General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Happy Sunday! I won't be in church today. [View all]BlueMTexpat
(15,365 posts)I am also divorced (after 13 years of marriage), but after a time married again and have been so happily for 33+ years. I wish you and your daughter well and hope that you will both find happy and fulfilling lives.
It is not so much the idea of religion or church that bothers me. There is much that I admire in Catholic teachings - especially those that are universally reflected in other religions that deal with loving one another, respecting one another and treating others as one wishes to be treated. What I dislike are petty points of dogma, specifics on how women are/should be subservient to men, etc. I loathe the idea in any religion that one is somehow superior to others who do not follow that religion.
I believe that human beings have a spiritual essence that needs to be nourished and that is why so many humans search for purpose and reasons in religion. Others find their purposes and reasons in a philosophy dissociated from religion. So long as that religion or philosophy empowers them and improves their lives and the lives of those around them, I have no problem with it. Indeed, I sincerely respect those who actually practice the universal precepts noted above. Jimmy Carter and Bill Moyers, for example, are two very strong role models to emulate.
Participation in communal gatherings, whether they be church or similar services, should help humans to reinforce social ties and encourage common ground, not division. One should attend because one chooses to, not because one is obliged to.
While I was raised Catholic because my father's family were Catholic, my mother's family were Protestant, representing nearly every type from mainstream to wildly evangelical. It seemed to me nonsense from the get-go that my father's side believed that my Protestant relatives were all going to hell and that my mother's side believed that I and my Catholic relatives were all going to hell. With a few exceptions (not dependent on religious label but on individual character), we were all good human beings and tried to be kind to one another. Does hell even exist, after all?
The idea of any deity that includes or excludes individuals merely on the basis of a religious label is totally abhorrent. The idea of any individual who would govern a nation-state based on such precepts of inclusion or exclusion is equally abhorrent. It is to be avoided at all costs. This is the crux of my antipathy to organized religion generally and especially towards those who do not understand that there must be boundaries between church and state.