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Saturday, March 03, 2007
In the midst of Lent, still happy to be an Agnostic Catholic
Picking up on my friend Ryan's post on Christian atheism, I found the following 'Blogthings' quiz interesting. To the question, "You are most interested in...", I could have happily answered either 'Philosophy' or 'Serving God's purpose' -- probably to a large extent because I see these as pretty intertwined for me. (To the question "You think God...", I answered "is unknowable," but that's just good philosophy of religion, and good Aquinas)
When I answered "Philosophy", the result was:
You are Agnostic | You're not sure if God exists, and you don't care. For you, there's no true way to figure out the divine. You rather focus on what you can control - your own life. And you tend to resent when others "sell" religion to you. |
Which isn't true, for me, because I do care quite passionately that God exists.
So, then, when I switched just that one answer over (saying that I want to serve God), the result is this:
You are a Believer | You believe in God and your chosen religion. Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu.. Your convictions are strong and unwavering. You think your religion is the one true way, for everyone. |
Which is, again, not quite right at all. Yes, I believe in God, and given that I'm going to be baptized this Easter, I'm committed to becoming Catholic specifically. I can reflectively affirm the Creed. But I don't know if I would say my convictions are strong and unwavering -- rather, my prayer is "Lord, I believe; Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). (See Ryan's post, linked above, for more on doubt, or this spirited discussion on LiveJournal about the importance and nature of doubt.
Further, while I do think that my religion is true, I would qualify the statement that it's the one true way for everyone. The Second Vatican Council acknowledged that there are a lot of obstacles between some people and the church -- and includes the bad & hurtful & unthinking behaviour of some believers as among those obstacles. The Church recognizes that there can be non-believers who are, in their commitment to the good and to truth, very close to God.
And that's Catholicism! I'm pretty sure a Hindu would be even farther from being characterized by that blurb.
Anyway. Just some thoughts. To sum up -- I'm not surprised that with my answers I wavered between 'agnostic' and 'believer' -- but the descriptions are lame.
jane 12:11 PM [+]
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