The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #30998   Message #401334
Posted By: Gervase
19-Feb-01 - 06:31 AM
Thread Name: BS: major religions and homophobia
Subject: RE: BS: major religions and homophobia
Personally I've had no trouble with my Roman Catholic indoctrination since I decided one Lent to give it up permanently.
But what still puzzles me is the oft-stated determination to separate religion and politics. For XXX's sake, the two are inseparable. If the Council of Nicea hadn't been obsessed with the politics of the Arian heresy and with the schism in the Church, we (our rather some people) would not be reciting the Nicene Creed every time they go to Mass.
And as for the books of the New Testament - the fact that we are told that MaMaLuJo is the Word of God is the result of a political decision. What about Timothy or the Gnostic texts? Sorry, don't get me started...
Call me a goofy radical, but I don't particularly fancy ordering my life and opinions according to the sectarian bickerings of a bunch of intolerant backbiting politicos over the past two millennia.
That said, anyone who chose to live by the simplest Christian tenet of all - do unto others etc - would seem to be OK in my book.
It's a tenet, however, that doesn't require a belief in a creator or any spiritual crutch to uphold. In fact, I'd have more time for someone who did so because they wanted to rather than because their God told them to.
It's a personal thing, though. I've got friends of many faiths and none - I choose them for their personal qualities rather than their belief systems. And I do like singing hymns (just don't ask me to say the creed when I'm in a church!).