalists and hatred within my religion are really, really bringing me down.
I'm baptist and like you posted a bit ago, they have some gender issues.
- I do think God calls some women to be preachers.
- I think abortion is wrong. I don't, however, think it's my place to tell someone to have or not have an abortion.
- Actually, I think a lot of stuff is wrong (half of which I do), but since we going to have separation of church and state, then we can't dictate what people do or don't do, morally.
That's the a big problem with the church. They think everyone is subject to their rules (and their interpretations of them).
I don't know if I'd call this not following my faith, but I'm really against the notion that God only talks to certain people. Thats why I have a hard time going to churches and listening to a sermon that I think contradicts the Bible - particularly the commandments on Love.
So normally I just listen to logic and pray that how I define 'moral' is correct.
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