June 30, 2003

I was raised in the Catholic religion. My parents and a large percentage of my extended family also are Catholic.

I do not "practice" any religion at this time. I went to a Christian church once and the sermon that day was on how to be fisher's of Jesus Christ. How to draw people into the religion. Well that was a bust for sure. I'm not interested in converting people, and I'm not interested in people that try to convert me. If you want to have a discussion about your beliefs and how you feel, then I will do the same. But don't take a tone of trying to convince me to your way.

Ok so now that I've gotten all that out of the way. On to the meat of this postulation. But first you must remember that this is how I feel. This in now way reflects how my parents, my siblings, my cousins, or my boyfriend feel.

Religion has, as you may have already guessed, been a big deal in my life. Or should I say, it was supposed to be. My parents still go to church every Sunday and that's fine with me. I quit going around High School becuase one day I realized that the sermon was the same one I'd heard the year before. That's like taking the same grade over and over again. At least in my book. My parents were obviously upset and I'm sure they still wish I would go to church. But I can't seem to understand why? Why go to church? Why can't I pray on my own if I want to do that? Do you go to church to pray? To be part of the community? Or is to revel in God and Jesus Christ? Well I don't completely believe that there is a God, nor do I completely believe that Jesus was who they say he was. So going to church for that reason is beyond me. I don't feel fulfilled by going to church, I don't feel redeemed or anything like that either. So I don't go.

I also do not believe in the Catholic church and all it stands for. If I were to "practice" another religion, I would probably find a different one. The Catholic church has taken way too long to adapt to the times. The way it is, though it is changing, may have worked 1000 years ago, but not today. To name a few of the "sins" that I specifically disagree with, just so you know where I'm coming from: sex before marriage, birth control pills, abortion. These are obviously the biggies. Also, I can't help but wonder what kind of religion has, in the past, condoned genocide, racial segregration, and murder, all in the name of God. "Christianity is only so popular because it was more successful at killing it's competitors...." Now there's a thought to think about!

I've talked with my sisters about religion before. Kat was/is going to convert to Judaism. She's taken some Jewish classes and gone to Synogogue (sp?) as well. One thing I remember her saying she liked about it was that it was a lifestyle, not just a religion. That every Jew was part of a bigger family. She also liked their beliefs about Jesus and God and everything better. I don't think I could handle the whole Kosher thing. And they do a lot more fasting than even Catholics do. And a lot of Jewish people wouldn't want their kids to marry anyone but a Jew. So that's just as bad as the Catholics not wanting their kids to marry anyone who's not Catholic.

I guess I just don't understand the desire to be that tied to a religion. Be tied to your beliefs but don't be close-minded about it. Who's to say that God's idea of 7 days wasn't 3 billion years?

And the whole, well God does what he feels is necessary. Or God has a master plan. Or well God felt it was his time. So why doesn't God make life perfect? Because of Adam and Eve? Or was Adam and Eve a fabrication to explain why life isn't perfect? Just about every religion has some tale to explain why life isn't perfect. Maybe that's because it's not the doing of a supreme being, but just evolution. Why would God want us to destroy his plants and animals? Why do we make things go extinct? Why doesn't God just stop it all? "You just have to trust in his master plan." Master plan to do what? I also think that's another saying to make people feel better. Well heck, if people really felt that way, then why not just dump our sewage into our waterways and see how God takes care of that? Let his "master plan" unfold.

I can believe that we need guidance to teach our children so that they can take care of each other and the Earth that we live on. But I also feel that teaching them evolution and right and wrong, can do the same thing.

-L-