We can solve the world's problems with prayer.

[Sr. Dara]

I have given much thought in recent times to the sinfulness, the degredation and the violence with which we are afflicted, and I belive that the problems of the world can be solved through the power of prayer and the intercession of Christ.

Many blame religion for our the world's problems, but, having reflected for many hours, I conclude that it is not religion as such but the divisions within that causes the problems. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and I know that if we could help our athiest, Muslim and Jewish cousins to this realisation, we would live in a happier and safer world.

 

[Fr. Thomas Foley]

Indeed Sister. I think you may however be careful as to not offend our fellow brothers and sisters in God. We should all prayer for greater unity amongest the religions. By the way Sister, what order are you from, I'm a Dominican myself.

 

[Sr. Dara]

Please, Fr. Foley, I'm sure you understand that I mean no offense to anyone, least of all members of God's family. I have, however, made it my life's work to spread the Word of Christ and have found it a rewarding and enriching calling. I truly believe that Christ is the way, the life and the truth, and while I don't wish to disparage the beliefs of any group, I do believe that the path of righteousness is Christ's path, the path to peace is trodden by those who accept Christ into their hearts.

 

[Fr. Thomas Foley]

I do agree with you Sister, but Our Lord also taught us tolerance when he was amongst us. I regularly meet with non Christians in my place of work and find their faith as strong as mine. Are youinvolved with the Christians Brothers, as I see your email address is "cbs" - unless you work for the Tv station (ha ha ha).

 

[Sr. Dara]

A certain amount of my pastoral work involves a small community whose mail address I am in a position to use.

I believe I am a tolerant woman, but I do feel that, as a private person, I can hold and express unpopular views.

 

[Fr. Thomas Foley]

Unpopular beliefs are fine when grounded in faith, but as a representative of the One True Faith you must fall into line with it's teaching.

 

[Sr. Dara]

I think you are somewhat presumptious, Father, in telling me that I have to fall in line with any representation of faith. I am a member of an organisation, and I strive to represent what I consider to be the best and fundamental ideals of my faith. However, I am a rational creature and cannot but question persons who will dilute their beliefs so as not to cause offence to anyone. I do not believe that one of the duties of religion is to give people the right not to be offended by differences of opinion and doctrine. I state my beliefs clearly and without reservation, and I accept that others may not agree with me and might consider my vision narrow, but I do not compromise my sincerely held faith. Nor do I have to, as you suggest.

I do not believe that all faiths are equal. If I did, I cannot see what point devoting my life to serving Christ, as I have done, would have. I believe I serve the true faith and am not afraid to state it.

 

[Dwight Spiegelhacker]

Sister,
I can appreciate the fact that you are steadfast in your faith however, as an American Jew, I felt somewhat concerned with regards to your apparent puritanical stance on Christianity. There has been a long history of persecution against the Jewish people by those of the various Christian faith for centuries, i'm sure I don't need to cite any examples. I do not wish to be misunderstood in that I strongly believe that a pre-requisite to all faiths, including Islam, is tollerance.

 

[Sr. Dara]

Please allow me to say that there is no sense in which I would tolerate any prejudice against any other group, but I would admit to being a doctrinaire Christian. This is what I have dedicated my life to, I have made many sacrifices for my calling, and I know many of other faiths have as well. I am, however, firmly of the belief that we of all faiths have much in common and those ideas which divide us could usefully be set aside in favour of common beliefs. Naturally, my views are biased towards Christianity, but even with persons of the same faith there are disagreements as you have seen.

I do not mean to be intolerant or offensive to anyone, and I accept that many others hold views different to mine. I don't think that means I should not state my veiws at the same time in a forum such as this, where the intention is discussion.

 

[Fr. Thomas Foley]

Dwight,
I feel that you may have misunderstood the position of the Catholic Church and possibly misread Sr Darrens views on the requirements for ecumenical unity based on common theological heritage. Her basic point seems to be that in line with ALL our religion beliefs we can be united, yet faithful to our strongly held convictions simultaneously.

 

[Fr. Thomas Foley]

Psa 133:1 [[A Song of degrees of David.]] Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!

 

[Yauming]

This will sound trite. But sometimes I think of religions and faiths like a football game. A team kicks around a ball and tries to win. The believers are either the fans, supporters or players of the game. The rest are on-lookers. All of us believe that our team is the best. Combining some teams if not all teams into one, however, is impossible. Having said that, fouls or hooliganism, aka persecution of other religions, is wrong.

There are core beliefs in Christianity - namely the belief that Christ is God incarnate or Son of the only living God and that He made paid for our sins thru his own death sacrifice. If you take away the centrality of Christ, well Christianity will simply be "zero"-ity.

 

[Sr. Dara]

That is so true. I think we must all defend the correctness of our beliefs in the face of deception, in front of charlatans and non-believers.