Religious Much? To each their own.

I was raised Catholic. My family wasn’t the Christmas and Easter only services type. Every Sunday – rain, shine, sickness, health – we were there. There were also the family gathering for group prayer and rosaries to commemorate death anniversaries, healing prayers, and just prayers in general. So really, the non-existence of God, has never existed to me. However, as I grow older, travel more, and generally, am exposed to large groups of people that are different than myself, my view on religion has changed and evolved as well.

My religion does not trump all religions.

I used to think that Catholicism was the best religion; That everyone else had it wrong, we had it right. And not only that, but if you didn’t believe a god existed, then by all means, you were crazy. Now, I have a sort of “to each their own” type of approach. Getting to know more and more people from different backgrounds (ethnicity, religion, etc.) that I like and enjoy their company has made me rethink my “elitist” mentality. I can sit there and have these awesome conversations with people who obviously care about others, do good deeds, and generally live a good life. Whether they regularly go to Church, believe in my God or any god for that matter, at times, is really kind of irrelevant.

The Pope isn’t always right.

When people find out that I’m Catholic, I often get questioned about the Pope’s views as well as response the Church has provided to the molestation charges brought against Priests. My thoughts? Those priests should be excommunicated from the Church and have criminal charges brought against them. Period. As for the Pope’s thoughts on abortion, same-sex marriage, and Harry Potter – I don’t really agree. And you know? I can have those opinions. I don’t believe it makes me a “bad” Catholic. The analogy that I use compares being Catholic to being American. I don’t always agree with the President. I don’t even have to like the President. But I will proudly claim that I am American and I will defend this country and its beliefs.

Openly praying/praising God

A quote that I came across a few years ago from an easterner went something like this: The difference between the West and the East is that here in the East, we pray in public and have sex in private. In the West, you have sex in public and pray in private. I found that very interesting. Why is public prayer so taboo? For example, Nadia Bloom caught the media’s attention recently because this 11-year old girl was lost for 4 days in a Florida swamp. She was found by a fellow Church member who attributed the rescue to God; stating that He led the way and answered their prayers. Now, I can just picture some people cringing, perhaps even critical of this attribution. But if we are as open to freedom of religion as we claim to be, why can’t leave the cynicism at the door? However, I’m not saying this is an open invitation to religious solicitors bombarding me with fliers and prayer offerings on the street. Nor do I approve of door-to-door tactics, which by the way, I absolutely abhor.

I guess what I’m trying to get across is, when it comes to religion, I’m just saying, to each their own, and let’s just kind of leave it at that.