My conservative beliefs often overlap with my religious beliefs. For me, with conservatism comes Catholicism. When people hear me say that I am Catholic, they often make assumptions about me that aren’t always true. So, I’m going to address some of those assumptions.
Assumption #1: I support corruption in the Catholic Church — no matter the extent or the type
People ask me how I could still be Catholic when there are priests raping children. I support the religion and the faith; I do not support the actions of those priests, and most other Catholics probably don’t either.
If the priest at my parish raped children and wasn’t punished for it, then I would no longer attend that parish. I would find another parish to go to and continue practicing my faith. The actions of priests have nothing to do with my faith and what I believe in. My faith comes from God.
I expect priests to be punished according to the law so that justice is served. The Church cannot be healed without its members acting to heal.
Assumption #2: I have to go to church every weekend
I want to go to church every weekend. I am a grown person and choose to live my life the way that I want. The Church does ask that Catholics go to church once a week. However, it is still up to the individual to make that decision.
The third commandment says that we must keep the Lord’s day holy. Catholics do this by attending church every weekend to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist. Going to church also takes up only one hour out of my entire week of 168 hours. It’s really not that difficult to attend once a week.
Assumption #3: I am a prude
Just because I’m Catholic does not mean that I can’t listen to or have conversations relating to anything sexual. For example, I do not cover up my ears when someone says a dirty joke. If you know me well, you know that I am often the person saying the joke.
Yes, it is a sin to say dirty jokes and even to like them, but I’m only human. I know my sins and it’s my business as to whether or not I’m going to fix them. Don’t feel like you have to censor what you say around me and don’t be surprised if I talk about sex-related topics in a conversation.
Assumption #4: I agree with all the Church’s rules
Man created many of the rules of the Catholic Church, whereas God created Catholic dogma. Above all things, I follow God. I also follow the Church, but that doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with all their rules.
For example, the Church does not allow priests to be married because priests choose to fulfill the sacrament of priesthood instead of the sacrament of marriage.
However, there is an exception that allows priests in the Eastern Orthodox branch of Catholicism to be married. Personally, I do not have a problem with priests being married. I think it would be perfectly fine if priests had families, as long as they still receive all the same training to be a priest.
As Catholics, if we really do have serious concerns regarding the rules of the Church, we can discuss them with our priest and decide whether we want to continue practicing the Catholic faith.
Assumption #5: I cannot get tattoos
I can get tattoos if I want to, but I probably shouldn’t. Leviticus 19:28 does say, ”You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.” This is meant to separate Christians from other religions, such as pagan worship. God does not want us to tattoo symbols on our bodies that express witchcraft or idolatry.
However, this hasn’t stopped people from getting tattoos. People often get religious tattoos of a cross or a quote from the Bible, which comes into question as to whether that is acceptable.
I can choose to get a tattoo if I want, and I am aware that it may be considered sinful. But that is my choice and not all Catholics feel the same about it.
Assumption #6: I do not believe in evolution
For those of you who don’t know, I am a biology major. I consider myself to be a scientist, so of course, I believe in evolution. The Catholic Church does not disagree with the theory of evolution. It is acceptable for Catholics to believe in theistic evolution, which is the belief that God created the means for evolution to occur.
The Creation Story says that God created the Earth in seven days. However, God’s perception of the length of a day is different from our current perception of the length of a day. The Story is more of a metaphor for how God started the creation of the Earth.
As for the story of Adam and Eve, that gets very complicated to understand. It interferes with our current knowledge about different species of humans that existed before Homo sapiens as well as our apparent descent from apes.
Science tells me to believe one thing while religion tells me to believe another, but it is my faith that tells me that God made it work somehow. I don’t have to understand all of it, I just need to have faith in God.
Assumption #7: I do not support homosexuality
I don’t care who people are attracted to or what they do behind closed doors because that is none of my business. Moreover, I wouldn’t want people to tell me who I can and cannot have a relationship with or judge me for how I live, so I’m not going to either.
I will not hate someone just because they sin according to my religion. They could be the kindest person in the world, so why would I hate them? People sin every day and if I hated people because they sinned, then I would end up hating every single human.
In Christianity, there’s a list of commandments that lays out ten so-called “rules” that people should abide by. Breaking any of these rules means that you have sinned. There are way more than just ten sins. The commandments just list the top ten. Among some of these rules are to not lie, to not steal, to not disobey one’s parents and to not be jealous of others’ possessions.
People break these rules every day but people don’t hate or even dislike other people for it because everyone has something that they struggle with overcoming. If you look at the full list of commandments, nowhere on that list will you find anything that says to not be homosexual.
As a Catholic, I try to live by Jesus’s ways. And that means loving our neighbors as ourselves, regardless of their sexual orientation.
We are all trying to overcome labels and stereotypes. Assume good intentions and then work from there. It’s not fair to have these preconceived notions about me or Catholicism if you are not well informed.
