Hypocrisy at Its Best

09.07.2010

I don’t think I’ve made it a secret how I feel about organized religion; however, I respect a person who believes and follows through on their beliefs. I don’t necessarily want those beliefs forced down my throat but if you say you follow a doctrine and go to mass every week and participate in activities, e.g., then I can see you’re a devout follower. What irks me is those people who say one thing and do the other.

There are people that I know of who are not religious by any means yet carried out a specific religious ceremony like a wedding, a baptism or communion in order to please family, friends, or a community. I don’t understand this.

Some years back, there were a bunch of women I knew of who were getting married and held their ceremony in a church but the last time they stepped foot in any church was at the age of 16. The only reason they were getting married in the church was because of their guests or their parents insisted that a priest marry them. Or, as in once case, a rabbi marry them. (It’s like having a shotgun marriage because, somehow, no one’s gonna figure out that a baby is born 6 months later. If we pretend something is one way then it must be true, right?)

This doesn’t make sense to me. I got lectured for not getting married in a church – especially the Lithuanian church. Now, in this same church, I see people going through various ceremonies from baptisms to communions to confirmations without ever stepping foot inside prior to that ritual. But you look at the pictures from these events and everyone’s standing at the altar proud as proud can be and…I just don’t get it. What is the purpose of going through a ritual if you don’t believe in it? I think it cheapens the whole experience and it cheapens the process for anyone who truly believes in the rite of passage that these rituals hold. And not to mention the negative subtext of the lesson a child learns from this experience. It's one thing to turn a new leaf but it's another to pretend to be a part of a community that never meant anything before and won't after.