I do not attend EVERY Sunday. And I am one of those Catholics (raised Catholic, anyway) who does not subscribe to everything that was shoved down my throat for 12 years by the nuns & priests. But, I do believe in a primary being. Something, some entity started all this. Even when one understands the scientific analyses of how plants and animal life is formed, mutated, and proliferated, of how atoms & molecules form and reform into different elements, or how dark matter affects the make-up of the known universe; there must be some guidance, some plan in its direction. Otherwise, how could there exist such a universe, as we now live in? What makes trees grow tall, at a fast pace? Obviously, it needs to compete with all of its close neighbors to get a patch of sunlight, to LIVE. And if, say, a human, cuts down all the other trees for a 200 foot circumference, that lone tree will slow down in reaching for the sky, and spread out its middle branches to take advantage of more sunlight. Chance?I choose to believe in such a supreme (over us, at least) being, and show up at times to reflect on my own choices, resolve to do better and express my admiration and thanks for what I see as beautiful, awesome, and magnificent in this world, and what our telescopes see further away. .As for religions being the cause of most of the miseries and destruction in this world, as attested to by some fellow posters; you’ll get no argument from me. Organized religion is Man’s management of other’s belief in a supreme being, and is subject to all the mis-readings, literal interpretations, graft and longing for power that is MAN’s defect. Just look at the state of the Islamic religion today!And what Christianity did, in the name of the supreme being in the past. And all the cults of the world today? I really doubt that this is the will of a supreme being. That supreme being gave homo sapiens a more complex sense of being, and probably watches at times in admiration at it’s work, and other times, with a sigh, disappointed in what choices we make.Anyway, I do get my butt out of bed some Sundays, and attend a mass (during which I yawn often), but I go to pay my respects to the supreme being; not the priest. A small act which doesn’t cost much.
I do not attend EVERY Sunday. And I am one of those Catholics (raised Catholic, anyway) who does not subscribe to everything that was shoved down my throat for 12 years by the nuns & priests. But, I do believe in a primary being. Something, some entity started all this. Even when one understands the scientific analyses of how plants and animal life is formed, mutated, and proliferated, of how atoms & molecules form and reform into different elements, or how dark matter affects the make-up of the known universe; there must be some guidance, some plan in its direction. Otherwise, how could there exist such a universe, as we now live in? What makes trees grow tall, at a fast pace? Obviously, it needs to compete with all of its close neighbors to get a patch of sunlight, to LIVE. And if, say, a human, cuts down all the other trees for a 200 foot circumference, that lone tree will slow down in reaching for the sky, and spread out its middle branches to take advantage of more sunlight. Chance?I choose to believe in such a supreme (over us, at least) being, and show up at times to reflect on my own choices, resolve to do better and express my admiration and thanks for what I see as beautiful, awesome, and magnificent in this world, and what our telescopes see further away. .As for religions being the cause of most of the miseries and destruction in this world, as attested to by some fellow posters; you’ll get no argument from me. Organized religion is Man’s management of other’s belief in a supreme being, and is subject to all the mis-readings, literal interpretations, graft and longing for power that is MAN’s defect. Just look at the state of the Islamic religion today!And what Christianity did, in the name of the supreme being in the past. And all the cults of the world today? I really doubt that this is the will of a supreme being. That supreme being gave homo sapiens a more complex sense of being, and probably watches at times in admiration at it’s work, and other times, with a sigh, disappointed in what choices we make.Anyway, I do get my butt out of bed some Sundays, and attend a mass (during which I yawn often), but I go to pay my respects to the supreme being; not the priest. A small act which doesn’t cost much.