I long for the day when I can simply say what I think, without a half-dozen people jumping around saying I'm wrong

I am a practicing Catholic, my eldest son is married to a Hindu, my second son is atheist, my daughter is recently back from Thailand where she attended (on the sidelines, as it were) in many Buddhist ceremonies and they commended her on how she showed them respect.

We can, and occasionally do, discuss religion. In every case it is genuinely seeking knowledge, whether it is Anoushka wanting to understand some of the symbolism in the Easter Vigil, or me wanting to ask about some aspect of a temple complex.

It is possible to talk about such things without insisting that you are the only one with the correct view and that everyone else must admit it.


Back to miracles. It is not that important to me, because at heart for me religion is all about how I behave, not some list of beliefs. Like Joe, I feel uncomfortable with asking for miracles today as part of nominating people for sainthood. I think it confuses the unexplained with the inexplicable, in many cases.