Rambi, I will admit to using your post as a sounding board related to many other posts unrelated to yours. I thought you understood that. But after re-reading it this morning I think you've overeacted a bit toward the unfairness of it.
I've seen you post quite a bit regarding the Catholic Church over the years, and rarely have I seen you balance the negative things with positive things. Even in this response, you only give tacit recognition to the good things the church has done.
Every day hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, maybe even millions, (under the support of the catholic church) are performing acts (large and small) which help others. These daily acts are shaping and changing the world in ways we can only begin to understand.
I understand your points related to the church and historical guilt though. Guilt has been used in many wrongful ways to alter the behavior of others. But once again, it's important to recognize that the "guilt" of church teachings, has a positive side to it as well the negative ones you've expressed. Making people feel guilty for murder, stealing, coveting your neighbors wife and many other things has assisted in the development of communities under a common value system.
We simply don't know what the development of mankind would be like today without the Catholic churches influence. So those snapshots of the past you're referring to were a part of our development as a people. Looking back into the past and placing our accumulated values in context, can lead to all kinds of small things seeming very wrong.
The church wasn't alone in keeping women under wraps so-to-speak. And I believe if you look around the world today, where the Catholic church has it's greatest influence, you will (mostly) see women with the highest level of human rights.
I believe it's no coincidence that America (having such a strong Catholic church influence) has led the world in the development of womens rights. So, this "indoctrination" also helped free the minds of many women here-to-fore kept under wraps. Those many minds have changed and influenced many others. And they have in turn influenced the church as well.
There are no Catholic schools in my area. I chose Montessori for my kids because of their past record of accomplishment. My parents were both Catholic. I think I told you my father was an alcoholic, which led to their divorce when I was a young teenager.
The way we've decided to handle religion in regards to our children is a little strange to most. We go to different churches all the time. And we send them to Sunday school in a variety of different settings. I find value in nearly every church I've attended. And I find them populated (for the most part) with good people just looking for a way to bridge the gaps of community interaction. It could just be the area we live in though.
I think it's neat because Ryan at 7 is already asking all kinds of unusual questions. I try and answer them to the best of my abilities. I also gently try and explain that not everyone believes in religion. That you can decide for your own what to believe. Including not believing anything at all.
It's not a perfect system and at times I am troubled by the potential confusion of it all. But it feels ok to me. I ask a lot of questions. And the kids seemed to go with the flow of it pretty well. I guess I won't know for another 15 years whether it worked out ok huh? :)
My beliefs regarding the big question can be summed up in three words. "I don't know". And I am ok with that. Of all the names people place on their beliefs, the one which I find most comfortable related to mine is "Diest". And still there is something missing in that.
Remember Joseph a long time ago at feelings? He expressed my beliefs eloquently one time in a quiet late night session. I should have saved the post, but that's the best I can do.
Michael |
