Advice

On ritual and tradition.

I made the jump from agnostic to atheist, which I knew was going to happen, I was just afraid. My friend, who remains quasi-religious claims that I’m hypocritical and irreverent because I still go to church (Catholic) with my grandma. Do I have to write “GOD FREE” across my forehead when I’m with a 75 year old woman who wants to spend time with me? Or is it okay to grin and kneel and stand and sit for an hour and a half on a hot Sunday? I haven’t set aflame so far.

Still can’t quite shake that catholic guilt, can you?

Listen, it’s perfectly okay to indulge your grandmother by joining her for whatever silly ritual she finds comforting in her old age. It’s sweet.

Oh, and tell your friend to shut the fuck up. Hypocrisy requires pretense and irreverence requires disrespect. You are guilty of neither.

As a non-believer, there’s nothing hypocritical or irreverent about attending church or celebrating religious holidays with your family.

Family traditions are an important part of the human condition, and we’re still of a generation where many family traditions are religious in nature. That’s fine. It’s the time spent with family that’s important, after all.

Personally, I can think of lots of better places to take Gram-Gram on a Sunday morning, but if church makes her happy, I’ve had plenty of practice getting down on my knees.

Standard

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *