Introduction

This is not the first time I have attempted a blog about religion. About five years ago, I created a blog called "Are You There God? It's Me, Manda" as a space for me to reflect, post religious poems, et cetera. But it was difficult to keep up with, as I had not yet figured out what I truly believed.

I was raised and homeschooled in a conservative Catholic-Christian home, and I often felt that religion was forced upon me. In some occasions, religion was used against me as a tool of manipulation. My options were to either obey with a smile or live with the guilt of being "bad." By the time I entered a small Catholic high school, my first "Real School" experience, Catholicism was second nature to me. Throughout my life, I have received Baptism, First Confession, First Communion, and Confirmation (Hello, my name is Veronica).

I had to step away from religion for a little bit, in my college years. After a priest obtained my phone number and texted me a long message telling me why I needed to go to church, I had had enough. I stopped going to church, and I stopped thinking of religion entirely. As my grandma says, "I threw the baby out with the bath water." I picked up practices such as meditating with crystals, and researched Wicca. But no other belief system felt the same as the one of my roots.

I focused instead on my education and political stances. Until then, I thought being a conservative Republican was the only label I could be. But I am a naturally curious person, and wanted to know what truly was both sides of the story. I had always been told that all Democrats want to do is "raise taxes - that's it." But I was never told things like which class Democrats wanted to raise the taxes of (but that's another story). So I started researching and reading personal commentary. The internet became my teacher. I learned about stem cell research, abortion, marriage equality, and the importance of standing up to sexism, ageism, ableism, and racism.

After all this research, I claimed the label of feminist. When I first registered to vote, I did so as an Independent. But my heart is liberal. Who am I to judge someone else, when I am not God?

I am a Catholic. But I am also a liberal feminist. And these two categories have more in common than most would think. I have plenty of future blog posts in mind about this.

I chose to create this blog simply because I type faster than I write. This is my online journal about my religious views and how they intersect with my secular beliefs. If you happen to come across this blog by accident, then feel free to take a look around. I'm not here for views or followers or likes or whatever - I'm here for myself, for my relationship with God, and for other liberal Catholics who are told they are walking oxymorons.

I am currently reading four different Bibles - two with different Bible studies, one on my own, and a Bible-in-a-year challenge on my phone, most in different translations - and I have read one picture Bible (The Picture Bible, Iva Hoth). I have never before read the Bible in its entirety, and I intend to fix that. It's not about how many Bibles I am reading or have read; it's about the messages I find within them. And so far, I have found a God of love and acceptance, no matter what label is on your voting card.