Against Religious Fundamentalism

I'm leaving this right here. Thanks to my friend Gela for writing this and allowing me to repost it. I think it's about time I acknowledge these issues have greatly influenced the way I lived my life. Why? Because we have to realize any religious sect that teaches intolerance breeds hate, division, and terrorism.

For the record, I realized I no longer live with Catholic guilt.

***

"Because "Spotlight" had a cathartic effect on this lapse Catholic.

 Born and raised Catholics who have left the Church have remorse too for their decision. We didn't just wake up one day and decide to leave a faith we grew up with and guided us during our crucial years. It isn't some sort of rebellion done out of spite. Perhaps it began with spite, but even anger can become tiring. But disappointment? Oh disappointment never leaves you, and living with the disappointment isn't easy. We were taught to do the right thing, be accountable, and confess to our sins. Then we went out into the real world and saw how Church leaders and the most devout could show hate instead of love to a boy who was naturally attracted to another boy, or dismiss a girl for not being “womanly” enough because she acted like a boy. Or how a woman’s value is limited to being a good wife and having children, and then made to feel guilty for choosing a career and independence, despite the latter not violating any actual commandments. Or how showing a little skin made her an occasion of sin, removing all accountability to the pervert who gazed at her because she was "asking" for it and leading him to temptation.

And yet despite encouraging women to bear more children, this Church did not see the consequences of opposing a reproductive health bill, letting thousands of Filipinas suffer in a poorly kept hospital as they suffered the pain of bearing their 6th or 10th child. Did this church ever own up to these faults on humanity? Do you see the disconnect and difficulty of being raised to uphold and do the right thing, and see the very institution that taught you all that, do the opposite?

So no, we are not Satanic, blasphemous or “bad” for leaving the Church. Ask us first why, ask us what guilt is harder to bear: complying to rituals and prayers because they seem like the right thing or supporting an institution that makes lives harder for millions of individuals all over the world?

Good night. Go watch "Spotlight" if you still don't believe us."