June 26, 2012 - This week the "Know Your Walrus" project focuses on religion. It's nice that I'm getting most of the thorny subjects out of the way quickly. I know this too can be a really divisive topic so I'd again like to state up front that these are simply my opinions. I don't know that I'm right, I'm not trying to change anyone's mind or challenge any beliefs. As I said last week, feel free to comment or disagree but please keep it civil.
If you read last week's piece on death, I'll bet you can see where this one is going from a mile away. The simple answer is that I don't believe in anything. That may be intellectually lazy but it is the truth. If guess if I had really strong convictions regarding the topic, I'd pick a side. I don't see it like that though. For some reason the cosmos has not seen fit to bestow upon me the gift of faith. I don't necessarily think that I'm an atheist. I just don't think that there is any form of a higher power or an afterlife. I don't think there is a greater power watching over things here on Earth (except maybe Predator drones and spy satellites). I just don't understand how there could be one "right" religion and that all of the other ones are wrong. I also don't understand how no matter how good of a person you are or how many good deeds to do that if you don't believe X, Y, and Z you are going to go to some form of hell. That just doesn't seem right to me, but I guess that's why I'm not a deity.
All of that being said, I was raised Catholic and am very thankful for that. I believe that my upbringing really helped me tune my moral compass and ingrained in me a sense of right and wrong. For as long as I can remember I've tried to live my life by treating people the way I'd like to be treated and I attribute that to my parents and my upbringing. I don't know at what point it was that I stopped believing in God. I do remember the first time that I was genuinely conflicted about my faith. I vividly recall that when I was in eighth grade that I didn't want to participate in sacrament of confirmation. It wasn't out of a sense of rebellion or disrespect as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. It was my understanding that confirmation is when you as an adult stand up and reaffirm the beliefs that you were baptized under. I knew in my heart that I was not 100% sure of the beliefs and teachings; therefore, it seemed to me that being confirmed but not believing was grossly disrespectful to those who do believe. Wouldn't lying about it be worse than waiting until you were ready?
Catholicism is the only religion with which I have any true experience. I send my daughter to a Catholic school because I want her exposed to the same teachings as I was in the hope that she will learn the basis of some of my better personality traits, but I want her to make up her own mind. I can't presume to tell her what to believe, but I want her to be able to draw her own conclusions and follow her heart (and receive and exemplary education in the process).
Even though I can't honestly say that I'm a believer; I still sometimes attend Catholic mass. That may seem hypocritical, but I go because I find it comforting. The nice thing about the mass is that you can walk into a Catholic church anywhere and it's going to be the same. There's something to be said for the ritual of the Catholic mass. It gives me some time to quietly reflect and have a moment of peace. For whatever the reason, going to mass gives me a feeling of calm that I don't get anywhere else.
Even though I can't honestly say that I'm a believer; I still sometimes attend Catholic mass. That may seem hypocritical, but I go because I find it comforting. The nice thing about the mass is that you can walk into a Catholic church anywhere and it's going to be the same. There's something to be said for the ritual of the Catholic mass. It gives me some time to quietly reflect and have a moment of peace. For whatever the reason, going to mass gives me a feeling of calm that I don't get anywhere else.
I guess the point is, I just don't know. I can't be shown evidence that god exists; conversely, I can't be shown evidence that god doesn't exist. I'm certainly not anti-religion. While it's true that religion has caused a lot of grief over the ages; it is also responsible for countless acts of charity and kindness. How does one oppose organizations that perform so much good in the world? As for me, I'm just going to continue to be the best person I can be. I'm going to treat others the way I want to be treated and I'm going to try to make the most of the time I have here because it is the only time I've got.
