The Politics of Religion

I am a Roman Catholic.  I was raised a Roman Catholic by Roman Catholics.  I attended 12 years of Roman Catholic education.  I have been baptized, reconciled, received my first Holy Eucharist, and I was married in the Roman Catholic church...to another Roman Catholic. Together we have baptized each of our four children within months of his/ her birth.  And until now I have always intended to raise our children in the Roman Catholic faith...

But right now my faith is on shaky ground.

Let me be clear, I believe more strongly than ever that there is in fact a God.  A being greater than myself that powerfully, yet gently guides the actions of my days and the course of my life. 

And this is comforting.

But each time I watch the news and listen to one of the Republican presidential hopefuls blather on about Christian-Conservative values I want to barf.

Rick Perry wanted me to know that "our country should be rooted in Judeo-Christian values" , and Tea Party darling, Michele Bachman informed me that "not all cultures are equal" and that I should look out for the dangerous "gay propaganda" in The Lion King.

These others can be written off as Evangelical extremists, Right-Wing religious zealots, but Rick Santorum, well, my concerns with him hit closer to home. 

You see, Rick Santorum is a devout Roman Catholic and having his homophobic, anti-gay agenda associated with my faith makes me ill.  Statements like:

“the state is not doing a service to the child and to society by not putting that child in a home where there is a mother and a father. This is common sense. This is nature. And what we’re trying to do is defy nature because a certain group of people want to be affirmed by society.”

Statements like this infuriate me.

The God of my belief is benevolent and forgiving.  Challenging me to be better than I am, to give of myself, my gifts and talents.  Tolerant of the beliefs of all around me.

I learned of this God through my parents and teachers, religious leaders and other adults of influence.  I want my children to grow up knowing the same.  A God who accepts all regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation or religious prefrence.

During my religious education we learned about the Sacraments and the Holy Trinity, we learned about Unconditional Love and Wisdom of the Holy Spirit.  We learned of a gentle, understanding God.  A God who sent His only Son to walk amongst us "sinners."  To break bread with prostitutes and lepers, the "undesirables" of society. 

My God, the God I still choose to believe in did not tolerate pious Pharisees who did not practice what they preached, who believed that they were better than others.  We learned about the Ten Commandments but we NEVER learned of a God who practiced exclusivity.  A God who would condemn others for beliefs, lifestyles and faiths that differed from His own.

This concept is new to me. And it is blatant political agenda of the Christian Conservatives that has me questioning if I will stay a part of the only organized religion I have ever known.

The God of my understanding does not discriminate his love.  Ever.

My God loves us all.  Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Buddhist, Scientologyist, Atheist, Agnostic, and yes, even the "gays."  My God cares not if you believe in Him, because He believes in you.  Even those people who hate Him.  Even those "terrorists" that want us dead for believing in Him.  My God loves them too.

My God is a forgiving God, and though I am sure that it takes all of His strength some days, He even loves the Right-Wing, Christian-Conservative Republicans.

So to them I say:  Keep Christ out of my constitution and I'll keep my liberal, gay agenda out of your church.