Catholic but with Buddhist tendencies

In his science fiction masterpiece, Dune, Frank Herbert looked at humanity 8000 years from now. Many of the existing religious themes we know today appear in it. However, Herbert has merged many of these. There is reference to the 'Orange Catholic' bible and also the Fremen are referred to as Zensunni adherents who have mixed Buddhism and Islam. When I signed up to join Facebook some years ago and was asked for my religious opinions I described myself as being a Catholic with Buddhist tendencies, a zenroman if you will.

I was raised as a Roman Catholic and as regular readers may have picked up I have some issues with the path that the church proposes.  I have no problem with the underlying ethics of trying to live a good life and helping others etc. My problem is with some of the decisions taken by the hierarchy of the Church, some of its social attitudes etc. I am at the liberal end of the Catholic faith in terms of social doctrine but I am conflicted with the way the liturgy has developed, particularly in recent years. I love the Latin mass and the incense and the mystery of my faith. I also love what is known as the Low Mass where the prayers are spoken rather than sung.

I think the church is too obsessed with image rather than substance. In these pages previously I have said that I think that people should say the words of the Mass and mean them rather than sing them repeatedly and have no underlying belief or understanding about what they are saying. I have particularly criticised the recent adoption of the so called new liturgy.

At school my RE teacher once asked me in a lesson if I would be surprised if there was no Adam and he was just a myth. The look of horror that crossed her face when I said 'No I wouldn't be surprised,' was a picture. I try to be logical and keep an open mind about most things. I had practiced martial arts for some years and had always been interested in eastern philosophy. This doesn't mean that I intend to take the hippy trail to India. I found a particular liking for Buddhism which is a philosophy rather than a religion.

If you are Richard Dawkins you would no doubt say what is the difference? Well whilst I accept that there is only a small difference unlike the good professor I at least would acknowledge that there is one. Most of the major religions are based on the premise that you should live your life in such a way as to not harm yourself or others and that by living good lives you will receive your reward in the afterlife. I have no problem with the concept of the afterlife. The scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal suggested that belief in God was a safer bet than not doing so. He argued that if you did and you were right the rewards would be great and that if you did and you were wrong then it didn't matter anyway.

To me this is rational. The problem with belief, as Kevin Smith in his film Dogma suggests, is that it can lead to zealotry. I don't like zealots because they are close minded and are unready to accept the humbling possibility that they might be wrong. Smith's character, Rufus, argued that it is better to have an idea because ideas are easier to change. Zealotry is the kind of thing that leads to Galileo being imprisoned and then it taking 500 years for the church to admit it was wrong and he was right.

It is in the realm of science that I find myself leaning more towards Buddhism. Buddhism is open to the idea that science and scientific advance can be good. The basic tenets of not harming oneself or of harming others are still there. All life is precious in the eyes of the Buddhist. Knowledge and reason are seen as things to be lauded not ignored. If as a society you abandon these skills you end up with Intelligent Design and Creationism. To its credit the Catholic Church accepts that evolution is entirely compatible with faith and the existence of God. Many scientists are open to the possibility that God might exist but that does not prevent them trying to seek explanations for things traditionally left in the domain of religion.

I am not sure if I could ever give up my faith and become a Buddhist I like my mystery too much and I believe in the possibility of an afterlife. I like my hybrid status and it gives me direction and comfort. I would rather be where I am than to be somebody who rules out the possibility that they are wrong. Whichever road you are on I wish you the best and I hope that you find what it is that you are seeking.