A Conversation with Beth Nielsen Chapman (continued)

BNC: Well, I think when you're born Catholic, it's like being born Jewish, you just are. I'm a Catholic being. But do I follow all the rules and regulations and devoutly go? No. I actually sometimes go to a Buddhist service, sometimes I'll go to Temple.

PM: Yeah, I'm definitely a Buddhist Catholic, no doubt about it. [laughs]

BNC: I believe that God is in many places. And I don't feel particularly like I have to follow and go to mass every Sunday. I love to go to mass, but I go when I want to. And I feel there's an aspect to all religion that's spiritual and there's an aspect to all religion that's business. I don't really follow any of the things that came down through the business side. Well, I won't say I don't follow any of them, but I just don't feel that I have to follow all of them. I choose what I feel comfortable with. I think there are many, many things about Catholicism that are very beautiful, but I also feel that way about other religions. I think that there are sides to all religions that are not beautiful, that are very much a problem and cause a lot of pain in the world. And that includes all the major religions, including Catholicism.

PM: Yeah, there's dysfunction in every corner.

BNC: Yes. And what happens, I think, is the ego is this thing that we all have attached to us, and it's like a balloon. If it starts getting filled up, it's very hard for many human beings not to start to think that balloon is part of who they are. And I mean, you hear of great, great teachers, gurus, and people all through history, and as soon as they start to become famous and other people start to say, "Wow, you're it, you're God, you're the guru," they often--not all the time--but very frequently fall into sin. By sin I mean that they might start sleeping with their students, or buying five million Cadillacs with the people's money. It's just the tendency we have to go to the dark side, I guess.

PM: Yeah.

BNC: So when you said, "Are you a practicing Catholic," that's a loaded question, because there's a certain mentality around having to follow all the rules that can sometimes be a negative thing in people's lives. I celebrate the part of it that I think is very beautiful.

PM: I like to hear people talking positively about Catholicism. To me, in my life, it's been some time since I've heard that. It's good to hear it from you.

BNC: Well, I think it's got some really beautiful aspects. I think right now it's so fascinating, because when I did this record--well, for instance, when I was recording this record, I had never heard of The DaVinci Code. I didn't know what The Passion was until the very last part of recording, when somebody came in and said, "Do you know they're doing this movie, Mel Gibson is doing some movie?" I was like, "Really?"

PM: And then they both started kicking ass.

BNC: I've had so many people write to me and say, "You really should get this in The Passion," or, "You really should get this in The DaVinci Code." What's really interesting is that within the realm of the Catholic Church, The DaVinci Code is considered radical, liberal, crazy stuff.

PM: Big time.

BNC: And The Passion is considered to be coming from a pretty fundamental viewpoint. So I'm somewhere floating around in some place that goes all around that stuff. I don't really want to get--

PM: Tainted by either.

BNC: I just want the music to represent the beauty of the music. But it's a very interesting time, because last week I saw Mary on the cover of Time magazine.

PM: Really?

BNC: Yeah.

PM: Oh, I haven't seen that because I was in China up until a few days ago.

BNC: Oh, my God. It's been so much, lately. It's everywhere. And then they had a whole special on CNN last week, because a Cardinal came out saying that they should ban The DaVinci Code, the book, which of course will only kick the sales up through the roof.

PM: Right.

BNC: Catholicism has been very prevalent lately, compared to usually.

PM: Wow, I've got to pick up that Mary issue. I'm definitely a big Mary guy, even though [laughs] I'm kind of a dyed-in-the-wool Buddhist anymore, but not when it comes to Mary.

BNC: Well, Mary would love Buddhism. I bet Mary loves Buddhism.

[Truth be told, I didn't realize till 10 minutes later that the tape ran out right here. When we hung up and I discovered my mistake, I quickly made notes about what we'd said after this point. But, in the long run, I like this ending best.]

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