Throughout the past eleven years of being a New Yorker, I have had lived squished between the two seemingly conflicting worlds of a devoutly Catholic family and the colorful and vibrant Progressivism of New York City (and now, of course, the People’s Republic of Cambridge). For a long time, I believed that these two worlds were completely irreconcilable; I still don’t quite know how to move my mouth when the community prayers in mass include the subject of marriage. I still frantically search for a smart-yet-neutral-sounding filler in my head when asked about the right to choose.
However, the past few years have certainly constituted a politically transformative period for me. This is not to say that I have completely pushed myself to one side of the spectrum or that I am completely confident in the permanence of my 19 year-old self’s political views. Meanwhile, various things have taught me to remove myself from the frenzy of politics at times and examine the true roots and meanings of the two communities I love so much. At the end of the day, I have ended up, at least in my opinion, a better Catholic and a better Democrat.
In line with the Catholic faith, I do believe that a higher power guides our lives and I truly mean it when I recite the Nicene Creed. However, my respect for the Bible as a “holy” text or for the Ten Commandments as the cardinal rules of living would continue even without the concept of the Holy Trinity or the voice of God that rings through the Bible. To me, Catholicism (and other religions including the various other Christian sectors, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism) is a representation of our effort to work towards a more decent world. What is truly holy to me is not necessarily the storyline of the Passion or a flawless mass attendance record; rather, it is the idea that through these things, we engrain in ourselves the messages of “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and develop ourselves into more decent members of society. God to me is a representation of the more perfect world we can create as human beings who truly love and care for each other.
I must admit that there are several obstacles that get in the way of signing onto this idea. First (and I say this with all due respect possible), not everyone necessarily takes this step backwards and sees the larger implications of what they consider to be their personal relationships with God. I have too often watched in regret as fellow Christians treated fellow human beings without what is in my opinion proper respect, especially for their choice of whom to love. I do not want to discount the views of other political parties on the subject of gay rights as incompatible with the Christian belief in love. However, I do believe that the manner in which certain groups have decided to state their opinion in this matter have been un-Christian in all ways possible.
Yet it is not as if all of the ideals of the Democratic Party are entirely consistent with Catholic ideas either, especially in the areas of abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research, just to name a few. I do not lean to one side for all of these issues myself. However, I still attend mass because I see it as an opportunity to escape the frenzy of a crazy, selfish, and iCal-centered world and reconnect with the decent side of me that still believes it is important to love the person sitting next to me. And simultaneously, I can call myself a proud Democrat because to me, it is the best political channel through which I personally believe that a change for the better can occur.
The important disclaimer in this article is that I am 19 years old and that the plasticity of my political (and perhaps religious) views still remains quite high. However, one thing that I hope will not change from the way I am right now is my sincere belief that what brings any religion and political view together should be the idea of working towards a better, more decent world. My intuition is that in a world where every single human being sincerely and selflessly loves and cares for each other, we would not need governments or laws. The least we can do in a world that apparently does not run this way is to hold a conscious belief that that world should be our highest and holiest ideal.