My religion is not a system of beliefs. It is a collection of
practices.
The practices include (occasionally) attending mass, taking communion, prayer,
reverencing images of the Mother of God, and abstaining (or trying to abstain)
from certain behaviors which I think to be, at least for me, immoral.
The practices are not props or self-suggestive devices intended to
reinforce or strengthen beliefs or ideas. They are not intended to (supposedly)
‘improve’ or ‘perfect’ me as a person, a member of society, or whatever. They
are an autonomous area of experience to which I voluntarily subject myself
because I don’t seem well able to do without it.
The practices do not lead to increased subjective certainty. They
very definitely do conduce to an increased subjective acceptance of
uncertainty.
--Lloyd Haft
September 2014
