Faith And Belief

I believe in the faith of people, whatever faith they may have.

Studs Terkel
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Go Studs! Why can't we leave each other's religions alone?

I would like to know why so many people I don't know are interested in my soul.

One day I was standing with a group of friends on the sidewalk. A car drove up and stopped. A young man got out, rushed over and handed me a pamphlet from some Baptist organization. The title of it was "Are You Saved Yet?"

When I was a broadcaster I got a lot of fan mail, but one day I got a postcard from a listener who said "I am praying for your immortal soul."

Another day as a girl was getting off the subway, she threw into my lap a magazine from some eastern religion and told me to read it.

I was in rehearsal for a show and one of the actors came up to me and tried to sell me on the truth of some Jewish splinter group;

I was at a party given by a director for his colleagues and friends. He had a penthouse apartment and outside was the roof of the building, a big wide area where one could sit privately and enjoy the fresh air and the view. During the few hours I was sitting there a fellow came up to tell my about Jesus. Another tried to teach me a chant that she was sure would solve my problems and give me solace. (Did I need solace?) Another fellow talked to me at length about his meditation group and invited me to attend.

I am an ardent reader of philosophy and world religions, so I made short work of those people. I appreciate their concern, generosity and compassion, but I don't appreciate the proselytizing. I kept wondering, though, why I was being singled out by these people. Was it my cigarette? My beer? When they look at me do they see horns and a tail, or vampire teeth, or smoke signals of desperation coming out my ears? I put it to you, you who read my journal, am I the devil's man?

I have numbered among my friends two Protestant ministers, an Episcopal priest and a Catholic priest. None of them ever tried to convert me or to save my "immortal soul."

To tell you the truth I have received more spirituality out of Debtors Anonymous meetings than I ever got in a church. I know what I think, I know what I believe and I know where my faith is. I don't mean to put down anyone's religion. I don't and I wouldn't. I just want people to leave my faith, or my lack of it, alone.

DB - The Vagabond
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AUTUMN QUESTION

(This is not a contest.)

At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?

Only 5 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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Me In A Church

Where there is love, there is no question.

Unknown
(Thank you Cindy)
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WHY I DON't GO TO CHURCH.

Carl Sandburg was fond of saying that "exclusive" was the ugliest word in the English language. I'm reminded of the lyric from an old sang "I'm in with the in-crowd. I know what the in-crowd knows." We spend a lot of time drawing circles to determine who's "in" and who's "out."

The one thing I expect from a church is that when I walk through the door I am not only welcomed but accepted. In spite of what a great many people may think and what a lot of religious pastors may preach, no religion has all the cards on holiness. But the one thing, which no one can own, that every religiom should have, by nature of what it is, is love. A church, more than any other place in the world, should be a house of love.

In my younger years I did some church going, looking for a sense of love that I didn't find anywhere else. For a lot of youngsters there is no love at home. They seek it in the safety of their church, if they can. I can remember several times when I approached the door of a church and was met by someone who looked at me with an expression which said "What are you doing here?" Oh, a lot of churches preach love, "All are welcome," but once inside you soon see where the lines are drawn. I once entered a church with a sign out front that read "God is Love." The only love inside was of the hypocritical nature.

I knew a woman in Missouri, a mother of three young boys, who divorced her husband because he cheated on her. She went to live with another man, until the divorce was final, then married him. Her church completely ostracized her. She was no longer "welcome." Instead of compassion and love, she got rejection. She was a sinner!

Speaking of sinners, there seem to be a lot of those around. Some church goers have given themselves the right to decide whom God hates and what exactly the punishments are for the various offenses against the divine will. We have been told that Aids is God's punishment for homosexuality. We were given a similar reason for Katrina, ignoring the fact that the gay section of New Orleans was the only area unaffected by the storm. We have been informed that the earthquake in Haiti was because the nation made a pact with the devil. The sin is that too many people listen to and believe in this sort of clap-trap.

On the other hand, one block from where I lived in New York there was a Catholic church. Every Thursday evening the service was conducted by an old priest. I had no use for the mumbo jumbo that went on. I went for his sermons, which were sometimes lengthy but always deep and inspiring. He had no bigotry or exclusivity about him. He was a loving man.

One Autumn I went on a tour of the synagogues of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We got to a small converted brownstone in the 90's and the rabbi was an Englishman with a bright, happy manner who greeted us with joy. The women had prepared cakes and tea for us. He spoke with love about his religion, the various rituals and what they meant. He was genuinely glad to see us even though most of us weren't Jewish. The other rabbis we met were cordial but none had expressed the love that fellow did. I vowed that if I was Jewish and living in New York, that's where I would go, just to be in the presence of that jolly Englishman and his humble, immediate and all inclusive grasp of spirituality.

I was talking about him one day to a woman who lived in a small town way up north, a Christian girl, who said that if she ever met a Jew or a Muslim she would convert him. How can a thinking person even ignore that sort of closed minded arrogance?

If I visit your church and you tell me that yours is the one true religion, that I need to be "saved" and that you "love" me "in Jesus' name" I am outta there. No need to show me the door, I can find it myself.

So now I don't go to church. Instead I study philosophy. Why? To become a better man. What does that mean? It means to become a more virtuous man. Philosophers have been thinking and writing about virtue and how to be more virtuous since way before there were any Christians, Muslims or Synagogues and they do it because they love humanity.

I'm not areligious, antireligious or sacrilegious, but I'm not an absolutist either. I'm a ponderer, a wanderer, a vagabond.

DB
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
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