Over this past semester, I have prayed to more gods than a Hindu celebrating Holi. But now isn’t the time to reminisce; I still have one more religion to celebrate and inform you about. If you have noticed, the one religious tradition I have refrained from discussing so far is Christianity. At first I wanted to refrain from being sacrilegious; this wasn’t a problem for any of the other faiths, because let’s be honest, what do I care about them anyway. But the truth eventually hit me: I was raised Roman Catholic, so converting to a Christian denomination wouldn’t be much of a stretch for me (unless I became a Methodist), and I wouldn’t learn anything significant.
But here I am at the end of my journey, and it is time for me to convert back to Catholicism, to become what I always was. And to be honest, waiting to convert back to Christianity was probably the best decision. Not only did I learn about myself from all the other traditions, but I was able to learn more about Christianity through comparison.
So for my final column, I converted back to Roman Catholicism. Deciding if I should repeat many of the rites of initiation was a difficult choice. As fun as it was getting baptized and having my commitment to the Church confirmed the first time around, I didn’t know if it was necessary this time. Were my forays into other religions cause for my removal from the Church, or just silly little side-steps? I decided the best choice would be to choose the latter and confess my sins, foolishly following non-existent gods that weren’t the actual real God.
And as guilty as it made me feel to think it, I had to question that logic (the deep overbearing sense of guilt brought back sweet memories of Church bells on Easter morning). What was the point in making a commandment that forbade believing in things that don’t exist? I guess the point of Catholicism was to make sure its believers don’t act like idiots.
And so I went to confession. Now, let me don a sweet-looking mustache and beret and bust some myths. Confession in Roman Catholicism isn’t some loophole we use to be able to do whatever we want and get away with it. That isn’t the point of the sacrament. It is a holy bearing of one’s soul to God and a promise that one will try one’s best to never commit the sin again. Before that promise though, the confessant must be truly sorry and regret the wrongful action they committed. Though I wonder how a person can regret a giant ice cream from Coldstone Creamery, which is truly a delicious sin in its own right.
But this is my last column, and this is no time to be languishing over sin and punishment (that ice cream is going straight to my hips). It’s about celebration, rejoicing and coming together to express the joy of humanity through the Catholic lens. Yes, despite my previous jokes, it is my humble opinion that all religions are right (just like all my jokes are funny). To paraphrase a Buddhist metaphor, religions are all fingers pointing to the moon. No religion is the moon itself (the moon, of course, representing truth), but all religions point to it.
What does this mean for Catholicism? Well, as a Catholic, I follow a particular path to viewing the moon. I believe in Jesus Christ, who was the only son of the only God, who came from heaven to die.
To die. Yes, my focal point of belief died a quite ignominious death. I am sure that Christianity has fully enmeshed itself in our culture such that you are aware of how Jesus died; nailed to a piece of wood until he died of his wounds. I know in previous columns I’ve mentioned the similarity of religious practices to masochism, but it isn’t my intent to criticize the actions of the founder of the beliefs, just the believers. Why do I put all my faith in an individual who willingly allowed himself to die?
Well, aside from him being a cool dude, he died for a reason. Supposedly, before he came down to Earth from Heaven, everyone who died went to Hell. His death was meant to allow our sins to not only be forgiven, but then allow us to enter Heaven. I realize this seems like a weak argument, at any point you can choose to argue the points being made (e.g. Why should I believe that Heaven was closed off before Jesus?).
It’s a train of logic that you have to follow. There is this charismatic fellow who can perform miracles. Therefore, you believe he is the Son of God. The Son of God willingly gives himself up for death. Since he has the power to stop this (aforementioned miracles), it must be for a reason. If the Son of God is dying for a reason, well, I am just going to take his word for it. Admittedly it is a bit more complicated than this, but you get the gist of it.
It is hard for me to recount my week as a Catholic to you, the Boston University community, because it isn’t just for a week this time; it’s for the rest of my life. I choose to follow Catholicism, partly because that is how I was raised, but also because after careful thought and experience with other religious traditions, it is what makes sense to me. As for you? Be what makes sense to you. Be an Atheist, Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, Hindu, Jain, Jew, Muslim, Rastafari, Shinto, Sikh, Zoroastrian or any anything else you’d like — as long as you want to.
And that is why I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Nicholas Shaman, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected]