After taking a bit of a news break this weekend (no 24-hour news TV, only glanced through three newspapers), I read the headline of this morning’s paper, tilted my heavy head to the right and heaved a big chest up-and-down sigh.
“At least 9 dead, 60 hurt in Passover attack”
Usually, I keep quiet about religion because you never know who you might offend. At that risk, I hope I can address this with my thoughts and reflections, without making anyone feel hurt.
I’m not going to argue the dynamics of this latest development in Tel Aviv. I have been trained to recognize there are more than two sides to every story and I respect that on an individual level, everyone is responsible for his or her own actions. I also read these stories on a daily basis and wonder if anyone else looks at the black and white on the page, swirls around in their desk swivel chair and wonders, beyond “why”, to “how.”
I joined my family to attend Easter services at my community’s Roman Catholic Church. People sat shoulder-to-shoulder in one of the Church’s two busiest services of the year. I anticipated the priest’s typically long homily because I was interested to hear if he would include any reaction to this new Gospel of Judas, Baignet’s Jesus Papers and the Da Vinci Code. He preached that they were all wrong, not to worry, and “we know the truth.” He went on to dispel the Judas gospels as being inaccurate because one of its many teachings don’t correlate with the other Church-accepted gospels. He said the Jesus Papers and the Da Vinci Code also could not be true because they don’t agree with the Bible. Is it really about what is true and what is not? Or, could it be about what each person believes, individually? What stopped him from telling the congregation,
“Look, this is what people are saying. It contradicts what we Catholics believe. I want you to decide for yourselves what you do and don’t believe to be true. Then, take that belief, and live the best life you can.”
Nobody has been built with the authority to say what is an absolute truth and what is not when it comes to a belief. It’s impossible-- beliefs are subjective, decided upon by each individual person. If everyone believed something different, respected these differences among his fellow man and did the best they could to live a good life (by their own definitions), wouldn’t there be more time to enjoy each other? My sympathies go out to the Jewish families affected by the Tel Aviv suicide bombings, and to everyone in the world who suffers punishment for their beliefs. This wish applies to all sides of the spectrum. If you read this and feel offended, why not smile at five more people than usual today, regardless of what belief system they appear to belong to. It will be much more productive than sending hate mail.