Originally Posted by Dovster
I have been to many Catholic churches, a number of Protestant ones, and some mosques. Obviously, when I go simply as a tourist, I try to be quiet, dress appropriately, and show respect for the site.
When I am more than a tourist -- for example, attending a Christmas Mass to enjoy the beauty of it or going to a Presbyterian wedding -- this question of how to behave becomes a bit trickier. In general, I have adopted the practice of not joining in prayers or hymns or making any sign that I am.
Hence, I will stand and sit with the congregation, but I will not kneel.
I will contribute if the basket is being passed around, but I will not accept communion (even in the Protestant churches where the communion plate is given from person to person).
I will not light a candle in a Catholic Church, but I have paid for candles and asked priests to light them and say a prayer for a Catholic friend who has a problem.
I will not bless myself with holy water nor make the sign of the cross.
I do remove my hat in a Christian church, even though it is Jewish tradition to have your head covered in a synagogue and I remove my shoes in a mosque.
Do you agree with my actions? Do you handle it in the same way or differently?
I would behave about the same. I might kneel if everyone else did. In general, while I have made it clear that I am not a fan of organized religion and reject the right of any other religion to impose their beliefs or behaviours on me this is a different situation. If I, for what ever reason go into a church I of another faith I try to behave with complete respect for their protocols and rules out of respect for them. I have found this most difficult in places where I know little about the religion such as in Asian temples. Fortunately, I usually have a guide or there are signs about what to do and not do. Although it was hard to kneel on the floor, or more precisely, sit on my legs in some of those Buddhist temples.
