Politics of Religion

In my home town, the population was divided pretty evenly among Catholics and Lutherans. There were a few Methodists for spice, but that was it. One night at a cast party for the community theater production of Mame of which I'd been part, Joyce had a little too much wine and admitted to being half Jewish. She was respected anyway.

I don't believe I knew any Jewish people until I went to college. Not really being steeped in any religious doctrine myself, I was fascinated by any of my peers who held a religious affiliation. Religion of any kind was for old people. I knew nothing of Judaism beyond the similarities between that and the Seventh-Day Adventists, which was my grandmother's religion. She lived in a bigger town than I did. Oh, and in college I learned that the Jews invented bagels. Until I'd gone to college I'd never seen a bagel, but I can still remember that first day in the cafeteria when I saw the tray of bagels. They were an exotic delight to me and at that instant one of the most important love affairs of my life began. Onion bagel with salmon cream cheese could be its own religion in my eyes.

After my freshman world history class, I had a little understanding of the difficulties between the Catholics and the Jews, but I had no idea that the animosity extended into modern times. That may signal stupidity on my part, but I think it speaks more to the very sheltered life I had led up to that point.

However now in my middle years I'm seeing things differently. This past week the pope revived a mass that had been prohibited by Vatican II. Part of this mass includes a prayer for the conversion and salvation of the Jews. Jewish organizations are outraged. I am of two minds on the issue.

First, is my utter amusement at the supreme arrogance of the Catholic church to 1) assume that they have the right to pray for anyone other than themselves and 2) identify anyone as second class in the eyes of God. While I've always had a degree of respect for the Catholic religion, I've viewed the Catholic Church as a dying institution and one that really need not be taken seriously.

But now, at a time when I think conservative trends are the first tremors of something more ominous, I find the pope's actions quite alarming. To set aside a decision, a protocol, that was decided by an elected body in the interests of political gains sounds vaguely familiar. To re-institute a practice that marginalizes an entire section of the population and to call it a unifying action sounds like something out of Orwell. On the surface this proclamation sounds innocent enough, but taken in the context of world events it can be viewed as another step toward world division and possibly something worse. Click on the link above and scroll down to the bottom of the article and simply read the first comment.

And then my shock dissolves into a mild fear of all the terrible things that could happen if in fact this decision is a harbinger of steelier things. Once I've processed that fear I come out on the other side and think that this may be a good thing. We need people who actively hate, who sincerely believe in their heart of hearts that they are superior to everyone else on the planet to identify themselves in some way so that they can be dealt with. As awful as I think Isaiah Washington is, as ominous as I think the pope's proclamation might be, and as heinous as I know in my soul George Bush is, at least these people have identified themselves. They may not realize it, but their agendas are the same: subjugating everyone in the world who does not see the world in the way that they do.