Religious Beliefs and Society: Part 1/2, On Friendship

This post is the first of two posts on religious beliefs in contemporary society.  The first part deals with person-to-person interaction on a day-to-day basis; in other words, friendship.  The second part will deal with Church-and-state, and the question of imposed morality in the government of the state.

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My convictions about my religious beliefs are strong - anyone who knows me even a little bit can bear witness to that fact. Not everyone has the same convictions as I, even some of my close friends. People are atheist, agnostic, pagan, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc. But not even everyone who professes to be Catholic is well-versed in their faith. Some "Catholics" pick and choose what teachings to believe. Some "Catholics" are so open-minded and liberal that their brains have fallen out. I care very much for the few people that I allow myself to get close to. But even if I'm not very close to someone, I do find myself genuinely caring for them; I want them to come to a fuller understanding of the truth. The real truth. The only truth worth talking about.  And let's not fool ourselves...there's only one Truth.  If you truly care about someone, Truth is what you should focus on.

That being said, I've thought a lot about the idea of religious tolerance. Everyone's entitled to their beliefs, and I can't force my views on anyone the same way they can't force theirs on me.  So how can one with strong beliefs or morals relate to someone whose beliefs differ?

There are two extremes of tolerance. In one corner, you have the "I care, but not enough to speak the Truth and risk offending someone I care about in order to help them see that Truth" view.  This tolerance is better described as apathy in disguise.  The Truth is radical, hard to accept, but the most important realization one can come to in this life.  Christians who are apathetic towards religion and towards other's beliefs can't possibly be true Christians. If we're supposed to go out and preach the Gospel, if we are really sure of our faith and of the Truth that Christ gave His Church, the Church and her teachings that have been handed down to us for 2000 years of tradition, we wouldn't sit around, listen to what others have to say, and not care about it. We'd engage them in discussions, encourage them (with the utmost compassion, kindness, and charity) to seek the one Truth that there is. This wouldn't force our beliefs on them, but at the same time, call them to a higher contemplation of the Truth, and at the same time, call ourselves out of apathy, for if we only give ourselves to God, we're like the worker in the parable in the talents who merely buried them and gave back to his master what his master gave him. If we can't bring others, as well as ourselves, to Christ, our "Christian" lives are in vain.  After all, merely giving Him back the sole talent He gave us (i.e., our own soul) is not what is expected...or required.

Some view empathy as being in the middle of apathy and cruelty. I know that Aquinas viewed virtue as "the mean between extremes", but I'm not sure that quite applies here, as a closer looks sheds light on the true nature of empathy.  If one empathizes with people and their plights too much without being grounded in objective Truth, you quickly lose sight of the goal (truth), and you fall into a state of moral relativism - one of the most dangerous ideas to plague our modern times. Pope Benedict XVI said: "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires." The empathetic mostly have the right intentions of sympathizing with other's moral plights in the attempt to help them out of them and to come to know the truth, but it's certainly a delicate balance between kindness, sympathy, and love of Truth. The empathetic again sometimes slip away into the same fate as the apathetic: not accomplishing much on their end or on the person's that they are trying to help.

People (like myself) with strong convictions, particularly those tending toward the more conservative, orthodox, and traditional side of Roman Catholicism, tend to go too far on the opposite extreme of "tolerance" in fear of becoming apathetic towards other's beliefs, and therefore, to other's immortal souls and happiness. I'm not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be. The convictions and beliefs that these people hold to so strongly, coupled with pride and human weakness, can effect a sort of the "my way or the highway" type of mentality. Cruelty and pride drive people away from the very truth you've sworn to defend.  Again, all things need to be tempered with charity and truth.  There's no excuse to back down from convictions, but this approach comes on a little strong and turns most people off, which is far from the goal.

So how far IS too far? They're all too far. It's hard to find a certain, objective, set-in-stone definition for religious tolerance. I've encountered various sorts of people thus far...the worst of sinners and the best of saints. Whether I like it or not, people have come to me with a variety of problems: drug addictions, suicidal thoughts, carnal desires and sins, loss of faith, pride, jealousy, despair, eating disorders, anger, hate, violence, you name it. Some of these sins I have had firsthand experience with, and I don't believe in coincidence. Our God is a very deliberate God, and there's a reason people come to me, and there's a reason that I've been placed in the situations I've been through. God has given me my talents. I've been known to be quite handy with the shovel, and I can see various dirt mounds scattered around where I've buried the talents He's given me. If I don't meet people where they are and attempt to guide them, in word and in deed, to the Truth that I  know, I won't have lived out my duty as a Catholic. If I can't push aside my pride, live as a virtuous woman modeled after Mary, be diligent and careful in my life, draw others to Christ, and learn charity for all I encounter, my life shall have been in vain.