When people ask me what religion I am, I usually say I'm a "recovering Catholic". That is, I was raised Catholic by my parents, going to church every Sunday and filling all the sacramental squares, but the latter half of my life has been spent reconciling my true beliefs from the dogma, ritual, and misguided psychology that this upbringing can instill. Whereas I was once an altar boy of devout demeanor with aspirations for entering the clergy, now I respectfully choose to take a different path. I still occasionally take my family to church, but I no longer feel guilty about missing mass, eating meat on Fridays, or not having a rosary within reach. I bear no malice to the Vatican, and I like the Pope; at least he has the good sense to denounce Bush's war plans. I've considered many priests and nuns to be good friends, and for the record none of them ever molested me. There is nothing wrong with being Catholic any more than there is anything wrong with being Jewish, Taoist, Hindi, Muslim, Bhuddist, or Shinto... religion can be an important aspect of a fulfilling life, but Catholicism is just not for me.

- Then - said Cranly - you do not intend to become a protestant? -

- I said that I had lost the faith - Stephen answered - but not that I have lost self-respect. What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?

Having sung my praises of the gospel books and published them on the internet, it wouldn't be fair to say I'm not Christian in some sense of the word. I yearn for community, but I don't see the advantage of being spoon-fed somebody else's interpretations of the endlessly re-translated Bible, when it's all before me in black and white. Call me blasphemous, but it's really in fact just a book, written by people. You read it, and you make your own judgements. Jesus himself challenged some of the tradition and inconsistency of the Old Testament, and I don't really find his presence in the rest of the New; I personally just like the gospel stories. After all, if Christianity is your operating system, then the gospel is your kernel. Those four books have their own contradictions, and you should know that they were all written well after Christ's death by people who didn't actually witness it. To be even more frank, I don't care if it all really happened. What is meaningful to me is that the story expresses on multiple levels an admirable philosophy that I can't help but find attractive, righteous, and beautiful. That means much more to me than transubstantiation, a score of miracles, or the shroud of Turin. I think rather than coerce children to pledge allegiance to the stroke and letter of the Bible, the gospel should be presented for what it really is: great literature.

What the Hell is Hermeneutics?

I recognize that it's hard to live in this country and not have some sense of the Christian aspects of its heritage. However, I believe that spirituality should be a personal determination. This country was founded on the principle of freedom in religion, and I think it should stay that way (despite Section 3b of the somewhat oxymoronic Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993). I stand firmly for a separation of church and state in government, and don't at all support the new plans to funnel public funds into churches and parochial schools. This is especially true because I think the current strains of popular Christianity are not entirely faithful to the principles of Jesus, instead preaching intolerance over forgiveness and materialism over true charity. There is a lot of geopolitical and fiscal static these days, but I contend that the fundamental crisis of the American people is a spiritual one. It's time to get back in touch.

As is my way, I've decided to roll up my sleeves and do something about it. I've already put the text of the gospel books online, but you can't count on anyone to do assigned reading, so like the Catholics I've broken the text down to short passages for easy digestion. I want to focus on provocative elements in Jesus' ministry, not on the narrative, so I made my selections accordingly. Rather than just read them, I want to facilitate and encourage open dialogue about what they say to you. I also want to demonstrate my software with something unique and useful. So without further introduction...

The Jesus Blog

People have asked me for a weblog, and the requirements fall pat into the LDAPHttp sweet spot. For what it's worth, I also plan to spend Lent trying to abstain from further political commentary. I've said my piece for now; all deals are off after Easter.