"Studeo" blog post about turning people from the faith

Someone on the NFP board had a link to this Catholic blog (Studeo) July 28th post about 15 Ways to Turn Your Friends & Family Away from the Faith. Food for thought, and something to watch out for when we get overzealous.

1. Defend your favorite politician or public figure for doing the same thing you criticized their opponents for.

2. NEVER let your children associate with anyone that you don't totally match up with in religion, ethnicity, economic background and opinions about modern culture.

3. Make major life decisions based on "end times" scenarios.

4. Ask a pregnant woman to offer up her labor for a special intention.

5. Assume a childless couple is deliberately avoiding pregnancy and lecture them on the evils of birth control.

6. Assume that you can do no wrong provided that you attend Daily mass, wear your scapular and say the Rosary every day.

7. Assume that other people who do the above mentioned things are infallible.

8. Insist that Science has no bearing whatsoever on how we understand the book of Genesis.

9. If you homeschool your children, let people know that "your children don't need to be rocket scientists" and that "they're better off doing nothing at home than going to public school."

10. Give religious books you've never read to fallen-away Catholics as an evangelization tool.

11. Be more Catholic than the Pope.

12. At church, glare at people who have noisy children or who aren't "properly" dressed.

13. Superstitiously believe that every little coincidence relating to a possible decision is a sign from God - and be sure to share these "signs" when explaining your decision to others.

14. Forward all the chain letters, urban legends and dire warnings that come into your e-mail box.

15. Be sure to ignore Christ's teachings in the Gospels - especially "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Kindness and humility is something we are all called to and few, if any, of us achieve perfectly in this life. It is so hard to have a belief system judged by the people who proport to follow it, when they by definition, do not follow it perfectly.

I hope and pray that if I have ever been the source of spiritual pain to anyone, that either I can rectify the situation, or that God sends someone in their life who can.

The spirituality behind the 12 steps is a help to me in situations like this. We, as humans, have tried to control our lives and failed. Therefore, we must turn our lives over to a Higher Power who has our good at heart. When humanity disappoints, God does not.