Religion is a subject that I tend to avoid, more of a live and let live policy. I am agnostic about religion, but I won’t begrudge you for your beliefs. As long as you don’t impose upon me your religious beliefs, everything is copacetic. There is something rather interesting about questioning a person’s religion and their belief structure. Often it is met with a defensive nature, at least in my experience, but often you get to see what makes the person tick or what makes them, well, them. There is a way to approach this subject of challenging and questioning religion that doesn’t really offend, but then I don’t like subtlety and eggshell walking, so why not just mock religion as a whole to get to the truth of it all.
I was once a practicing Catholic. Actually let me rephrase that, I was once sent to Catholic school for 8 years of my life and the worse class that I performed in was Religion. My dad found it ironic that they sent me and my siblings to get a catholic education and failed the class that we should theoretically ace. I understand their reasoning for sending us there. They wanted to raise us right and having a strong relation to the faith will provide us a sense of guidance in life. As a child I was fascinated by the faith and much like the other children, I accepted what was taught to us, even if it might have been a bit ridiculous. In some instances, now that I am older and maybe wiser (not sure on that) I can look back on my time learning about the faith as a preparation for what lies ahead of me. I understand the faith and what it wants from me, but it ultimately isn’t for me. I lost the faith a long time ago and it was more a conscious, deep decision that I live with and don’t regret. I am happier in life knowing that there isn’t some form of unseen control and that I am the person who shapes my life.
So with a long winded explanation as to why I don’t practice the Catholic faith, which ultimately could have been summed up by saying I like my Sunday mornings to sleep in, I can get to the reason why I choose Dogma. Not only is it a fantastic movie, but it is a movie in which it looks the dogmatic practice of Christianity. It aims to not lampoon the faith, but present a story that challenges the belief of those that practice the religion.
