Religion, Assumptions, and Getting a Grip

Say that someone's very 'religious,' and folks can assume quite a few different things, some more accurate than others:

1. Religious people
   1. Are motivated by
      1. Faith
         (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1814-1816)
      2. Hope
         (Catechism, 1817-1821)
      3. Charity
         (Catechism, 1822-1829)
      4. Smouldering resentment of anyone not like themselves
   2. Aren't reasonable
      1. Otherwise, they wouldn't be 'religious'
   3. Don't smile
2. Religion (Except the ones that aren't Judeo-Christian)
   1. Kills people
   2. Stifles thought
   3. Oppresses minorities

Ditziness, Diversity, and Being Catholic

You may have run into folks who fit those assumptions. I've opined about the 'gloominess is next to Godliness sort of 'spirituality' before.

Sadly, noisy members of the I-A-4 set make I-B and II-A through C seem plausible.

If I asked enough of the 4,000 or so folks who share Sauk Centre, Minnesota, with me, I'd probably find some who are:

• Upset about newcomers
• Unreasonable
• Chronically grim

Some of them would be Catholics. The last I heard, we even have a 'traditional Catholic' bunch within a short drive: the sort who seem convinced that God transferred His flag to their little group. ("A 'Traditional' Catholic? Yes and No" (July 31, 2010))

I'd also run into folks who seem mostly motivated by faith, hope, and charity. Most of them would be Catholic, which isn't surprising, since this is a very 'Catholic' town. When most folks in a town go to one of the two Catholic churches, the odds of one person with any characteristic also being Catholic are pretty high.

Would finding Catholics who are jerks, or saints-in-training, prove anything? Maybe: but I think mostly it would just demonstrate that we're people. Human beings. Imperfect, living in a fallen world.

That's fallen world: not 'hopeless,' or 'basically bad.' The world we live in isn't perfect, we can make it better, and that's another topic. I plan to be back in about an hour, with another post about that.

Related posts:

• " 'Religious People aren't Reasonable?' "
  (December 18, 2011)
• "Space Aliens, Michele Bachmann, and Daft Assumptions"
  (September 2, 2011)
• "Earth Day, 2011: Environmental Concerns, Catholic Faith, and Me"
  (April 15, 2011)
• "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
  (August 26, 2010)
• "Not All Catholics are Like Me - Thank God"
  (March 18, 2009)