Well, I guess if I were speaking with honesty instead of caution, I'd say that I believe because God gave me the gift of faith, not because I chose to believe. Believing doesn't necessarily make me better or worse than anybody else - I just see things from the perspective of Catholic Christian faith. I fully realize that answer isn't satisfactory to anybody who doesn't believe, and I'm sure they're at least partly right in thinking that I believe because I was brought up that way. But then I could say that my being brought up that way was a gift, and the circle could go on and on.

Whatever the case, my faith is part of what I am. Discussing the merits or problems of my having faith or the merits or problems of another person NOT having faith, strikes me as problematic from a number of perspectives - and it does make me nervous. There's no way I can discuss faith with either atheists or fundamentalists, because they and I speak a totally different language. They're all black and white, and right and wrong - I'm more grey in my chosen hue. The only things I see as truly wrong are hatred and intolerance.

My faith is not right or wrong, but it does mean a lot to me - it is a sacred part of my life. Another's lack of faith is not right or wrong, either. It's who we are - take us or leave us. I suppose that belief is one of the many aspects of the human condition that test our tolerance. I hope our tolerance wins in the end, and that we can all gain by learning to respect and learn from each other's perspectives.


-Joe Offer-