Two columns that address faith...straight and gay

[thatcrazycajun]

I simply had to share these two op-eds that my local paper ran today in its dead-tree edition, but for some reason declines to post on its website. (I suspect syndicate-contract niceties are at fault.) First, Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. pens a thought-provoking piece on faith and the problems in sustaining it, which apparently were suffered even by Mother Teresa herself:

A conversation (or lack thereof) with God

Right underneath it on the AJC's @issue page is a column by New Jersey's disgraced former governor, now studying in an Episcopal Church USA seminary. (Ironic, that, given the recent convulsions in that church over the  ordination/elevation of non-celibate gay clergy.) Jim McGreevey recounts his own experience, by way of trying to help others understand why Republican Sen. Larry Craig has gotten in the same trouble he did:

A prayer for Larry Craig

My only complaint with McGreevey's piece is that nowhere in it does he mention remorse for the heartbreak and chaos he caused his ex-wife (who also has opined on the Craig scandal in a recent op-ed empathizing with Craig's wife, put in an all-too-familiar position). One hopes that the teaching he is receiving in seminary includes asking God for forgiveness of his dragging others into his decades-long attempt to live a lie.

Comments

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Not that impressed with the Pitts thing.

I'll admit, my faith is an idiosyncratic thing. I even go further. I am unabashedly unashamed in saying faith is irrational in the sense that it cannot be justified by reason. I merely consider all other human beings and their beliefs equally irrational. My faith derives from a variety of sources, including personal experience and a different set of expectations. But I don't expect to persuade anyone with my personal experiences anymore than I am persuaded by other people's personal experiences. I have no more credibility to another than the fellow on the street corner who says Jesus talked to him last night.

Mind, I think all people of faith should struggle with their faith now and again. It shows you are perceiving the universe correctly. But hey, even Solomon had his doubts (assuming you believe as I do that he authored Ecclesiastes).

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>> I don't feel any conflict between intellectual agnosticism and personal faith.<<

Truly? I'd be interested to hear how you reconcile the two; myself, I don't feel capable of turning off my brain to believe, which is a big part of why I left the Roman Catholic Church in which I was raised.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

It's not a question of "turning off your brain."

Prove to me with proofs why you should hold the values you hold. At bottom, any set of values is incapable of logical proof and, if applied absolutely, conflicts with other values.

All human beings therefore either don't think about these things, freeze into immobility, or manage to live with the conflict and doubt.

Mind you, it is entirely possible to conclude that "this particular set of beliefs and traditions just requires too much suspension of disbelief." But it's as much a personal judgement as the decision to believe.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I should tell you about your experiences?

There was a time when faith was a private matter. I keep hoping we'll get back there again.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>>There was a time when faith was a private matter. I keep hoping we'll get back there again.<<

Dream on, my friend. Between the Religious Right (which, as has long been observed, is neither) and the Sojourners types on the other side (among whom my Songbird counts herself), too many people on both sides feel called to live their faith in action within the public-policy sphere. As long as that happens (and as long as politicians and their parties use faith as a means to impress voters they want and suppress votes for their opponents), faith will continue to be a very public matter, in this country at least.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]