Inspired by the request of a close friend, and fact that a blog post is long overdue:
I don't go to church. Raised a Roman Catholic, the idea of religion wasn't introduced to me as a matter of spirituality, but instead of pure, unyielding, blind faith. The kind that allows you to believe one thing even when absolutely everything points in the exact opposite direction. The kind that would allow a person to believe their lying, cheating, abusive partner when they say, "nothing happened." Or the kind of faith that would require a Catholic to believe the interpretation of the Vatican on everything written in their version of the bible.
Growing up I went to church at least once a week. I was raised by a Brooklyn-born Italian mother who sees her religion as a cultural imperative. According to her it doesn't matter whether we agree with our religion. We must follow the religion because it is our heritage. So for me, Sunday School wasn't an option. What was to her an important part of raising good little Italian-American kids felt to me like an obnoxious waste of a precious weekend day. Questions like "how?" or "why?" were never welcomed -and met with an angry and impatient calls for more faith. This was in direct conflict, though, with the encouragement from my parents and school to ALWAYS question the unknown. Needless to say I never made it past the sacrament of holy communion.
When asked by a Christian whether I, have accepted Jesus as the only son of God and the savior of human kind, my response is a simple "No." This doesn't mean I don't believe in Jesus as a prophet. In response I'm told that I don't believe in God. Called an atheist. The claim inspires an exasperation inside me that burns like the worst reflux. I firmly believe in God. But I'm not an unquestioning zealot willing to go to war or fight with others over a personal interpretation of spirituality.
The concept of faith allows governing bodies -be they religious, political, or a mix of the two- to manipulate large groups of people. A common faith in something unbelievable allows immense bodies of people which would otherwise have little in common to experience something important together: their religion. It creates an "us" and a "them." One Nation Under God, in the case of the United States. A curious body of states claiming to separate Church and State. Lies! You only have to turn on your TV to hear our country referred to as a "Christian Nation" on any number of channels. News channels. It's my firm opinion that the notion of faith is contrary to a healthy spirituality. With spirituality, a person utilizes their God-given ability to analyze the nature of the universe. The nature of things which science and civilization have not given us the ability to comprehend at present. Spirituality allows a person to question how people and things are interconnected. And maybe even ask "why?" Spirituality should be the shared ground of a Muslim and a Hindu, for example (or people of any religion), that invites heterogeneous groups to sit together and enjoy a friendly dialog. Through spirituality, people coexist. Through religions, people use faith to draw lines.
On my forearm I had the words Om Mani Padme Hum tattoed. The Tibetan Buddhist mantra for compassion. Without compassion there can be no spirituality. No ability to forgive, or to look into a person who you were raised to believe is your enemy and realize that they are your brother or sister. As far I understand it, compassion is the train toward love. Spirituality is the set of tracks that bring you toward the ultimate goals of love and understanding: oneness. And religion is the scenery that we enjoy on our way. Faith is the toxic smoking exhaust that the train leaves in its wake.
