"In the past, it would bother me more than it does today." - Same here.
Are we mellowing with age, or just getting tired -g-
It is imho important to have a belief structure, a cosmic view, a 'religion' of sorts, to permit the mind to rule over the ego ... the whole process of development of the human from child to adult is one of learning that he is not the centre of the universe, but a functioning part of it ... religious belief structures have taught this, and while i too abhor their baggage, i don't know what to replace them with ... we'll be having kids any time now, and i don't know if they'll be going to mass ... although i likely won't have much to say about it, the Tiny Perfect Woman being of firm will ... but i'll do what i can to teach them to think independently, and i doubt we'll have priests in the family.
Although that wouldn't necessarily be a tragedy either - the only priest i ever knew well, spoke with at length, was a good man ... a perpetual student with an open mind and a love of teaching ... of teaching surprisingly independent thought ... he had a way of challenging any dogma of hatred with a soft question in a low voice ... this was in an area where considerable dogma of hatred was being stirred up by agnostics and atheists and the faithful alike ... now i know the history of the church, it includes a lot of brutes, but it also includes Zum rraga and de Las Casas and this guy. |
