The other week I had a huge debate via text with a female friend of mine (no names please) about abortion. I took a lot of much time trying to form convincing and compelling arguments to get my point across, and I lost some sleep trying to trump her in this intense, moral, and complex dispute. In the end, we basically both stood firm in our beliefs, apologized for our at times edgy words, and we switched back from adversaries to friends.
Looking back on that debate, I started thinking how stupid it was that it even started because we’re both Catholics, so shouldn’t we be on the exact same page? Well we should have but she, as a strong liberal, believes the Church is wrong in some cases and, through her own thought and consideration, chooses to oppose her religion on its stance on abortion. I think this idea of challenging one’s faith can certainly be good in a way, but I don’t think my friend did so in the best way.
When one has a religious affiliation, he should believe in it wholly; and if the person finds fault in that faith, he should definitely question whether he should still believe in it. You can’t claim anything as a credible source that you really trust in (religion in this case) if you find fault in some of its core values.
In the Catholic Church, right to life is an essential part of the faith, and so it would be very contradictory for a Catholic to oppose such a fundamental principle. If you are saying the creed in mass every week but not actually meaning it, you should definitely think about whether you should actually be there in the first place. If you truly believe in the Church and agree that the Church is lead by God, you have no grounds to oppose its views. It doesn’t make sense to disagree with the Church on some of its values and still put your faith in the fact that it leads people to the truth.
Now what many people do, just as my liberal friend, is they see a belief of the Church, they disagree with it, and then use facts and views outside the Church to back themselves up while not even looking in depth into the reasoning behind the Catholic view. This is what really made me mad while debating my friend: I was trying to reach to her as a fellow Catholic, and she had very little knowledge of much of the basic beliefs of the Church. Newsflash: going to mass every Sunday and going to theology class (or Sunday school) will definitely not teach you all that it means to be Catholic.
We butted heads on simple things we should’ve easily agree on, like the falsehood of relativism, the fundamental right to life, and the ends not justifying the means. It was apparent to me that she has never even given her faith a chance when forming her opinions. As a Catholic, you should naturally give preference to Church teaching. Before you start opposing your own religion, give it the benefit of the doubt and check out the Catechism or other Catholic resources to understand what you are supposed to believe. How can you believe the Church when they say Jesus Christ rose from the dead if you can’t even trust their judgment that it’s wrong to kill unborn babies? I mean, c’mon!
