tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post6606299431220544499..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Wondering about ChristianityCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-88347760921595237432010-01-13T23:06:26.336-05:002010-01-13T23:06:26.336-05:00Having been raised Catholic, but not in any seriou...Having been raised Catholic, but not in any seriously dogmatic fashion [my parents mainly seemed blase and somewhat non-committal on the question of God and religion, and we went to Church sporadically], this post caused me to reflect on all the ways in which some of the more outrageous aspects of *all* religions appear mainly banal to those of us who are exposed on a regular basis to a particular religions rituals, liturgy, stories, etc. from an early age. After a while things like Christ's resurrection, which struck your daughter as both horrifying and fantastic, feel ordinary and ho-hum [which is likely *not* how they should feel to us, if we were more devout, perhaps]. The trick, with any religion or faith, I suppose, would be to maintain a sense of wonder over the so-called "miraculous," no matter how many times repeated in what comes to feel like monotonous ritual. The same is true for the secular world. This is no easy feat.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-68526714351682474022010-01-13T14:06:26.182-05:002010-01-13T14:06:26.182-05:00As a practicing Irish-Catholic with an offbeat sen...As a practicing Irish-Catholic with an offbeat sense of humor, I've always been stunned by the inability of many people, Christinas included, to see the humor and quirkiness in Catholicism (and/or Christianity more generally). If Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine, I can't see any reason why everyone isn't Catholic! ;-) (Also, yes, transubstantiation might be strange, but we should remember that communion used to happen exclusively at a bar. Again, no gripes there, as I commune regularly at bars of all kinds.)<br /><br />On a slightly more serious note, I'm always frustrated by the way that critics of Christianity fail to see the fact that wonderment is built into the religion--that everything is not explained, that mysteries do exist, and that none of that is inherently bad. The secular world--to conjure a really clumsy binary distinction--is mysterious, too, and we all spend our lives trying to sort out so many of the mysteries there--mysteries that are inherent in being alive. In short, the two aren't <i>always</i> as exclusive as many would have us believe, I would argue.Joseph P. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12757706787232014827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-78008081792206474262010-01-13T12:17:37.534-05:002010-01-13T12:17:37.534-05:00Great posting. This story makes me think about for...Great posting. This story makes me think about formative head-shaking moment I had re: Christian belief. I had a mainline Protestant upbringing and the first time I realized there were any significant doctrinal differences within Christianity was when learning about the Reformation (high school history course). The teacher explained transubstantiation and I reacted with surprise: "Wait, Catholics believe the bread is LITERALLY the body of Christ?" The teacher started to explain things in detail and eventually a Jewish classmate interrupted: "Wait… you guys actually EAT Jesus?"<br /><br />Great point about wonder - seems to me you must have in mind Mandeville's wonder re: 'strange' religious practices (even within varieties of Christianity). I think the field would be quite different if we all looked to Mandeville to discover "what medieval people thought" about the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com