The Role of Religion

A conversation lately has got me thinking. We were discussing abortion, and I mentioned one of my personal beliefs (I’m not going to go into that right here, but suffice to say that I’m pro-life) in relation to the conversation, and one of my friends swept it off by saying that I’m a Catholic. Now, I don’t deny that fact – of course not. I’m proud to be a Catholic, despite all her slams on the religion. However, as I’ve said before, I consider myself Catholic because I believe in most of what the Church says. I do not, however, believe all of what the Church says because I am Catholic.

Now, I admit that my upbringing as a Catholic affects a lot of my personal decisions, because of course your upbringing affects you. But, my upbringing in the Church is not all that makes up my personal beliefs, because I’ve been exposed to so many other things. So when I have an opinion on a moral issue that I’ve actually considered quite a bit (the topic of abortion is one of my strongest moral opinions), I don’t think it’s fair to brush that opinion off as the result of just one factor.

And even if it is solely because I’m a Catholic, if I’m an informed one, then what difference does it make? Does it being a Catholic opinion make it any less of a valid opinion? Of course, not everyone is Catholic, but they dislike it when I tell them they are wrong purely because they are Lutheran/Methodist/Baptist/Mormon/Buddhist/Hindu/Jewish/Whatever, yet that’s the attitude I get from some people – “Because you are Catholic, you are wrong”. On that note, I also get, “Because you are a Catholic, you believe you are better than me,” or, “Because you are a Catholic, you believe I’m going to Hell,” or “Because you are a Catholic, you cannot curse/get angry/like anime/like rock music/like science/whatever.” But they claim not to like being stereotyped.

I don’t know, really, why I’m typing this except to see if someone else has similar experiences – not necessarily with being Catholic, but with any part of their life. I’ve experienced this in other places, too, of course, but Catholicism is what’s on my mind right now. I guess I also want to know if anyone else shares my view of the beliefs choosing the religion, instead of the religion choosing the beliefs.

And, don’t get me wrong, I can take a joke. Because of our belief in transubstantiation, my friend calls Catholics cannibals, teasingly, whenever I bring it up (though, we also drink the Blood of Christ. Does that mean we’re cannibal/vampires? Coolio). I get that, it’s cute, and I don’t mind a joke. But she also realizes that being a Catholic doesn’t necessarily mean my opinions are always 100% with the Church (for instance, I support the death penalty in some cases).

(Also posted on my deviantArt account, Hannah-Kerela)

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