|
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and was basically told to shut up and accept what I was told - and I realized that Catholicism doesn't exactly encourage questions and debate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sorry that some of you have had this experience. Maybe it's because I did not go to Catholic school, but I had the exact opposite experience. My parents, priests, CCD teachers, whomever, always encouraged debate. For example, on the eve of making my confirmation, I went to confession. I walked into the confessional, and asked our parish priest point blank why we needed to go through confession, which I always thought was a stupid thing to do. I mean, why do I need to talk to a priest when I could cut out the middle man and talk to Jesus personally. I thought he was genuinely interested in my point of view, and that made me listen to his views. I thanked him, then went home. I was still confirmed, and confession is still my least-favorite sacrament. When I taught CCD, I encouraged questions. I freely admitted that I did not have the answers; all I could give them were my opinions, backed up by scripture.
|