Good Morning!
Your friend has obviously been searching for some peace in his life, and he feels he has found it in the catholic church. Unfortunately I get the sense that he is more conflicted than ever, and the debate he was trying to conduct with you was only to quell his own sense of insecurity he feels deep inside. I was especially struck by the fact he was "gay once". Really?! It's unfortunate that he was molested. That kind of abuse can cut wounds so deep they never heal, but a chance molestation does not make one gay, or not. My ire flared a bit when he said most people think catholics are gay. As a child I was raised Byzantine Catholic, raised in the old ways of the church if you will...the dirty little part that Rome likes to ignore. Anyway, never in my youth did I have to fight the stereotype of being gay because I was catholic. The comment itself was fallacious on so many levels. AND, Peace be with You is not a catholic thing! It is a greeting and salutation that has crossed cultures for centuries! It is no different than As-Salamu Alaykum, arabic for peace be upon you.
Let's talk about gravity. Gravity is nothing but a name given to a physical force of nature. It's always been here, as well as throughout the universe. Gravity affects everything around us. It just so happened that it took a guy like Ike Newton to define further so the average person could get it.
Now let's talk about religion. A
religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of
narratives,
symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power,
deity or deities, or ultimate
truth. Yes, I grabbed this from Wikipedia, but only because it would have taken me six paragraphs to define it otherwise. Regardless, a religion is created by men and women. Catholicism, and I am basing this on 12 years of religion classes and indoctrination, was developed by the disciples of Jesus to provide a structure and belief system through which they could flourish, and they did. The way they did it is filled with ugly events, including the gross oppression of women and the torture and death of people through the
inquisitions.This does not mean that today's catholics are the same as the first. Just like monkey's and apes they have evolved with the rest of us, but the ignorance and bias still exist. The same biases exist in everyone's religion, because everyone wants to be right. Nobody wants to think for a second they may be wrong. Yet, at the end of the day all that really matters is one's happiness in how they communicate with their deities.
Now I will go off on a tangent...
As I wrote in one of my blogs, my views of religion and the church had me really screwed up and closed minded. This not only hampered my development as a Witch, it perpetuated my inability to really understand how my beliefs could help me in my own personal recovery. When I sat in 12 step recovery meetings I would cringe at the prayers, and invocations of Jesus as someone's Higher Power. This was back in 2005/ early '06. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I was right, everyone else was wrong...blah, blah, blah. I am even a bit taken aback when I read some of my old editorial blogs. I would rail on people who did not believe as I did. I was ignorant.
As I worked with my Witchy Sistas, I started to soften. I started to realize that I did not have it all figured out. I quickly learned that I had much to learn...and I still do.
I have written before, that when I woke up in jail, on a dirty floor, that I was filled with a comforting voice and a feeling of peace. The goddess was speaking to me. She told me I didn't have to "do this" to myself anymore. As I listened to the voice I had the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in my head. She was hanging as an air freshener from my rearview mirror, and it was the last thing I saw as I was being cuffed, and she was the vision in my head as the comforting voice filled me with peace and a tiny bit of hope. As my life was beginning to unravel, some how I knew it would be okay. Now, I didn't take this experience and run to the nearest catholic church and re-affirm my childhood faith. However, I have incorporated Mary/ Our Lady of Guadalupe as a Maiden and mother aspect of the goddess into my beliefs, and I have used the experience to help me in further developing my understanding of the Goddess and God, as well as how others choose to bring forth and honor their deities.
Your friend seems to be a man of extremes who is wildly searching for the peace he bestowed on you. Perhaps he is no different than many of us were at times early on in our study of the Craft. They say ignorance is bliss, and I'd like to push that further and say that bliss can give birth to ignorance.
For you, I would suggest that you slow down your thoughts a bit. You have thrown a lot of questions out there that we all have had. The one thing I do know is that the answers to all of your questions are locked deep inside of you. Through your education in YAAD, and your own personal self-discovery, the answers will in fact reveal themselves to you at the appropriate time. In fact, I would say that your "intuition" is telling you that it is not time for you to engage in discussions of your faith with others who may not understand right now, or anytime soon. For now be happy, and enjoy the adventure.
As far as Satan goes. He is simply a character that the church created to give substance to the negative energy that does exist in our world. Evil is real, and manifests itself in many ways. The fear of this evil, and a permanent residence in the afterlife such as hell, gave the church tremendous power in being able to manipulate people.
Just as there is a Bible, there is a Satanic Bible. It was written in 1969 by Anton LaVey. It is a collection of writings that give structure to the belief system observed by many satanists today. It's important to note that this belief system is not based on the churches definition of Satan or Hell, but Anton LaVey's own philosophical views.
One last thing, 'An it harm none, do what ye will.' Your friend might be interested to know that this concept has been dated as far back as the 4th century in the writings of St. Augustine. His words have been translated in two ways, "Love, and do what you will," and "Love God, and do what you will." Regardless of it's origins, the statement and the Wiccan Rede itself provide a wonderful foundation on which to live one's life.
Peace be with You,
Curran
