Politics and Religion

Ah, yes, politics and religion. Two topics to be avoided at the dinner table. Two topics to be avoided in a lot of places, unless heated (and sometimes ugly) debates are your thing. It's funny though...I seem to be able to talk about both without a terrible amount of fighting. After a decent amount of consideration, I think it comes down to my general lack of "I'm right, you're wrong" when it comes to both topics. I also have a healthy dose of "I don't know", so it allows me to listen and learn as much as anything else. With that, here are some things on my political and religious mind.

I don't like Sarah Palin. Admittedly, I don't know a lot of details about her politics, beyond her being very conservative. However, I recently read an article about her personal life and it did nothing but show me that I do not want this woman in charge of anything.

Her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, which I have no reason to judge. It's something that can happen to intelligent teenagers in great families. In fact, it seems as though an unexpected, premarital pregnancy is something she's experienced herself, given that her first child was born less than 8 months after her elopement (can we say shotgun wedding?). What I do judge is the hypocrisy of touting abstinence as the best sex education when that clearly didn't work with her or her daughter. Seems awfully unrealistic to push the rest of the country to follow an ideal that failed in her own life.

Something else that struck me while reading this article was her dishonesty. Once Palin found out she was pregnant with her youngest child, she went to great measures to hide it from the public, afraid that they would deem her unable to serve in her position as Governor. Excuse me, but is that the best way to handle things? I'm worried that they'll think I can't do my job, so I'll just deceive them instead? A pregnancy and baby aren't things that are temporary issues that just go away, so the public is going to know about it eventually. Hiding it does nothing for me but show fear and a lack of willingness to face challenges head on. Oh, and when she found out that the baby would be born with Down Syndrome, she didn't even tell her children. She said that she didn't know how to tell them, so she just waited until they noticed it themselves. Ugh.

Other political stuff: This election season has gone on forever...The VP picks seem more important this time around than in any election I can remember...I wish campaign ads focused more on why a candidate deserves my vote, rather than why the other candidate does not...I hope the younger generation actually votes in this election...I don't think the public will give the next President much of a chance, regardless of which candidate wins, because too many people have unrealistic expectations about what can actually be done in a short amount of time...I'd love to see more help for Americans in many areas, including education and healthcare, but we seem too intent on fixing everyone else's issues...I don't know as much as I should about the foreign policy and financial issues facing our country because I tend to focus on the social issues.

I've also given a lot of thought to religion lately. Specifically, how best am I defined...or does a definition even matter? I was raised Catholic and still identify myself as such. When I attend church, I attend Catholic Mass. Right now, I am not attending church on a regular basis, though I go through occasional phases where I attend regularly. What I question is whether I fit with a church known to be rather judgmental, when I feel that God is more loving and accepting. Is there a place for my more liberal views in the strict definition of the Catholic Church?

I do believe in God and heaven and all that nice stuff, though I have no interest in arguing the issue with those who do not. My ex used to question how I knew that God and heaven exist, but it's simply my faith, my belief that they are real. I can't prove it either way, nor do I feel the need to. It's personal to me, a foundation that underlies the rest of my existence. I also feel very comfortable within Catholic churches. It's relaxing and fulfilling and I feel like I am at home when I'm at Mass. At the same time, I know there are a lot of strict Catholics (well, believers of many faiths, really) who would judge me as being a "bad Catholic". I have done things in my life that people would deem "bad"...some for which I am sorry, others for which I am not. Through it all, I believe very strongly that I am a good person and that God loves me.

So, am I really a Catholic or is there a better definition? Even more importantly, does it matter? If I feel happy in a Catholic church and I feel that I have a strong relationship with God, do I need to worry about a label? Or can I continue to be a good person, knowing that I am loved and that I will see my dad (and all my loved ones) in heaven?