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I was raised Catholic and as I grew older I struggled with how I felt about religion. I am a scientist at heart and I really am not superstitious at all. Still, I found comfort with religion in many ways, some shallow and some deep. I always figured that someday I would have kids (I am begining to wonder about that now) and I could not imagine raising children without some formal ethical framework. I know people who have done it, but it seems like a daunting task.
I believe that the official teachings of the Catholic Church as they exist today (not all the misunderstandings that one hears from Catholics and non-Catholics alike) make up a self-consistant set of ethics. I can go to church in a country where I do not speak the language and feel instantly at home. My religion is as important to me culturally as it is philosophically.
I don't believe that I have all the answers or that I have been given a secret hall pass from God because I belong to a certain church. I simply know that it works for me, and a lot of other people. I am not threatened by other religions or atheism.
I don't believe that I am stupid or weak for feeling this way. I feel I have come to these conclusions after a great deal of thought and I have been intellectually honest withmyself.
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I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing.
Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"
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