Beliefs

Earlier in the summer my great grandmother died and there was a mass for her funeral at a Roman Catholic Church. Before it started I was at the front handing out programs for the mass. One man comes up, and I hand him a program. He than asks me "Is this a funeral service?"

I respond, "Yes, but im not sure if it's open to the public or not."

The man than tells me in a rude tone "All funeral services here are open to the public. If you were  Roman Catholic you would know that." The man seems so proud to say the next words of, "I do not wish to attend this mass. I will go elsewhere."

So I than say politely, "Okay, goodbye."

He than turns back to me and asks "Are you even Catholic?" At this point I am already irritated at him, the nerve to be so rude to a grieving family on the steps of a Church is baffling.

I respond "No, I'm not." I was raised Catholic, but I do not believe there is a higher power.

The man says "I thought so." He seemed very pleased that I was not Catholic, and that I could not possibly be a part of his community because I was unsure of the openness of a mass. On top of this, he would not attend a service because someone that did not believe in what he believed was attending.

This situation makes me think. Why do people view themselves as better over those who do not believe the same things they do? This man did not ask me what I did believe in, just because I was not Roman Catholic he did not like me. I was very polite to this man and he was extremely rude and insensitive to the given situation. So why does someones beliefs make you better?

All religions have similarities; they all are based on a set of rules of morality. So just because a person does not believe in the same thing you believe in, does not mean they are not a good person. In fact, there are many people that do believe the same things you do that could be worse people than ones that do not affiliate with any religion.

So why must we judge people based on their beliefs? Just because you believe that there is a God does not make you a good person. The actions you partake in make you a good person.

Do not judge based on faith, or belief, judge on character and action because that is what determines your decency.