Inspiration For Life, Souls and Songs

Link: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/2012/01/why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus-the-smackdow.html

And so the debate continues. Great rebuttal from a Catholic perspective, but also has flaws. Both the original video and this rebuttal have their strengths and weaknesses.

A few notes:

• Yes, the Holy Eucharist and Communion is one of the core beliefs of our faith, but we have to remember that love is the common element that underlies every ritual in Catholicism. I am not degrading nor disregarding the Holy Eucharist as just some performance, but the transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Jesus Christ mirrors that of the act of love, both in which the ordinary becomes divine. Kierkegaard argued that because God is Love, the act of loving another is in a sense channelling the divine.
• Also, 1 Corinthians 13 makes it clear that rituals, prophecy, generosity are all useless without love, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels… If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains… If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
• The author of this blogpost mentions that Christ created an priesthood of apostles, thereby establishing our church and religion. Yes, it is a matter of fact, but we are men after all. And if it is my understanding, the Church itself understands that its clergy, its Bible writers, its people, are all humans and make mistakes. (Papal infallibility is another issue)
• The author’s argument on religious wars is a deep shame. He makes the argument that it is better to fight for principle/beliefs. Surely this man, who is clearly educated in Catholic teaching, has heard of the Just War Theory proposed by Augustine and Aquinas and is enshrined in the Catechism? War should only be waged if the aggressor poses a serious threat to human life and human rights. Yes it is relativistic, but if you examine the countless religious wars that have been waged since the Crusades, the Just War Principles have not been the case. Wars were waged against the Muslims, against those who were outspoken and differed in views, those who were at the forefront of leading science, and those who favoured the Protestant Reformation. In almost all of those cases, the victims were innocent and posed no serious threat. Yet, countless monarchs like Alexander I of Russia, Louis XIV of France, waged wars in the name of Christ. The War argument is the author’s weakest point and makes him appear to be an aggressor.
• The author has a good point with divorce. Never has God said He will ever unlove someone. We will always be loved, no matter what we do. In the case of divorce, man and woman are made to be one in marriage and the division of both is not an easy task. I don’t agree with the author’s point that accepting divorce means loving Jesus only partially, but it is true that divorce should only be held as a last resort and there is sufficient grounds that the vows were never kept and marriage is considered annulled.
• Both the author and the video are correct about rules. Sometimes rules can stifle our faith, and the author makes it clear that rules without love is dead. Rules are made in the intention to love and to respect one another. It also modifies our behaviour so that we can be more loving.
• No, the Bible is not a product of religion. It is the product of men. They were guided by the Holy Spirit, but the fact still remains that the Bible is flawed as we are. That doesn’t mean to say we should stop following the Bible, but God gave us our own intuitions to reason and interpret the Bible’s words.

My (and Jozef’s) thoughts on the original video:

• What I find interesting is that he explicitly says voting “Republican” (or we can take that to mean right-wing in general) “doesn’t necessarily mean Christian”. The right-wing takes advantage of social conservative issues, ie. the pro-life movement, but disregards alleviating poverty, helping the less fortunate etc.
• As a general rule, John Henry Newman’s words should always be considered when addressing public ministry: ““I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: “Go down again - I dwell among the people.””
• Yeah, religion in itself is just another form of organization of people. There will always be flaws, because humanity is flawed. One of the weaknesses of organized religion (or any organization) is that power corrupts, and those who lead or hold prominent positions are tempted to claim they are immune to laws or principles that govern the common people. But at least the Catholic Church has made it a priority to help the unfortunate, and realize that God “dwell[s] among the people.” Mistakes will always be made, and religion needs to continue to improve.

I think that ultimately, this type of conversation is good. It reminds us that we must always question and examine our faith in order to gain a better understanding of our beliefs.

Go ahead, I’ve said my thoughts on the topic.