Lunch time with Mary John was over and as we were walking near Trinity University; a bell struck and some ritual prayer was being broadcasted in the university speakers. If I had been alone; I'd have walked on because I don't belief in such rituals but out of respect of my friend I had to stop and pretend obeisance. Funny thing is, he's not Catholic (from his explanation, he belongs to another denomination of Christianity so essentially not a Roman Catholic like me. But unlike me, he's still a theist). He stopped out of respect of their beliefs.
Well, he knows of my unbelief and he respects them. While I also respect his need for religion. The only comment I make is that I hope he doesn't trade his glorious La Sallian brains and blindly follow someone just because said someone claims he/she hears God speaking through him/her. Anyway, we had a very animated discussion about respect. That while my views are valid; I should also give Roman Catholics respect. However, I disagreed a bit because what does this "respect" mean.
Notice how I'm forced to go along with Catholic religious rituals just because it is the majority's religion. Just because it is the majority position; I have to go along with it because I belong to the minority? I mean I wanted to walk out of a lecture by the Physiology Sensei last December (it wasn't Medicine-related and it was the partly the subject of this entry). He basically invited a religious alumna to share her experiences and emphasizing that belief in the Judeo-Christian god is necessary for one to have values and to survive medical school.
They also emphasized that values come from the bible and it is integral to being good physicians. Part of me wanted to question this; apparently the bible can be the source of all values...well disregarding the genocides. Alas, did not. Well what would you have done had your Physiology professor been lecturing? Would you have risked being given a failing grade?
And this happened when I was questioned by a fellow classmate about my newly-found unbelief. I'm a bit wary answering these types of questions from theists because I know I'd be met with disdain. Oh, I met disdain all-right. Well, not from the questioner, he was genuinely curious, but from his friend. I've made my dislike for her clear but apparently my unbelief cannot be respected. She was acting bored and I was getting the feeling from her that she really didn't want to listen. See, I could tolerate her dislike (she isn't completely faultless by the way; anyway I don't begrudge her dislike of me. I'm not in medical school to be liked by everyone). But I couldn't tolerate sloppy manners and thinking. I mean had I wanted to inquire about their theism; I would have listened whole-heartedly and if I had questions I would have asked them with respect. I mean had she, the one I disliked, been the one speaking about her views I would have listened, at the very least I would have faked listening. But apparently, I belong to the minority so I am easily dismissed.
To be fair, we were all tired from waiting for a long experimental procedure so maybe that wasn't a time for a proper philosophical discourse. Still, really couldn't tolerate sloppy thinking (her manners are somewhat excused but her disdain and lack of respect isn't).
Also, where is "respect" when I can't question their beliefs? How can I turn a blind eye to these items: a woman dies needlessly in an Irish hospital because the fetus still has a fetal heartbeat; never mind if the baby is already dead, our increased HIV cases is partly caused in part by the blind obedience of GMA to the Church's demand that condoms should not be distributed, the cover-up of many child molestation cases (there are many so I'll just cite one) and so much more. See, how can I stomach these many wrongs done by the Church? Also add the pope's erroneous statement that condoms cannot prevent HIV/AIDS. See, as a physician-to-be; I cannot stand by and let these erroneous medical judgements be perpetrated by these so-called "holy men". So imagine how many people has the Church killed or molested either directly and indirectly?
So excuse me for escaping my veneer of apathy but I couldn't stomach these inconsistencies and wrongs. And "respect" doesn't mean I can't question your views; in fact, it means we can question each other. It doesn't mean I have to agree with your views (or you with mine). We can leave the discussion, I refuse to call it a debate because a debate implies a winner and a loser, with disagreements. These disagreements actually strengthen us. Respect means that all views are given equal air time and not just because it belongs to the majority position.
To end this entry; I think the reason why theists have this false idea of respect is due to what is called "The God of Personal Necessity". I provide a part verbatim:
"Of course, it's also one of the hardest fallacies to explain to a
believer because so much of their persona is invested in this delusion. That their god fills their personal requirements so perfectly and
completely is often the reason they subscribe to the 'faith' in the
first place. To consider for one moment that their god might not
conform to their requirements is to attack their entire reason to be
deluded in the first place." Taken from here.
Just because I question your belief does not mean I am attacking you personally; it just means I couldn't stomach the wrong being done by your fellow believers and your religious leaders.
Hey there! :) It's me again.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that I love this quote you put down: "Of course, it's also one of the hardest fallacies..."
I understand exactly what this means. And I think that God, if there is a God, allows this to happen largely because this is unavoidable. It's like allowing an infant to experience being pampered before time forces them to grow up and experience the harsh reality of life. Many desperately cling to that period of infancy, probably because it's the only reason they even signed up in the first place. Part of 'maturing' as a Christian is eventually facing and overcoming this. I was faced with the painful truth in my first year of college. It haunted me for a long time. I kept asking myself, "Will I still believe if that means believing in God that can and will hypothetically stand by and do nothing for me or anyone else?" It just blew my mind that God apparently isn't supposed to be concerned about my every comfort. For me to be so self-centered and blissfully unaware of it for so long is only a testament as to how we are as humans. Ultimately and unrelentingly selfish.
I don't think many Catholics, or even Christians, are aware when they flippantly say they "believe". It is as if they are signing up for a personal butler in the form of an omniscient invisible being (or in the case of Catholics, a host of saintly guardian statues), ready to serve at their beck and call. For God to be good, He has to be answering their prayers. For Him to be loving, He has to be blessing them. Just how messed up can we be? That we sign up for a God (if He does exist) and, comprehending that He made everything and can just as easily destroy everything - including our puny, worthless lives- still have this irrational idea that He loves us so so much that He is practically begging to answer all our puny, worthless requests? I'm taking it a bit too extreme, but I hope you get the gist. I don't blame them though, as I used to think the same. We humans really are messed up. It's like our minds are so busy trying to connect everything in our lives to us, as if the whole world was orchestrated just so our lives could play out the way it does at this moment.
But I would just like to say that the heart of Christianity is not about God doing all these little things for us so that we can have heaven on Earth. It's actually the opposite. It's that He has already done the greatest possible thing for our sake, having given His life in exchange for ours, and whether we are willing to accept it. But the acceptance must be real. To accept means to take your cross and follow Him, to lay down your life for Him, it means to suffer, it means to be, as Paul puts it, "the scum of the earth". That is one of the reasons I think Christianity is real, because it demands from us what we are so unwilling to give. That we give to God (if He exists) what is and has always been His to have: our lives.
Christianity is not praying to a dozen different saints and having them answered. It's not the key to happiness all our earthly lives. It's a perpetual shedding of our self-sufficientness,self-importance, and self-grandeur, until nothing of us is left but Him. It is a very narrow road. Many say they are on it, but what they really are doing is pretending that the highway is narrower than it looks. Only a few ever really find it, and even less travel on it.
Also, I'd love to continue an exchange of dialogue with you and hear your thoughts. If you want, feel free to email me at crazyunderstanding@gmail.com
Yep, fellow believers do not really examine their beliefs that closely. Couple that with Filipino culture of "pakikisama" and you have blind sheep willing to obey but not question. And apparently, even Filipino-scientists educated in Catholic universities exhibit this trait!
DeleteAnd I have to say, I wish there were more theists like you especially back here in the Philippines. We'd have a more progressive country but change starts from the small things.