#catholiccountryproblems

Tonight Jess and I had the first meeting of what will hopefully become an ongoing group of adolescent health promotors: the idea is that we teach them about healthy lifestyles, planning for the future, etc., and they in turn teach their peers. As we were discussing what topics would be important to include over the course of the group's year of meetings, one student suggested we talk about the role of religion and spirituality in our lives. One of the hospital doctors who's co-leading the group with Jess and I said that was a great idea, and even went on to add, "but remember, it's not important what religion you belong to, since there are many different paths people choose to take." I had about half a second to be quite surprised and proud of the doctor for having such an open mind about religious diversity, since the more common Peruvian motto is something more like, "if you aren't Catholic you're going to hell." But then, she finished her sentence: "the important thing is that whatever religion you choose leads you to God, since He is the same for everyone on Earth" (cue face-palm by Meghan and Jessica). I guess we should be happy that at least half of the doctora's idea was progressive... guess we just won't be talking about atheists, Hindus, etc. in this youth group.