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Re: When Good Catholics Go Bad

On Thu, 3 Jan 2002, Bruce Lachey wrote:
> http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

Just for the record, I've tried taking this quiz a few times before, but I
have never been able to finish it, because I have a very difficult time
fitting my beliefs into someone else's definitions -- *especially* when I
am then asked to quantify the intensity with which I hold my beliefs.

For example ...

   1. What is the number and nature of the deity (God, gods, higher
   power)? Choose one.

   * Only one God -- a corporeal spirit (has a body), supreme, personal
     God Almighty, the Creator.  
   * Only one God -- an incorporeal (no body) spirit, supreme, personal
     God Almighty, the Creator.  
   * Multiple personal gods (or goddesses) regarded as facets of one God,
     and/or as separate gods.  
   * The supreme force is the impersonal Ultimate Reality (or life force,
     ultimate truth, cosmic order, absolute bliss, universal soul), which
     resides within and/or beyond all.  
   * The supreme existence is both the eternal, impersonal, formless
     Ultimate Reality, and personal God (or gods).  
   * No God or supreme force. Or not sure. Or not important.  
   * None of the above.

Which of these, exactly, is someone supposed to pick if he believes in the
Trinity (or some similar notion of transcendent, unified, multi-personal
monotheism)?  "Only one ... personal God" or "Multiple personal gods ...
regarded as facets of one God"?  I suppose the "safest" wording, from an
"orthodox" Christian viewpoint, is the "Only one ... personal God" option
... but then what do we do with the distinction between a God who has a
body and a God who doesn't have a body?  Jesus is God, according to
"orthodox" Christian belief, and *he* has a body, right?

And then, assuming we can sort through all these complications and pick
just *one* of these options, the web site expects us to *rate* whether we
give this belief a high, medium, or low priority?  How!?  What if one
places a high priority on *one* aspect of the selection (such as there
being *one* God) but not on the others (like whether he has a body)?

What if someone selects "No God or supreme force. Or not sure. Or not
important." and rates their selection "high"?  Are they saying they place
a high priority on there not being a God, or on it not being important!?

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 "I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
      Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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