After years of discussion by theologians, the Catholic and Anglican churches may be closer to reuniting than ever before. So the big question is, will we be called Anglicaths, Cathligans or Angolics?Actually, the big question really is: "Is this really important to the people in the pews?"
And here's the answer. No. It's not.
A good mate and I, both raised Catholic, were once discussing religion. The outcome of this philosophical debate was that I would have sex on a church altar, but he couldn't. I said, "Hang on. I pray, I believe in God and I considered myself Catholic and you're an atheist."
He replied: "I know, but it doesn't stop me from being scared."
My point was that if God is everywhere, no place was more sacred than any other. And yes, I was a teeny bit drunk.
I don't believe in God any more. I'm a cultural Catholic. I couldn't swear on the Bible, I'd have to take an oath on New Scientist.
You may laugh, and I wouldn't blame you, but my faith was ultimately challenged, not by the unequal distribution of wealth and suffering in the world. And not by genital mutilation inflicted on children in the name of God.
I started questioning the existence of God as I explained Bible stories to my children. "So Mary was a virgin and an angel appeared before her and told her that she was going to have a baby and he was the Son of God. When he grew up he walked on water, fed a massive crowd with a few loaves of bread and couple of fish, turned water into wine and then they nailed him on to a wooden cross and he died. Then he came back to life. Actually, hang on guys, this sounds like a crock."
And before you start writing letters, I don't need saving. I'm not having a go at anyone else's faith here; this is simply a comment on my own. And I am sure that if you have faith, any rigorous discussion will not anger or offend you, it will just strengthen you own faith.
Faith is a personal and private thing. I'm going to make like the late comedian Bill Hicks and say, "if you don't like what I say about God, then forgive me".
Being a parent made me see what a comfort it is for children to believe that now that nanna has passed on she is in a wonderful place where she can play bingo with her mates all day, eat cake and never get fat. As opposed to "nanna died screaming in pain, she'll be eaten by worms or burnt to a crisp and we'll never see her again".
Before science really got cracking, people thought the world was flat, that disabled children were born as punishment and that babies died because of teething. I understand how the poor unwashed masses could believe this stuff. And how and why the powers that be could use the existence of God, heaven and hell effectively to keep them in line.
I was never given an option with religion, I was just handed a scapular and told I was a Catholic. Many people are left with a crumbling ruin of the faith they were raised with. Some parts have fallen off, toppled over and others parts strategically dismantled while others are conveniently preserved. I'm not married; don't believe in God; yet my children are baptised. And I'm not alone.
How can I take my three boys to church when they'll ask why priests are all male and I'll have to tell them that chicks are not up to scratch? The token nod of altar girls is not enough. When, as a 12-year-old, I got a whiff of this radical new opportunity, I asked our parish priest if I could be an altar girl and he said: "We don't do that kind of thing here." When I asked why, he just said, "We just don't."
I'm bitter. It gave me hard evidence of the misogyny in the church that I had always sensed. Isn't the refusal to allow female priests against equal opportunity laws or is there a disclaimer on faith-based phallocracy?
If the top dogs in the Catholic Church are going to be presumptuous enough to "interpret" the Bible to prevent women from becoming priests because of whatever religion-approved sexism they have conveniently manipulated, I wonder if they would be so kind as to interpret the following.
No man who has any defect may come near (the altar of God): no man who is blind or lame, who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. (Leviticus 21:19-21). Take note short-sighted priests.
I believe that Jesus Christ lived. And he said great things. So maybe I can follow the example of Christ and be an atheist.
I may not believe in God any more, but I do believe strongly and deeply in love and truth, despite the absence of any scientific proof.
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Sotto Voce