Dearly Beloved

Dear Followers,

My Conversation With Father X

Father X: Hello young man. What brings you to my church today?

Me: Just passing by.

Father X: Please do. Are you a Christian?

Me: Not exactly.

Father X: What religion do you follow then?

Me: Undecided.

Father X: That's unfortunate. You see, religion is our savior. Religion is the means by which we can achieve genuine peace. Religion is the light that guides us in the night. You must be lost.

Me: How so?

Father X: You have no guiding light.

Me: What do you recommend?

Father X: Search for Him. Once you have found Him, everything starts to make sense. I can help you search.

Me: Who is "He?"

Father X: Why, our Creator of course.

Me: You mean God?

Father X: Of course. Do you believe in God?

Me: I want to believe in God. I want to believe that somebody is looking over me and protecting me from harm. But I cannot. There is enough injustice in this world. I want to meet God, to ask her why she has turned her back on humanity, and to give her a good punch.

Father X: Oh my, you have lost your connection with Him haven't you? Are you familiar with the teachings of Christianity?

Me: Not quite. I have read a few scriptures here and there, but "The Bible" remains on my list of to-reads behind "Pride and Prejudice." I am afraid the Christianity I know is far removed from the teachings you describe.

Father X: How do you figure?

Me: The Christianity I know is injustice. The Christianity I know is the endless warfare in Her name waged across Europe, the colonization and subjugation of "foreign" peoples, the dehumanization of all which lies outside of Her reach.

Father X: Young man, you are mistaken. Please, do not equate the actions of the few with the actions of most. Christianity is love, respect, and humility. Just as with any belief, there will always be those who act wrongly in His name among us. Not everybody can be a believer.

Me: Then what about those who cannot believe?

Father X: Excuse me?

Me: Nevermind. You're right, I was generalizing unnecessarily. Not every Christian plunders towns and villages while waving the cross high. Not every Christian seeks to divide the good and evil. Not every Christian uses Her as a pretext for personal advancement. My mistake.

Father X: I am glad you are seeing more clearly now. What more do you have to ask?

Me: What about Christianity now? What does this church advocate?

Father X: We believe that those who have should give to those who do not. We believe that needless violence should be avoided. We believe our children should be educated and cherished. And we believe this nation should move forward with virtue and humility.

Me: What about homosexuality?

Father X: While I do not condone homosexuality, I cannot do much if somebody wishes to marry somebody else of the same gender.

Me: Why don't you "condone" homosexuality? What gives you that right?

Father X: Well, homosexuality is sin. The Genesis passage is very clear. The sin of Sodom that brought on the destruction of the city was indeed linked to homosexuality. As a priest, I must protect my fellow Christians. At the same time, I want God's gay and lesbian children to know of His unconditional love for them.

Me: Do you prescribe a literal interpretation of "The Bible" then?

Father X: In reality, there is no literal interpretation, only selective interpretations. By abolishing slavery and ordaining women, millions of Protestants have gone far beyond biblical literalism.

Me: What then can we take and use applicatively from "The Bible?"

Father X: I am always amazed at how "The Bible", that portrays my Lord embracing the outcasts, touching the lepers, welcoming the Samaritans, not judging the woman taken in the act of adultery, and inviting "all of ye," can, in the hands of a few distorted people be turned into a book of hatred, violence and judgment. We must, first and foremost, remember Christianity's teachings of love and respect.

Me: Why do so many forget these teachings?

Father X: You must remember what I mentioned before. Please do not equate the actions of few to the actions of many.

Me: I understand what you mean. But does that mean I simply ignore the actions of the few?

Father X: Well...

Me: How can you be content with Christianity in the modern world if you do nothing about the actions of the few? How can you be content when so many continue to preach hatred and ignorance instead of love and justice? How can you be content when so many continue to face discrimination and harassment in Her name?

Father X: The discrimination and harassment you speak of is not exclusive to Christianity.

Me: Hell no, but why not fix that discrimination which is a product of the misuse of Christianity? Why has religion fallen back into complacency, to serve nothing more than a back-burning social function?

Father X: Please do not swear in this church. I am only a simple priest. I must fight for the well being of my church members first. The world has changed, and people can devote less and less time to religion everyday. Yet, church is not as "social" as you may believe. The function of church, as always, remains to serve as a communion between God and His children. Please do not classify this church.

Me: You are right. I apologize. Yet, you cannot ignore the social nature of religion in the modern world. To the point where religion has been infested with forms of entertainment and the division between church and state has become blurred allowing for the formation of a bandwagon religious right, you cannot ignore the meta-religious function served by Christianity.

Father X: I cannot deny how religion has changed. However, Christianity only seeks to find new ways to keep believers in communion with God. What you describe is Christianity in a new form, evolving with society.

Me: Evolution?

Father X: Excuse me?

Me: Nevermind.

Father X: Do you have anything else you need from me? I have a meeting with the retreat organizers soon.

Me: No, you've answered everything I had to ask. I guess I have found a newfound respect for what you know as "Christianity." Perhaps morality would be a more appropriate word. Yeah, I like the sound of that.

Father X: Glad to hear that you are seeing more clearly now.

Me: I will be going then. I hope you know, I respect "Christianity" and hope I have done nothing to offend you. At the same time I will never respect Christianity. I will never respect a belief system which has allowed those who are quick to jump to conclusions to crusade, to discriminate, to hate. I will never respect a belief system which has so divided this world. I will never respect a belief system which kicks back and relaxes while the world crumbles, even in a world where "God is dead." I hope my linguistic use of "Christianity" and Christianity does not cloud my literal meaning.

Father X: Do not fret. One day you will find the light. I will pray for you.

Me: My thanks. You really should meet my friend someday.

Father X: What does he do?

Me: Experiments with stem cells.

Yoko Shimomura,
Noel