Sunday, March 7, 2010

in which i am about to discuss religion

A pal of mine has a blog with a naughty name, and the entire premise of the blog is for her liberal-leaning self to banter/duke it out with this other guy and his right-leaning self. And most of the time it's (it is) pretty good.

She tweeted me (this means she talked to me using the medium of Twitter, and has nothing to do with any weird pinching nonsense, for the record) a number of times before, during and after writing the post. Mostly because she knows I fancy God, and because I know she doesn't exactly fancy religion, and I know this is getting to be a long set up, I'm sorry.

You can read the post yourself if you want this to take even longer, but there was a lot of generalizing going on, and assumptions that were both fair and unfair, and I thought both of them could have done better.

Anyway.

I was asked to write a little bit about my take on the whole religion thing. I do not claim to have all the answers. Actually, I don't know if I have any answers, which is why I'm still working on my post.

But.

For various sundry reasons, mostly comments y'all have left, twitter conversations, emails, long walks on the beach, and lengthy phone conversations, I know that lots of people do have lots of questions.

So.

Think about it, and if you have something you'd like to ask me and/or The Mister about our faith, the what or the why or the you seem so smart what are you doing, leave a comment or send me an email. We have a few really wonderful people who love to help us hash things out, and will be delighted to contribute here.

And no.

I'm not going to turn this place into a Religion 7-11. Also, I will not put up with The Nasty.

That is all.

11 comments:

  1. Okay. Here you go. Why is it that throughout history, so many horrible things have been done in the name of God and religion?

    And, do you believe that the cracker literally turns into Christ's flesh?

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  2. OMGosh, Jane has a Johnson on her blog... and that is as far as I got. I'm done.

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  3. So. Why do you think it might be important for me to raise my kids with religion. Or do you. I guess I should always be more precise - my beef tends to be more with organized religion - the big ones - because they seem to have forgotten their principal messages about peace and not judging people and helping those in need. And I feel like I can teach my kids those things without having to burden them (sorry, my word and loaded with bias, I know) with the other stuff.

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  4. I am a firm agnostic/atheist, yet married to a devout Christian of the Methodist flavor. We respect each other's (non)beliefs. You and the Mister seem to be on a strong wave of "together" via religion. Did you and the Mister come from similar spiritual backgrounds or did you find God together?

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  5. P.s. What a cool thing you are doing! If any haters show up, delete 'em.

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  6. Or tell me, and I'll kick some hater-butt.

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  7. Sure, I'll take you up on the questioning! Were you and The Mister both raised in the same religion you practice now, or did you choose another one as adults? And was there a formative experience that drew you in, or did it happen gradually over time? I don't practice any religion, but I think about and wrestle with spiritual questions/concepts all the time, and I think fondly of religion, especially Catholicism, as I was raised in it, and my mom still practices. It never clicked with me, but I still feel fondly toward it, for being the background to my childhood.

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  8. I love the post a comment note:) Delighted to meet you today. I hope you don't mind if I splash around to get to know you a bit more.

    Splashing,
    Sara

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  9. It always seemed to me that your religion was not entirely conventional. Or at least the way you practice it. I know you go to a church, but I don't remember which one. Methodist? I remember the lady who gave you 'tude about breastfeeding in church. Talk about not getting it! I'm really looking forward to hearing those answers!

    Hanna: I didn't put the johnson up there - and I don't think there are other johnsons anywhere on that particular site. (not that I'm anti-johnson, and not that I probably wouldn't put one up there if it suited my needs, but...never mind. I'll quit while I'm ahead.)

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  10. I belong to the Catholic Church. Talk about belonging to an organization that just doesn't get it about all sorts of issues. And Kristen is right about some things. I don't leave for a 'host' of reasons (heh, heh), and one does include my culture. It might be silly and sentimental, but I cannot see myself sitting in the pews of another denomination, even if they fly my beloved rainbow flag outside. I'm an Italian Irish Catholic, and will be until I die.

    Because I could turn this comment into an entire post, I will simply say this: yes, organized religion has some insanely egregious examples of promoting their own brand of 'faith' (or killing, if you'd rather call it that). But to also pick three pictures that prove the idiocy of those people, when there are a ton of images that would display good work and generosity and a true holiness....well, that's not fair either. And I think it can be the habit of some to present faith as something possessed by the unenlightened, the simple folks. I can tell you I don't appreciate that either.

    (I passed a great church sign not too long ago, and it said, simply, 'If you say but one prayer in life, let it be 'thank you.'') You bet your ass I let out an 'Amen!'

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  11. Love the questions and i cannot wait to read your answers. Some tough ones...

    Great blog post BTW. You are totally opening yourself up. Good for you girl!!

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talk to me, people. because you know i get all giddy when you do.