Reply To Rachel
Mar. 12th, 2002 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackofallgeeksSo, yeah, there's no way Rachel could have posted what she did and not expected me to make SOME kind of reply. But, seeing as it was all in good taste, and I respect Rachel that much (^__^), I decided to post my own entry, rather than blemish her journal.
And, since we all know I have a tendancy to say too much about too little, I won't bore any of you with the details, either.
Oddly enough, my frirst statement is - I agree.
::Shrugs:: I donno, that seems to surprise people often enough - you should've seen the looks on the people's faces when I said I agreed with Natalie in English class. I agree that Catholicism is not perfect, that Catholics themselves are no better than anyone else, and that if you believe in God, what more can be asked, yes?
Of course, you can almost always be assure that if I EVER say 'I agree', it will shortly be followed by 'but...'. This is no exception. Catholicsm has never claimed to be perfect. Any Catholic who claims to be perfect has (at least) issues of pride. And, though I'll leave this were it lies, all Catholicism asks is a belief in God.
"You're saying that having beliefs is a bad thing?"
"I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier."
This is another point I agree on. It is harder to change a belief. But I disagree with our Friend Rufus in that I think that's a good thing. Why is stability bad? Ever try standing on an inner-tube in the pool? Yeah, it might be exciting, but it's also exhausting, and in the end, you will fall.
"The Catholic Church does not make mistakes!"
The good Cardinal, as we can see, voices a popular misconception - that Catholics claim to be perfect. We're not. We're people too, just like anyone else. We make mistakes. And while The Church may have collectively done some things poorly - the examples of Slave Trade and Holocaust - it was not the teachings that led them to those mistakes, rather natural human weakness.
"Sex is a joke in heaven?"
"The way I understand it, it's mostly a joke down here, too."
I don't know the context, but I think this here proves I would find the movie quite amusing. ^__^
"Church laws are fallible because they're created by man."
Agreed. Anything made by man is made with faults, because man is not perfect. I could really get into a philosophical discussion here, but I won't. The fact of the matter is that - the Catholic church was not founded by man - it was founded by Jesus, who while man, was also God. I don't claim to understand the full meaning of that, but I do assert that, whatever failings and imperfections the Catholic Church has, it does have truth.
"When are you people going to learn? It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, and they never will because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains need to wake up."
This statement, I think, I agree the most with, and as such, disagree the most with. it's true no one has nailed it yet - and no one ever could without the grace of God. We have imperfect intellects, and as such can only grasp truth imperfectly. No one ever attacks Physics of Math or Genetics for being imperfect, but the fact of that matter is that we don't fully understand those, either.
What I disagree with is the general statement that you just have faith. I could almost agree if they said 'faith in God', but they don't. Faith in money will fail you, because money won't fix everything. Faith in man will fail you, because man is imperfect. Faith in God will not fail you, and that's the end of that.
And, since we all know I have a tendancy to say too much about too little, I won't bore any of you with the details, either.
Oddly enough, my frirst statement is - I agree.
::Shrugs:: I donno, that seems to surprise people often enough - you should've seen the looks on the people's faces when I said I agreed with Natalie in English class. I agree that Catholicism is not perfect, that Catholics themselves are no better than anyone else, and that if you believe in God, what more can be asked, yes?
Of course, you can almost always be assure that if I EVER say 'I agree', it will shortly be followed by 'but...'. This is no exception. Catholicsm has never claimed to be perfect. Any Catholic who claims to be perfect has (at least) issues of pride. And, though I'll leave this were it lies, all Catholicism asks is a belief in God.
"You're saying that having beliefs is a bad thing?"
"I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier."
This is another point I agree on. It is harder to change a belief. But I disagree with our Friend Rufus in that I think that's a good thing. Why is stability bad? Ever try standing on an inner-tube in the pool? Yeah, it might be exciting, but it's also exhausting, and in the end, you will fall.
"The Catholic Church does not make mistakes!"
The good Cardinal, as we can see, voices a popular misconception - that Catholics claim to be perfect. We're not. We're people too, just like anyone else. We make mistakes. And while The Church may have collectively done some things poorly - the examples of Slave Trade and Holocaust - it was not the teachings that led them to those mistakes, rather natural human weakness.
"Sex is a joke in heaven?"
"The way I understand it, it's mostly a joke down here, too."
I don't know the context, but I think this here proves I would find the movie quite amusing. ^__^
"Church laws are fallible because they're created by man."
Agreed. Anything made by man is made with faults, because man is not perfect. I could really get into a philosophical discussion here, but I won't. The fact of the matter is that - the Catholic church was not founded by man - it was founded by Jesus, who while man, was also God. I don't claim to understand the full meaning of that, but I do assert that, whatever failings and imperfections the Catholic Church has, it does have truth.
"When are you people going to learn? It's not about who's right or wrong. No denomination's nailed it yet, and they never will because they're all too self-righteous to realize that it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith. Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains need to wake up."
This statement, I think, I agree the most with, and as such, disagree the most with. it's true no one has nailed it yet - and no one ever could without the grace of God. We have imperfect intellects, and as such can only grasp truth imperfectly. No one ever attacks Physics of Math or Genetics for being imperfect, but the fact of that matter is that we don't fully understand those, either.
What I disagree with is the general statement that you just have faith. I could almost agree if they said 'faith in God', but they don't. Faith in money will fail you, because money won't fix everything. Faith in man will fail you, because man is imperfect. Faith in God will not fail you, and that's the end of that.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
You're funny. :-)
Date: 2002-03-12 06:15 pm (UTC)You're also right when you say that I posted it in good taste. Which I did. Just because I love that movie, and find many of those quotes insightful, or hillarious, or both. You know me and my beliefs, and the movie hits a lot of them on the nose (I'm sure you know which ones they were). It also provides a good two hours of entertainment. Its a nice balance. But yes, I think you would really like it too. You should see it! :-)
As always, I loved reading what you thought about it all. The movie is one that can bring up some great 3:00am discussions, thats for sure. Good movie... watch it. :-)
Message from She Who Agrees Wholeheartedly
Date: 2002-03-12 09:26 pm (UTC)"You masturbate more than anyone else on the planet."
"EVERYBODY knows that! Tell me somethin' I DON'T know!"
"When you do it, you're thinkin' about GUYS."
"...dude, not all the time..."