Questioning why

Would you follow financial advice from the beggar living on the street 2 blocks from your house? Or would you learn French from the guy who only speaks English but enjoys watching subtitled French films. The answer for both should be no (for everybody I hope). I would think that we should get advice, learn from or even just listen to people who know something in that particular field. If experts are difficult to come by, then at least people who have some form of experience or knowledge about the topic at hand.

Why then is the church dishing out rules and instructions on family planning and same-sex relationships? By church in this case, we are talking about the Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope with an estimated 1.2 billion followers. 

Firstly, members of the clergy can never (or should never) have sexual relationships, be married or procreate. Secondly, as the bible most clearly condemns homosexuality, priests shouldn’t be gay. I mean absolutely no disrespect to the church or any believers. I am merely trying to question, in the most objective sense, and with sincere curiosity, on this phenomenon.

The church is the toughest advocate against using contraceptives and premarital sex. However as priests, they are celibate and thus cannot and should not have any forms of sexual relationship. They cannot have their own families (besides the one with the church) thus have never experienced being a husband or a father (in the literal sense). It seems to me like this is me, having no clue about the game of cricket, going to referee a game and deciding what is right or wrong. This arrangement only serves to generate questions and doubts from tall parties involved. Similarly for the case of same-sex relationships. 

Perhaps the Church should moderate its traditional hard-ball stand (think the crusades), where there is a rigid and definite no to premarital sex, contraceptives and homosexuality. As society develops and becomes more open-minded, there is a need for religious teachings to evolve in order to be pertinent to the current age and not be left behind. What further detriments the Church’s position, are the many scandals that came to light in recent years.

It is evident that the new Pope Francis is taking small steps towards this direction in that he refuses to marginalize gay priests, and is looking to increase the role of women in the church. Extremist might argue that this goes against the fibre of the religion. However I feel that without man there will be no religion, thus man makes religion rather than religion making man. This means that religion should be shaped based on our perception and understanding of society and what is happening at this specific age. It should not be merely about following strict, rigid and inflexible rules. Religion is more than just a set of rules to adhere to (we have the law for that). After all being gay and using contraceptives does not make one any less likely to do good, which is probably the main gist of all religions.   

 

We should think about what we’re following and why we are following it and not just be blindly led. I am certainly not advocating anybody to turn away from religion. I am merely highlighting the need for us to ask pertinent questions in order to help make the world a better place.