For some levity, read this Salon article about a single Catholic mom and her young daughter's first encounter with atheism:
On Easter, Abbie dyes eggs with my mom. When I press her to come to service she reminds me that she, like her friend Quintana, has decided there is only Mother Nature. I decide not to argue. How can you argue with a girl wearing a Supergirl nightgown and writing "YO!" with a wax crayon all over several dozen hard-boiled eggs?________________
It's been a cold winter and a rain-soaked March. Inside the church, the altar is covered with potted lilies, pink tulips and daffodils. The place is humid and sweet as a greenhouse. Ushers wear white skirts with yellow blouses. As the choir processes, the congregation sings "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." We hold hands across the rows for the Peace Song. Reverend Banks begins his sermon by explaining how Easter originated as a pagan holiday named after the Goddess Oestar and that Persians dyed eggs long before Christ. Banks goes on to describe the crucifixion, the thorns puncturing the skin of Jesus' forehead, blood streaming down his chin, how he passed the dark night in the tomb and then how Christ's resurrected body filled with nothing but light.
I am lucky if I can believe in the resurrection ten minutes a month. I have doubt. But I have faith as well. My doubt fuels my faith. To me doubt connects to the mystery of God much more than certainty. The finite cannot contain the infinite. Once, a New York cab driver told me he was a former Muslim who now subscribes to no organized religion. "Religions are not directly from God," he said animatedly from the front seat. "Religion is finite. God is not finite, but infinite."
Banks comes down out of the pulpit. You need to be sure Dearly Beloved, absolutely sure, Christ died for you. Hello somebody! Are you positive, absolutely positive?
I slip from my pew and walk out of the church. On the sidewalk I think: Jesus himself was a doubter. He questioned the validity of the established religious order. He doubted his ability to do what he was asked to do and, on the cross, he doubted the loyalty of God.
Technorati tags: God, Religion, Atheism
