religion

Life as an Agnostic

If you know me, then you know that I have never considered myself a religious person. I was raised Catholic, but as soon as my dad told me that I was an adult in the Catholic Church’s eyes and no longer had to go, I peaced out so hard. After that, I would only attend church on Christmas and Easter for my dad, but I would never willingly attend church by myself on days that weren’t religious holidays.

After my dad retired at 65 and moved down to Florida, I stopped going all together.

My connection to the Catholic Church was only through my dad, and when he was removed from the equation, I had zero connection to the church. If I ever spend a Christmas or Easter with him, I’m sure I’ll probably attend church with him but other than weddings or funerals, I will not go.

While I do not considerer myself Catholic or religious, I wouldn’t consider myself an atheist. I have been identifying as an agnostic for two decades now. I feel absolutely nothing whenever I’m in a mass and a priest or pastor is talking about the word of God. My main issue is that I just cannot separate organized religion from the harm it has caused in the world.

A friend of mine shared this spot-on quote with me:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

Brennan Manning

I cannot and will not separate the Catholic church from all of the the documented abuse and coverup. Story, after story, after story, after story, after story, after story, after story, after story, after story, after story. I could keep going when it comes to abuse in the Catholic church. It’s not specific to the Catholic Church. In 2022, news broke about abuse in the the Southern Baptist church. The LDS church has not been immune from this either.

I understand that it’s not all Catholics, Baptists or LDS members. I have loved ones who are members of these churches, and they are fantastic, loving people. My issue is primarily with the institutions itself, as well as the individual members who want to use their religion to be hateful toward marginalized groups. Regardless, my neuro-spicy brain cannot reconcile the disconnect between these religious institutions screaming about “protecting the children” when it comes to LGBTQ people while ignoring the actual child abuse within their own places of worship.

Some of the worst people I’ve come across claim to be a child of Christ but then say or do the most absolute hateful things to people. You know the ones. The people who actually seem gleeful when they condemn others to pain and suffering in hell. Who does that? Who feels satisfaction and joy at the idea of other people suffering for eternity? That’s sadistic and pretty sure that’s the opposite of Christ like. These people use their religion as a license to just be hateful to others.

When I walk past Church members on the street picketing an abortion clinic, I wonder how many of them actually care about all those babies once they are born. Did they vote for the candidate advocating for subsidized childcare, free lunches for kids at school, common sense gun legislation so kids don’t get shot up in school, or paid medical leave for parents?

I would not be opposed to attending a place of worship if I thought it was a good fit. I just would not associate myself with any religion that spends more time oppressing marginalized communities or screaming at women than actually helping communities. I do not understand those who are more focused on what might happen when we die than focusing on what is going on while we are still alive.

However, if I ever get married, I would never get married in the Catholic church. The idea of going through marriage classes with a priest sounds like absolute hell on earth for me. As much as I love my dad, I draw the line at lying to priests about my beliefs or lack thereof.

Whenever I do die, I absolutely do not want a Catholic priest for my memorial service or even have there be a Catholic mass. That’s the last thing I would want. If my family wants to do that for themselves, I can’t stop them but I hope they understand that the mass would be for them and not a way to honor me. I do feel the presence of God whenever I’m walking in a trail and surrounded by nature.

When I’m gone, I want to be cremated and spread out throughout as many forests possible. That way, there would be no grave marker for me but my loved ones could visit me whenever they step foot on any trail.

From ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Angels

A family member of the Boyfriend died of cancer yesterday.  I won’t go into that here because his family isn’t one to broadcast anything about them, and I want to respect that.

What has been on my mind lately is something that a hospice nurse said to us while we were sitting in the hospice room for Boyfriend’s family member: “I’m not really religious or anything, but what I do believe is that angels come to us before we die.  I’ve had patients, right before they pass, begin talking to people who aren’t in the room.  When I ask them who they are speaking to, they’ll say a spouse or their parent who has been long gone.  I had one patient say right before he died: ‘Amazing.’  So I truly believe that our loved ones come to us before we die, and they take us to where we’re going next.”

Most of my friends and family members rarely hear me discuss religion or anything spiritual.  Heck, I bet some would guess I’m atheist (I’m not).

I was raised Catholic, and when I turned 16 and had my confirmation, my father told me that I was an adult in the church’s eyes.  If I didn’t want to go to church, I didn’t have to go.  So I didn’t, much to some of my family members’ dismay.  My father never pressured me to return to church, which I am grateful for.  I’ve had issues with the Catholic religion based on their social views, and because of that, it’s not been a religion I want to associate myself with.  I felt then, and I still do to this day, the Catholic Church is behind the times, and it’s oppressive.

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Good little Catholic girl?

The God I choose to believe in is not a spiteful or vengeful God, and He created us all in his likeness.  I remember one time, in high school, this girl in my yearbook class was on this rant about homosexuality.  She was talking about how it’s a sin, according to the Bible.  When I asked her the last time she went to church or read the bible, she cursed me out.   (Yeah, I wasn’t popular in high school.)

While I haven’t been to a church or service, really, for most of my adult life, I haven’t stopped believing.   Most of my belief in God and heaven is tied up with my mom.  I want to believe that I will see her again, and I’ve always felt her presence in my life when I needed strength.  When I was in an emergency room in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after experiencing the then-most tragic event in my life, I was talking to her in between sobbing.

When I heard the hospice nurse talk about those about who are about to die who see their loved ones, I almost lost it.  (I waited until I was in the car by myself before sobbing.)  I have no doubt that my mother would be there, my grandfather (her father) and my grandmother (my dad’s mother) will be those who I see.  The idea that while still alive, I’ll still see my lost loved ones again filled my heart in a way I hadn’t felt, probably ever.  In that moment in the hospice room, I physically felt my beliefs, if that makes sense.  I was overcome with such extreme emotion that I was afraid I was going to make a scene in front of Boyfriend’s family, which would have been the absolute worse.

The nurses there also reminded me that there are angels on Earth.  Those who provide hospice care to the dying are absolute angels.  To do what they do, day in and day out, I’m just blown away.  It definitely takes a special type of person to be surrounded by death and their grieving loved ones, and still be smiling and asking, “What can I do for you?”

Even those this wasn’t my family member dying, it was still awful to watch him/her dying.   Watching anybody dying is pretty horrifying.  This was my first time being so death-adjacent after my own cancer diagnosis, and it was frightening to watch.  I felt bad for the actual person dying, helpless watching Boyfriend and his family be so distraught, and then guilty for wondering, “Is this my future?”

Boyfriend’s family member is at peace and no longer suffering.  I hope whoever greeted him/her onto his next journey was someone incredibly special.

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest from it.”

Mark Twain