Reconciliation

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/29/catholic-author-says-his-haunted-house-deepened-his-faith/

As Gary Jansen did with his experience in a haunted house, many religious people often find times when they have to 'reconcile their faith.'

Basically, when an experience or personal characteristic does not fit into the fundamental molds of religion, most of which were created hundreds and thousands of years ago, people feel alienated by their strong tie to their faith, and torn by that which they have come into contact with that doesn't match up.

Jansen was able to fit both Catholicism and his haunted house into what he believes is conceivable.

"Ghosts, or what most people believed are disembodied spirits, aren’t acknowledged directly in the Catechism, but tradition holds that they do exist. The Church doesn’t really talk about ghosts per se too often, but there are a few people who have written about it in recent years including, a well-respected Catholic theologian and professor in Boston named Peter Kreeft."

Jansen is one of many, however.

Homosexuals might be the group most alienated from their faith, by recent persecutions. "Church is No Sanctuary for Some," an article by Jay Bakker, tells the story of his friend, Jef Evans, who couldn't find the necessary means or evidence to be both a Christian and openly homosexual.

"Unable to reconcile his sexuality with his religion, Jef began to chip away at his concept of God. He found that the less he believed in God, the more comfortable he felt. He came out as a gay man and an agnostic at the same time," Bakker wrote.

According to saintaquinas.com, church officials should argue that certain reconciliations do not fit within a religion, and that to recognize them as a member of a certain religion is blasphemous. Others, such as author Jerald D. Gort in his book Religion, Conflict, and Reconciliation: Multifaith Ideas and Realities argues that reconciliation is possible.

"Under what social and cultural conditions can reconciliation within [and between] religions take place? An answer to this is sought in the social sciences," Gort wrote.

He goes further to say that pursuing theoretical views of social and cultural norms is best for achieving understanding.

Movements are continuing for the reconciliation of natural science and Christianity as well, as a result of backlash from churches against certain scientific findings or processes. Groups like the American Scientific Affiliation seek to "integrate, communicate, and facilitate properly researched science and biblical theology in service to the Church and the scientific community," according to its website.

Reconciliation isn't blind to all religions or all people. In some ways, it could just be a part of faith. After all, faith and religion is technically a personal decision. Personal decisions vary by person.

To see Bakker's article, go here:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20101105_Church_is_no_sanctuary_for_some.html

For more on science and God, see:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1211593,00.html