As a devout Christian and Catholic-raised male, I tend to question my religious beliefs from time to time and ask myself why humans really accept the "truths" that some religions- to be specific, Catholicism- have to offer for those who participate in it. Ever since I began high school in 2007 I was always curious about "Why people are Catholic?" and I attempted to poke holes in their religious beliefs and traditions (which wasn't out of the ordinary for the little snobby, ignorant freshman that I was back in the day). I went to an all-boy Catholic private school in Tampa so I was coming in contact with the religion quite often and I started to learn more and more about it through the classes we were required (or, forced) to take. As I matured I started to develop my own beliefs and ideas about Catholicism and whether I wanted to take part in such a massive community of faith-based believers. Here are some of my developed and drawn-out thoughts regarding my ideas about Catholicism as it relates to what I wish to write my research paper on in the future:
I've come to find that Catholicism only "works" for people who are not afraid to die. When a religion "works" for someone I find that it helps them grow on both a personal level and a spiritual level while inspiring them to keep a sense of faith in a higher power and live a more filled life in the hope that their is something greater to come after death. What I mean by this statement is the idea that the most essential belief of Catholicism (gaining "salvation" to one day find ourselves with a community of believers in what humans have named "Heaven") is partly based off fear because nobody wants to find themselves in a hot fiery pit hanging out with Satan after their life comes to an end. This thought leads me to an interesting question: Are Catholics good (ambiguous term, I know) people or are they just doing good deeds so they don't end up in Hell? Now, I'm not saying all Catholics are bad people that would be absurd; instead, the motivation for a Catholic to perform a "good" deed is skewed because he/she could only be doing it to save themselves...which goes against the Catholic message of being "universal" because your only serving yourself in reality. The idea that Catholicism draws people in through a sense of fear is found in many aspects of the religion such as communion, bible readings, sacraments, etc... Bottom line people are scared. People need something to fall back on. People want security. Nobody wants to die but everyone wants to go to Heaven. As Kenny Chesney puts it in one of his many hit songs, "Everybody wanna go to Heaven but nobody wanna go now." Don't really know why I just wrote that but it is free writing so what the heck. Catholicism seems to give people a feeling of comfort that reassures them that even if this life ends you got another one ahead of you....you just gotta be a good person to get there. Well what if you do bad things? It's okay because there is a man dressed in all black that can make your sins go away after he waves his hand in a cross formation so you can still get into Heaven. These are just random thoughts that pop into my head as I sit and stare at my Mac but what I want to base my research paper on (in a more organized, factual, and understandable fashion) is how Catholicism motivates people using fear through bible passage interpretations, sacraments, a sense of "community," traditions, and practices to try attempt to gain their own salvation while ignoring the overall message of the religion. I received Holy Communion as I Catholic boy in second grade. Did I know what I was really doing when I received it? No. I had no idea. The priest gave me a piece of unleavened bread so I ate it. Did I know that it was suppose to symbolize the body of Christ? To a certain extent, yes, but why was I taking it? Now I know that accepting the Eucharist is a symbol of remembrance for what Jesus did for his people in dying for our sins. What does that mean? How did he die for our sins? Did we sacrifice Jesus or did he sacrifice for us? I feel Catholicism has so much questions that are answered with our own fear of the possibility that their may be no life after death. Religion is tough stuff. Nobody knows the exact answer of where we are going once we die and nobody knows the exact answer of how we got here. What we do know is that we are here, and we should be thankful for that. Life, in that manner, is a gift. We didn't do anything prior to our own life that allowed us to be able to live. Nothing. We are all the same in that sense and the fact that we all did nothing to deserve what we have - life, the greatest gift on earth- is enough for me to treat everyone as equals. Everyone as taking part in something we don't deserve and enjoying this temporary period for what its made of: family, friends, love... things that move us to feel a greater good. When we look at some in a wheelchair we feel bad...unless your just some terrible person who hates wheel chair kids. But aside form those people we feel bad. Why? Because we find ourselves more fortunate than the kid in the wheelchair and we want him to have what we have. We have an immediate love for this kid because he is not "equal" (on a physical level) to us. This feeling of care and affection and the unconscious movement towards an innate good in our emotions leads me to believe that there is a higher power. We arent trying to feel bad for this child, we just do. But what is driving us to feel bad and desire a better life for this child? Humans cant be the "supreme" life form. Excuse my language but people are shitty. We lie, we cheat, we steal, we are selfish, and we hate when things dont always go our way. It cant end with us, the shitty people. There has to be something greater. Something that is driving us to that innate feeling of good that is worth going through a temporary stage of personal growth and purification (aka life) and joining into that greater community after life. How do we grow? How do we develop into a more full human being? Religion can help...if used correctly and not out of fear or lack of knowledge. But why not think of life as a religion. We are all already celebrating it just in our own way. We have our own traditions and practices. And we are not encouraged or forced to do anything we dont understand or because we are scared of what might happen if we dont do it.
I'm ranting, I know.
For my paper, in order to keep it from sounding like empty preaching, I wish to begin by explaining how humans acquired religion then offer what Catholicism does well. I will then go on to state the problem is that Catholicism has become dealt with in fear so it has lost focus and then move on to explain how to live a good life without fear.
Im not biased against Catholicism at all...it has helped me immensely to grow as a person through its many teachings and ideals and I without a doubt agree with its overall message of love and universalism. Im Christian. I believe there was a dude named Jesus and he lived a full life filled with friends, family, sacrifice, etc... and he serves as a great model for us to be and act like while he also gives us a hope that their is something greater to live for that lies in our future. Thats my gig. Hope to write more in the future.
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