RCIA update and a question for readers

Last updated on: August 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm by Leah Libresco

RCIA update and a question for readers 2012-08-25T14:08:38-04:00 Leah Libresco

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While I’m gearing up for tomorrow’s kickoff of the new posting series (the topic is exploring the only religion I’ve ever wished I could join), I’ve been trying to do a bit of basic blogging housekeeping, and I have some questions for the readers.

Some time ago, a Catholic blogger who had stumbled upon this site shared her disappointment with her readers. She was most put off by my Burden of Proof page, which I’ve since revamped (though I’ve buried a post containing the old version at this link, if anyone’s interested). To her, I had come off as more interested in victory than truth.

The last line of her “Burden of Proof” is what made me wish I had never stumbled across this blog. “I’m in it to win it.” I’m not in it to learn something or anything to try to understand your point of view or your beliefs, I’m in it to prove I’m right and you’re wrong.

This blog, to me, is a great example of what secularism, humanism does at its core. It destroys our empathy. It makes us self-centered. It encourages our mania and destructive competition. It turns the world into a kill or be-killed arena.

I wasn’t able to have a dialogue with her, since my comments didn’t go through on her site, but it troubles me. I do want Christians who come to the blog to not be too put off, since I want them to stick around long enough to ask me hard questions and possibly answer some as well.

Therefore, I’d like to throw to comment thread open to any suggestions for or problems with the blog that I should be mindful of. Especially as I (hopefully) am approaching getting to share my thoughts with you on upcoming RCIA classes, I want to make sure I’m not offending by accident. Thanks for your feedback! I’m all ears.

Oh, and speaking of RCIA

The blogger I cited above was originally miffed, in part, because I’d changed the original tagline of the blog “An atheist tries RCIA” to the current line: “A geeky atheist picks fights with her Catholic boyfriend.” Most of my atheists friends had never heard of RCIA so I wanted remove any confusion, but she thought I had been being disingenuous.

In fact, then, as now, I’m still waiting to hear if I’ll be allowed to attend classes at the local parish. I would be interested in learning about Catholicism exactly as the Church likes to teach it (especially because it will lighten the load on my boyfriend, who I sometimes treat as The Idiot’s Guide to Catholicism). However, since, barring a miracle, I mean to jump ship at Advent (at Advent, students are asked to declare their intention to convert and enter the catechumenate), the priests want to be sure my presence won’t be an obstacle to the faith formation of real Catholics. I’ll let you all know if I’m in when I hear back from them.

Housekeeping

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