[Avodah] Attending religious services other than Jewish

[Zev Sero]

Claudia Gaspar wrote:
> A friend of mine who is x-tian lost his 20-year old son in a terrible 
> motorcycle accident.
> 
> He invited me to attend a mass and I know it's very important to him I 
> can be present in a so painful time. 
> 
> I don't know what to to. Is it an 'ethics' I can observe under such 
> conditions?

The first question that comes to my mind is: is this a Catholic mass?
If so, I don't see any possibility for a heter, under any circumstances.
A Catholic mass involves an act which is mamash avodah zarah according
to all opinions (any opinion that claims otherwise is unaware of what
goes on there).  If it is some other kind of Xianity, then perhaps
there might under some circumstances be some kind of possibility for
leniency, and it may be worth taking the she'elah to a rov; the answer
will probably be "no", but at least there's something to ask about.

As for what to do, I suggest arriving outside the church before the
ceremony, and making sure your friends sees you there, and then making
sure he sees you again outside the church after it's over.  With luck
he may not even realise you weren't inside; if he does, at least he
will know that you came for him.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher