Me = RC. Surprise.

A little support and confirmation
That I have not undergone reformation
But here's the rub: how it appeals to modern day --
I don't always agree with everything they say

In studying for my Bioelec exam which is tomorrow morning, I finally got around to doing the theological world view test that Raymond had done a little while ago, the results of which he posted on his blog. Here are mine:

You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.

Roman Catholic		100%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		68%
Neo orthodox		61%
Classical Liberal		50%
Emergent/Postmodern		50%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		36%
Modern Liberal		32%
Reformed Evangelical		25%
Fundamentalist		21%

What's your theological worldview?

It was a nice little confirmation to score so high in the good old RC tradition. But that aside, I think it's also interesting because it's a nice lead in for me to sort of respond to Mabel's recent post on the Catholic Church (not to mention the backlash that ensued). It's interesting to note that I, a moral liberal on many counts, still find the Catholic Church relevant as a model of Christian practice. I don't agree with everything that the Church hands down to me: I have no problems with contraception, and am undecided when it comes to abortion or euthanasia. But I feel I am constantly attacked for my own personal connection (and sure, maybe sometimes even reliance) on doctrine and dogma. Here's the thing guys: it works for me. I believe in the sanctity of the sacraments, I believe that faith without works is dead, I believe in the datedness and fallibility of the Bible, which was, by the way, written by a bunch of humans. Divinely inspired, sure...but written by people. Fallible people.

I am tired of being asked to renounce Catholicism on the grounds that I don't agree with everything the Pope does, says, or commands. I am tired of being told that the Church is a tired old and (most offensive) obsolete organization. Most of all, I am tired of being told these things by people who know nothing about our faith, our religions, our spirituality, our tradition, our Church. They hear things in the news and suddenly, church = devil = enemy of modern thought and someone invariably throws around the word obsolete. The worst part is that these critics are often people who are well educated and well read. Unfortunately, I think their thoughts are infitely more obsolete than the Catholic Church. They're "liberal thinking" and yet they can't even accept that maybe other people have different religious ideas and thoughts and (oh I don't know, but there's something called the Charter) a right to worship how they please. Or not worship. Or whatever. So my hat goes off to Mabel for fielding the criticism in the way that she did.

Well, it's not. If someone who thinks as liberal as I do, someone who can identify with modern thought, someone who is tolerant and accepting of other ideas and practices, someone like me...if even I can find myself identifying with the Church and still can step into modern society without condemning everyone on the sidewalk, then hell yeah, I don't think there's anything obsolete about it.

And for the record, the Church "pities," "degrades," and passes judgement on no one. Our key messages are tolerance and acceptance and love. And if you didn't know that...add your name to the list of people who shouldn't be attacking my faith -- because you know nothing about it. What the Church does, however, is call everyone to be the best person they can be.

Everybody's an expert. Here's the thing: I wouldn't purport to say that, say, searching for neutrinos or something is a waste of time, and since it has no apparent use, research on such a subject is obsolete. It may seem useless to me, but the thing is that I don't know anything about it. I'm not an expert, and therefor in no position to criticise. Take note.

There are those that think that science is paramount to free thought, that the scientific method is the only way to search for truth. I disagree, but well, that's not the point. My point is that if you look at it from the perspective that the Catholic Church has been more charitable to say, poor people and teenage mothers than any research body or university, then maybe it's even more relevant to our pathetic little world than is science. Think on that.