Ronn & Religion

Lately I've been wondering about religion.

Over Christmas I spent some time with my Aunt, Uncle and a cousin I haven't seen in almost 20 years. We got into a sort of 'pseudo-scientific-anti-religious debate that saw the 4 of us doing lots of hollering, lots of arm waving and ultimately became one of the highlights of my week.

My aunt is a staunch Roman Catholic. Has been for as long as I can remember. In fact she and my grandmother are the sole reason that I am a confirmed (if lapsed) Catholic. She trusts the church to be the guide for her conscience. But to be honest, I think it goes deeper than trust. She has faith that the men who run her religion are based deeply in their lore. She has an incredible amount of energy and spirit to give to the search for meaning. Those sacrifices, and make no mistake – she sacrifices for her religion, work for her and the world she has built for herself.

My uncle is the complete polar opposite. His belief is firmly rooted in the here and now of everyday life. He spent 3 years in Vietnam. He has seen and faced death before so it’s not really a surprise that his belief in God or any one religious schema is more dogmatic than faith based. He has studied Buddhism and other religions and I think his feeling is that they really all build on each other. Take the strength of one, multiply it by the strength of another. Toss in a little of your own personal belief, honed over years of trial and error, and walla, there you have your own personal religion that fits who you are.

I’m probably oversimplifying, but I think my point is made. My aunt is rigid in the extreme about what she believes. For her, the bible is a living breathing testament of God’s will. For my uncle, flexibility is the key and to him the bible is a great historical novel with all the trimmings. Sex, politics, scandals, contradictions and pretty much everything that makes up the human experience.

So, who is right?

Personally, I think they both are.

First a little background to explain my answer. I am a child of the late 60’s and early 70’s. I came of age in the 80’s. My mother was a Baptist, who only rarely went to church (that was then; she goes a lot more now). Since my parents were divorced I would sometimes shuttle between Long Island, New York and Utica. During the times I was downstate, my Grandmother and Aunt took it upon themselves to see to the training of my soul. I attended Sunday school at a local Catholic church. I received my confirmation when I turned 12. And I have to be honest; there are parts of what happens in the Catholic Church during mass that I miss. There is something cleansing about dipping your fingers in holy water, crossing yourself and kneeling in prayer. I’ve never once knocked religious beliefs as an individual practice. My problem comes from how I feel about religion as a system of control, but that’s outside the scope of this particular entry. I’ll write about it another time.

I learned a lot about the basics of how the church worked during that time. I didn’t know anything about the politics of it. I mean heck, I was only 12 years old. But one thing always stuck with me. There seemed to be a division in the church. Catholics didn’t like Protestants. Episcopalians didn’t like Lutherans. And everyone seems to hate the Baptists… It confused the hell out of me because I thought we were all supposed to be one big happy family under God.

Anyway, I completed my training (or indoctrination – your choice) and decided that I liked enough of what was happening in the church to stick around for a while and learn more. I do credit the church with opening my eyes to the fruits of education over and above what I was learning in school. Up until that point I never realized that learning could come from other sources.

That was when something strange happened. Having my eyes opened to reality caused me to begin to question what I was being taught. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but I think that the more I learned about the life of Jesus, the more I questioned the purpose of it all. If he was the son of God and was placed here to remove our sins, then what went wrong? Because as far as I can see from a historical standpoint, we have had more than 2000 years to muck things up again. If we were absolved of all blame while he was here, what about the intervening years since?

As a race we have done some pretty disgusting things to each other. From multiple millions dead in countless wars, to the Spanish Inquisition, to the Crusades to the Holocaust. And the funny thing was, when you question why God would allow these things what you get is a roundabout answer about mans fallibility and the devils culpability.

Um, okay. Not an answer, but then, since the subject matter is so murky to begin with, a non answer is probably the best I could hope for. This is what started my slide into the wonderful world of the lapsed. The more I studied, the more holes I saw in the fabric of reality. There were so many contradictions just in the bible alone that I didn’t see how it could all be true.

Now, I’m sure that since I said that, someone will call me on it to produce evidence of contradiction. That’s fine, here’s what I came up with –

God for everyone or just a few?

PSA 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

JER 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

Is wisdom good or not?

PRO 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

ECC 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

1CO 1:19: "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

Judging

1 Cor 2:15 "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:" (NIV)

1 Cor 4:5 "Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God."

Who bears guilt?

GAL 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

GAL 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

Source - http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html

This is just a sample of what I found, I'm sure there's more but I don’t want to be a smartass and I don’t want to belabor the point. I think that you can see for anyone studying this material, there would be questions. Especially if the person studying has a scientific mindset, which I do. I believe that this is another reason that so many people reject religion outright. If mechanical devices had the same number of contradictions built into them, no machine or device would work. We’d all still be riding horses to work and banging on drums to send messages.

Which brings me (sort of roundabout, sorry) back to my earlier question. Of my aunt and uncle, who is right? As far as I am concerned they both are. In the confines of the world that they have made for themselves their answers work. Just like you. Just like me.

I really think my aunt would have been happier as a nun. And I think that my uncle would be happier flitting about the world gathering experiences. So her faith and his skepticism are exactly right for them. It fits and that’s all that matters. (It’s also the only way that I know them, so if they changed it would affect my worldview.)

Personally, my church is a stretch of sandy beach with the waves pounding the shore. Any beach will do. My connection with God, or higher self, or whatever you want to call it, is the deep feeling of peace that I get when I walk along that beach. Beyond me is the ocean, vast and powerful beyond my capability to comprehend. Right in front of me, but unseen at the same time. Incredibly mighty, and incredibly fragile. (Sounds a bit like how God is portrayed, eh?)

That’s the only church I need. And my connection to God is just as strong as someone who spends 15 hours a day doing devotionals in a tax free building. So is it a religion? Nah, I don’t think so.

But it is spiritual.