Religion: Flaws

This topic of Religion is meant to help myself put my questions, thoughts, and ideas into actual writing. I write this to express my feelings, and receiving some answers or suggestions would be great. This is NOT about me choosing to leave the Church.

This is not meant to offend anyone.Thank you.
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I like to think of myself as a decently versed Catholic. I know a good amount of history about the Church, I've read a few Bible passages, and I've listened to priests' homilies and sermons. But I come across so many questions that I've never had answers for..or maybe I just haven't looked hard enough, which is extremely possible. I know that I must do more research if I'm to tackle these topics properly, but here's some random questions that I have when it comes to the Catholic church.

Something that has bothered me is the fact that the highest level in the Church's hierarchy that a woman can reach is to be a nun or sister.  I've read that the Catholic church can't change this because Christ made the roles for men and women clear when he was on earth, and that no one else has the right to change that. That because he selected all male apostles (12 Disciples), it could be seen that he purposefully didn't choose women. This can be explained by the era He lived in, as women were seen as inferior to men. But this can't be the case, as different Bible verses state that Jesus didn't have a problem breaking the society's rules about women (Matt. 9:20; Luke 7:37; John 4:27). Also, it is stated that even though it seems unfair that women can't be priests, God has given women some things that men can't do, like give birth to children.

But still, these suggestions (I'm not calling them facts), still concern me. So the Catholic church can't change rules that were made thousands of years ago? The Church can't adapt? Elsewhere in the world, like the Middle East, where it is common for women to still be treated as inferior, change is being made. For example, Arab women aren't allowed to drive, yet an ongoing revolution (maybe not the best word, but you know what I mean) from the women themselves shows them acting independently and driving anyway. Many people are supportive of this throughout the world, many who are Catholic. But why encourage change, when your own religion doesn't even support it? I understand that some historical Catholic rituals must be kept sacred, like the Sacraments, but to not let women preach? I don't feel great about that. Especially when I know that even my devout-Catholic mother could provide Church goers with more inspirational and informative sermons and homilies.

Another little thing that I have a problem with is..why can't priests get married? You may think that this is me trying to be humorous here, but I really am not. Women are blessed with the greatest gift of all: being able to give birth to children. It's an amazing miracle of life when it occurs. But why are priests not able to join everyone else in the world and get married and have sex? Priests preach about love, something they definitely experience from the Church's local church goers through hospitality and a sense of community. But for some reason, they can't experience love with a significant other? It doesn't make sense to me.

This problem here is probably a good reason why Catholicism is seeing a lack of new recruits for priesthood. It's a serious concern, especially among young adults whom the Church aims to recruit. I just don't understand this limit for priests. Surely there are some "good, historical reasons" that the Church could give, but again, this is all about adapting to current society, in my point of view at least. And maybe this is a bit of a tangent, but wouldn't letting priests experience real love with a women decrease the frightening amount of child molestation cases that the Catholic Church's priests face? May seem like a wild proposition, but think about it and it makes sense.

All in all, these are just some random thoughts about flaws that I see with the Church. Believe me, I have more. I just want to save those for another post.

Thanks for reading.





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Some topics (but not limited to) that I hope to cover in the upcoming days (in no particular order):

1) Other Religious Alternatives
2) Guilty Conscience About Lack of Faith
3) Catholics Against Homosexuals

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Sources:

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0201sbs.asp

Religion: Questioning

I'm going to make this an ongoing topic that I'll keep posting about in the future. I know that I can't fit all of my thoughts in this one post, so this will be the start of my new series about Religion.
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This topic of Religion is meant to help myself put my questions, thoughts, and ideas into actual writing. I write this to express my feelings, and receiving some answers or suggestions would be great. This is NOT about me choosing to leave the Church.

This is not meant to offend anyone.Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________


I like to think of myself as a good, practicing Catholic. I go to mass every Sunday, I pray before meals, I've attended a Catholic elementary school and even University, I keep rosaries and symbols of my faith in my car, dorm, and wallet. Yet I wouldn't call myself devout. Odd?

Definition of devout:

1. Having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment.

2. Totally committed to a cause or belief.

I do not believe I am entirely, 110% committed to the Catholic faith. This does not mean that I do not accept the religion anymore, simply that I just have so many questions about Catholicism. When I first realized this about myself, I was a bit troubled. How could I be raised in such Catholic upbringing all my life but still find myself unsure of things?

The religion, actually, all religions, relies on faith and faith entirely. I picture religion sometimes as some one being stranded on a completely unmapped island, just forcing himself to live out of pure faith that some one will save him. Yes, the movie Cast Away is a perfect example, but how many times out of 10 would that man be saved?

I loved going to Catholic school (St. John's the Evangelist, represent) and I love attending a Catholic university (La Salle University in Philadelphia). Catholicism has a great moral code that is taught to the children, something that I'm extremely grateful for since it really has shaped my own character. But since these same children are raised believing in the Holy Trinity and everything in the Bible, there isn't room to question these ideas. They are given to us as facts.

What I'm trying to say here, is that we've never had opportunities to question our own religion and explore others. Most religious families preserve their faith and raise and grow their family within that religion's boundaries and morals, which is fine by all means. There is nothing wrong with that.

But now, I am putting my questions, built up over the years, into words.



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Some topics (but not limited to) that I hope to cover in the upcoming days (in no particular order):

1) Catholic Flaws
2) Other Religious Alternatives
3) Guilty Conscience About Lack of Faith