Everyone Has Their Own Private Religion

                               Roman Catholics at Reformation ...

An article appeared today in the Christian press lambasting a Catholic politician in England who voted against the official Catholic position on something. The politician said the vote reflected his own "private religion." The link said, paraphrasing, no Catholic has a right to his/her "private religion."

This article follows up on a poll done recently that asked Protestant preachers whether or not they disciplined church members who sinned. Not surprisingly, 80% of so did not. My guess is the other 20% did not either but felt they should make this claim anonymously. The people in the pews pay the bills. They discipline the preacher, not the other way around. 

The issue of "private religion", or individual conscience, was on display during Biden's presidency when some clergy refused to give communion to him and others. Those, like Biden, wanting communion simply got it from another member of the clergy. Clergy had their own thing. So did Biden. Everyone religious person has his/her own "private religion."  

Another version of private religion has been endorsed by Rome. It's visions of Mary. If some groups want to believe and celebrate an imaginary Mary showing up somewhere a paraphrased version of Rome's position is, "OK, we do not endorse that your imagination is an account of something that actually happened but if it makes you happy to think it happened go ahead and believe that it did." What could be a stronger endorsement of private religion?  

The link does not acknowledge that almost all Catholics ignore the denomination's teaching on artificial birth control. Going back decades, Catholics have had the own private religion about birth control and most everything else they cared about. They have mostly stopped going to confession and mass is down. Maybe no Catholic "has the right" to his/her own religion but they have it anyway.

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