I haven't mentioned my religious beliefs much, mostly because I hold them very strongly but very close to my heart. I have a lot of thinking to do about them, and I didn't really think that my views on religion should matter too much to anyone else. However, I keep seeing articles and mentions of my religion, and it pains me to see it misunderstood so completely by otherwise well-meaning people.
What I'm about to write, and what I write under the title "Theology Class" is all my opinion. It has nothing to do with any organized religion, including and maybe especially the one I profess to believe in. This is entirely my viewpoint. My interpretation, right or wrong, of my beliefs. You can argue with me all you want, even tell me I'm completely wrong, and it won't matter much since it's all opinion anyway, and not scripture. Don't take it as an endorsement or condemnation of any particular religion, because this is entirely about my beliefs.
First off, I'd better start with my philosophy of religion. My desk dictionary says that religion is "a set of beliefs concerning the nature and purpose of the universe." That's the first definition. The second is "an institutionalized system of religious beliefs and worship." And that's actually how I look at religion.
The first and most important part of religion is a set of beliefs, a gospel. I'll be using that word, gospel, to refer to the beliefs themselves. In my philosophy, the gospel is the ideal of the religion. It's perfect, because it is what the religion aspires to be. Yeah, I know "gospel" is a Christian word, but I was raised in a Christian faith, so whaddya expect?
The second and lesser important part of religion is the organized side of things. See, the problem with organized religion is that it involves people. As soon as you put people into the equation, things go wrong. If there were a way to teach and propagate religion without involving human misunderstanding and misinterpretation you would have a perfect religion... but then you wouldn't have a church. That's my word for the people side of things, by the way: church.
These are very deep philosophical ideas I'm trying to convey. I'm not sure I'm doing a good job of it, and I won't know unless someone responds with a comment or question that shows that the person "gets it", and since I don't actually expect anyone to read this far, I don't expect for that to ever happen. Still, this blog has always been for me, to prove that I can order my thoughts on a daily basis, so I'll plough ahead.
Anyway, the bit that some of you no doubt kept reading to discover: I was born into and raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known by the name "Mormon". I stopped attending church regularly in late High School and haven't gone to church regularly in years. To the Church (note the capital "C", that's how I'll be referring to it in future blogs), I'm an inactive member married to a non-member (hubby-Eric was raised in a non-religious family). I consider myself as a member who has a whole lot of problems to work out before she's willing to go back. See, I strongly believe the gospel of the Church, but I really have some serious problems with the church side of things.
To illustrate, I'll use a different church to show you an extreme example. I'm going to pick on the Catholics. See, how can anyone in their right mind believe in the Catholic church after this whole thing with their priests molesting people? How can you trust a faith that allows that to happen, and even tries to cover it up? Ah, but that's where my difference between "church" and "gospel" comes in. Just because some incredibly stupid and sick people are in positions of authority within the Catholic church does not mean that the beliefs of its members are automatically invalid. It's the exact same thing with just about any religion. The beliefs of the religion must be evaluated alone as well as in the context of the organized church. You cannot always count on the leadership of any church to correctly represent the beliefs.
Unfortunately, it's some hang-ups I have with the current and past leadership of the Church that makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for me to currently attend services. Those problems will never go away, but until I learn how to deal with them, I can't go back. And, unfortunately, when I've sought help within the Church itself for the resolutions I need, I've been unable to find it. I'm afraid it's something I have to work out for myself.
Right, off I go on another tangent. Anyway, I'll try to keep these "classes" to a minimum. I don't expect anyone to read them. But hopefully the exercise will clear up some of the cobwebs about religion in my head. Who knows.
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