Religion for culture, not spirituality

I wish to clarify my position on a matter that inevitably keeps coming up every now and then, and is the cause of considerable confusion.

The matter in question is my religious affiliation and how strongly I practice it. Ask anyone, including some of my close friends, and chances are they’ll say that I am a Christian, Roman Catholic to be precise. There is a sizeable chunk that thinks of me as an atheist, often equating the lack of belief in God with wrong doing, evil and indiscipline. The fact is, I think of myself as being somewhere close to the mid-point of these views. I would say I am a non-believing, non-practicing Christian.

Non-believing because as a man of science I simply cannot accept some of the teachings of Christianity, and I have a few notions of ethics based on my experiences and observation, some of which are in direct contradiction with Christian tradition. For example, I have nothing against condoms, divorce and abortions when necessary, stem cell research, and euthanasia, all of which are being vehemently opposed by Christian leaders. Now don’t get me wrong here, but I think of Jesus Christ as a friend, an influential friend but someone who’d pull you up if you did something wrong (It shouldn’t take rocket science or some half baked religious texts to tell you that you are a bad guy if your actions or inaction contributes to someone suffering). And I have a perfectly logical and scientific explanation for everything mundane that people attribute to the ‘divine’, if J.C. indeed is only in my mind, else to cover for him.

Again, non-practicing, because I do not follow all the rituals of Christianity, at least not in the typical sense. But my actions would probably be more acceptable to J.C. and his dad, than those of most of those who follow all the prescribed rituals.

The above views have made me a lot of enemies among Christians, as well as Hindus who consider my views anti-conformist. (Et tu, A.B.? Then fall Manu.)

Being a member of a religion is not just about subscribing to its beliefs, it is also about a way of life, and often manifests in the mentalities of its followers. With all due credit, Christianity does not condone any kind of violence and killing. With the exception of the U.S.A, all predominantly Christian countries do not have the death penalty. No other religion (except possibly Buddhism and Zoroastrianism) would allow a guy like Dan Brown to, according to them, blaspheme their religion and live.

Before you form any opinion on the subject while reading this post, I must say that in all this I put ethnicity, language and culture first and consider myself a Goenkar first and foremost (like how Albanians care about their language and culture first, irrespective of whether they are Muslims, Roman Catholics, or Eastern Orthodox Christians).