Dominique Lee

a. I have a faith commitment- 4

- I see my faith commitment as a mixture of church teachings, my parent’s teachings,

and my own principles based on experience.

b. I chose it; - 4

- Yes, though there are certain things that I wish were not taught to me because I feel
a dissonance from my experiences and the church teachings my parents told me to
follow. I feel that I can learn from this and find a way to consistently and logically
reason my attitude and behaviors towards moral issues. An example of this is
discouraging homosexuality. My parents think that the Church tells us to discourage
homosexuality as it can lead to the practice of gay sex, which is a “sin.” I believe that
it’s not my place to tell people who to love, even though I would be told to correct
their attraction, which would lead them to a life of holiness in the perspective of the
Church and my parents. In the same way, I should not judge my friends who are
sexually active, which is consistent with my principle that it is not my place to
“correct” their behavior or their right to choose an action (as long as consent was
given by both parties).

c. My faith commitment influences my decisions – 3

- Most of the time I find myself basing my decisions on what I think can hurt the least
people or get me the most out of a decision… In the heat of the moment I don’t find
myself thinking about specific church teachings my parents or former teachers
taught me. When it comes to big decisions, however, I think praying for it helps me
to reflect about the consequences of my possible actions. Eventually I’ll start to
consider some church teachings until I feel that I have enough ideas consistent to
my current principles that support my decision.

d. I don’t have problems/questions with my faith – 3

- There are still a lot of things that I feel guilty for, based on the Church’s idea of
“holiness.” In high school we would have confession almost every month, and I
would feel bad for always committing “sin,” Sometimes I don’t feel like trying to live
a “holy life” according to Church teaching because it seems too difficult. Though I
can see the principles behind this idea and implement it into habits that can help me
help others.

e. my parents and I share the same faith commitment – 2

- It’s sometimes hard to reason with my parents because they take Church teachings
very seriously. When it comes to prayer I was taught to send my feelings to God,
and it’s something I still do until now. When I came out to them long ago I thought
that they shared the same principles that I did, but I was almost kicked out of the
house. That experience made me question their idea of love. How do they love me
as their daughter? Does this experience of mine reflect their faith commitment? If
so, how should I adjust my own?