I have always remembered the quotation on a prefatory page of “The Song of Bernadette”, a book I first ready many years ago when I was very young. It was meant to more or less sum up the impact of the book about the apparitions at Lourdes:
“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
The quote also meant a lot to me because it seemed to be relevant to my family situation. It meant a lot to me because it was terrifying!
Mom was a very devote Catholic, and I was being raised by her as one, too. On the other hand, Dad was of a different religion, although not a practicing member of it.
I mean, Mom went to church every Sunday and had taught me to pray; Dad always identified himself as a Jew, was a good man, but he never went to synagogue or seemed to follow any Jewish customs.
The terrifying part of it had to do with what was the dominant Catholic mentality in those days which seemed to be, “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” It was terrifying for me, since apparently included in the excluded category were my father and all his family, my paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
It also contradicted my life experience. It made no sense. It was unfair. My father’s side of the family seemed no different than my mother’s side, no better, no worse.
I wasn’t bothered in the least that I was sort of half Jewish and half Catholic. Why should I have been? Weren’t Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Jews? And, similarly the apostles and evangelists and most of the New Testament writers?
I felt fortunate to have the best of both worlds!
I couldn’t understand blaming anybody for not believing and excluding them from salvation—the whole thing made no sense!
As I got older and more experienced, I sadly came to realize how “tribal”, how ethnic, how cultural, how prejudiced many religious attitudes and differences seemed to be.
If there’s only one God, the creator and sustainer of us all, how can we be so divided and judgmental? If we believe in a better, future life, won’t every good believer be there, no matter what their affiliation? And, won’t every good unbeliever be there, too?
I long ago had this view of life, although at the beginning it was painful and difficult. For me, the attitude of “outside the Church there is no salvation” seemed to contradict the very nature of God and the teachings of Jesus, even if at times it was being taught by well-meaning religious people.
The heart of the problem didn’t seem to be a matter of doctrines, practices, or rituals. It was about being a believer.
How do you become a believer? How did I come to be a believe? Why is it that there are so many good people who study beliefs without becoming believers?
“For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.” Why? Why not? Why should some be more fortunate or less fortunate than others?
And, from a believer’s perspective, would a good God deny the fullness of life to non-believers, who (forgive what may sound pretentious to some) through no fault of their own do not believe?
Growing up in a loving, Catholic-Jewish family gave me a perspective of religions and faith that made sense to me, even though it was not mainstream and even considered unorthodox years ago and sometimes could be painfully difficult to hold and defend.
7 October 2021