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Walther Cantu's avatar

Hey Lyle, cradle Catholic here. I took a detour from the faith during high school and college and came back in my mid-twenties. I'm actually working on an essay about it, but I'd say even though there are religious people that act in a superstitious way, faith shouldn't be equated with superstition.

I would offer a very well made video by IMBeggar about the problem of evil, which may be adjacent to the topic you depict here. I hope it helps in some way.

https://youtu.be/XBIXPr6AH4A

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Elizabeth Marro's avatar

The "things happen for a reason" idea is not a comforting one for me yet I do get why it is for some folks. I have come to believe that the true purpose of god if she exists and of the various core lessons captured by most religions is to give us what we need to adapt and cope with what happens: Grace. Love. Support of others. Hope.

I had an on-again-off-again relationship with my Catholic religion for years. I embraced the core message "love thy neighbor" and took great comfort at times from the community. We all need community of some kind and one that offers rituals and support as we face personal and societal crises can be important. It is also powerful and that's where most of the religious communities seem to go bad. No religious community seems to embrace everyone as they are or wants to confer equal grace and position to all. We humans are such limited creatures; in our hands, god and all things mysterious or difficult -- like love or acceptance -- are mangled and transformed.

Yet I still reach for that idea that there is a greater power that helps us through tough times. The help may come in the form of another human, an animal, or simply a feeling/understanding that arrives when we most need it. This may not be god as he/she/they are interpreted by our organized religions but there is something sacred about it nonetheless.

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