Saturday, August 28, 2010

One True Religion?

As a Catholic, and the son of a strict Catholic father, my upbringing is rooted in that faith, but I like to think that I keep an open mind about different religious beliefs.Certainly the whole world doesn't worship the way I do, and even within individuals of the same faith the methods and beliefs differ. And I wonder if that's not such a bad thing, to keep an open mind and not be so rigid. After all, the rest of the world is constantly changing so why not religion? Without change in the world people might still own slaves in this country, or I could be going to the store to buy the latest eight track. Humanity evolves. The Catholics, perhaps, are the slowest to reflect changes in society in the mass. Except for a few minor things, mass is still celebrated much the same way it was when I was young.
Although I can respect other views, and admire some of the religions whose members seem so focused on their faith, I don't approve of just anyone starting their own religion because they disagree with their current one. I used to think that way, until our last priest put it this way; If people start telling themselves they don't have to follow a certain religious creed then they are constantly changing their own rules at their convenience, and soon they start condoning things that go against human decency and human laws and pass it off as part of their belief. That's been the downfall of a lot of cults in decades past.
So I don't really have a point to make here, other than acknowledging that people other than diehard Catholics are probably going to make it to heaven. I certainly hope so because a lot of good people I know who have died have come from many different backgrounds and have displayed the virtues that are essential to all religions. In fact, I doubt that the name of the church you attended is going to be one of the questions asked of you when you stand at heaven's gate waiting to be judged.

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