It seems to me that most of the religious attacks here at Mudcat are built on one basic fallacy: that any group of people can be monolithic. It's the principle that underlies all bigotry: find the worst individuals in a group, and then attack the entire group on the basis of the conduct of that minority.

And then there are all the condemnations based on the born-ageain atheists' concept of what they think people believe. Steve Shaw provides a wealth of examples, but let me call to mind his condemnation of my support for the sainthood of a pope he didn't name. As I suspected, he was condemning me for supporting the sainthood of John Paul II, a man I have held absolute disdain for almost since the day he was elected Pope in 1978. I agreed that JPII was the one responsible for the coverup of the sexual abuse of children, and said that coverup was a primary reason for my contempt for the man. Steve admitted it was JPII he spoke of - but did he apologize for accusing me of supporting the man? No, of course not. Steve's goal in life is to attack, not to apologize.

I'm a Catholic, and I've been so all my life, so it's clear that my Catholic faith is sacred to me. And I have a college degree in Theology from a Catholic seminary I attended eight years, so I know my faith quite well. I know what's doctrine, and what's not. I believe in the Creed, and I believe in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Those are the non-negotiable beliefs of the Catholic faith - but there is a wide and healthy spectrum of understanding of those beliefs, and all else is more-or-less open to discussion. Do I believe in the incarnation (God becoming man) and the virgin birth? Yes. The resurrection? Yes. But as I've said before, the Scriptures do not give detailed information about the specifics of how these events took place, so I leave them in a cloud and figure I'll understand them some day. I have faith that some day it will all make sense to me. And no, these are not things that I can argue about or defend - and I believe that unless I force others to believe these things, I have no reason to defend my beliefs. I do believe that I have a right to share my beliefs with my children, although they exercised their clear right to reject those beliefs in their teenage years. I didn't "force" my beliefs on my children - I just told them what I believe, and they went along with those beliefs for a time and then sorted out what they wanted to believe and what they didn't.

Those are the beliefs of a typical Catholic, which is what I am. They are part of who I am. If you attack and ridicule my beliefs, then you attack and ridicule me. You're not going to change my mind or prove I'm wrong, so why bother? What good would it do you or the world to prove my beliefs wrong? Why is it so fucking important to you to prove that Mary wasn't a virgin?

Now, Pete has a different set of beliefs, and those beliefs are as important to him as mine are to me. You're not going to prove to him that his beliefs are wrong, so why bother? What would you accomplish if you did succeed in proving him wrong? Nothing, really - you would just take away something that is important to him.

Your attacks on religious belief serve no constructive purpose. They serve only to attempt to destroy traditions that are dear to the hearts of people who believe. Nobody here at Mudcat has tried to force religion on you. In fact, the religious people here, including me, have been very reluctant to even share what it is we believe. And it's clear that you naysayers have no chance of understanding what is the essence of our faith - the fact you don't want to understand or respect us is just the first reason.

But whatever you think of our beliefs, those beliefs are ours, and they are sacred to us. If you attack our beliefs, as Mr. Shaw does incessantly, you attack us. And on top of that, you attack us in a place where we are very vulnerable, a place deep in our hearts.

And what satisfaction do you get from your attacks? Do your attacks prove that you are better than we are, smarter than we are, more powerful than we are?

Nope, about all your attacks prove, is how mean-spirited you are.

I spent the morning in church today, as I do almost every Sunday. I hugged people and shook hands, laughed a lot, sang a lot, and listened to the joys and sorrows expressed by a number of people. And we came together to celebrate a sacred ritual that went beyond doctrine and debate, a ritual that brought us together in worship although we have a wide variety of political and theological and ethnic and generational perspectives. And we had a good time. No guilt, no condemnation, no looking down on others who don't believe as we do. We just enjoyed our morning together.

And gee, we never once spoke about evolution, or homosexuality, or any of those other things you outsiders condemn us for. We did talk about the homeless shelter we opened this year, and we talked about people we know who are sick, and we prayed for peace. And then we prayed for healing of those who were hurt in the violence of the last two weeks. And then we prayed for peace again. Oh, and the priest talked how important it is to forgive and to accept forgiveness, so we don't go through life burdened with grudges and guilt.

How you people have the nerve to condemn that, I'll never know.

-Joe Offer-