Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology

[Ultralight]

Well, I'm no longer Catholic, but it's true you can't really scrub the Catholic out of the girl very easily if she was taught by nuns for 12 years the way I was. They weren't sneaky. They were pretty bold, actually.

The nuns and the priests I dealt with were strict and unpleasant, for the most part. But my questions annoyed them -- and probably to this day!

I remember taking classes every Sunday to learn about religion. They were called CCD. Did you have to take that?

[catherine]

The nuns and the priests I dealt with were strict and unpleasant, for the most part. But my questions annoyed them -- and probably to this day!

I remember taking classes every Sunday to learn about religion. They were called CCD. Did you have to take that?

Nope, because I went to a Catholic school and got religion from 8-3 every day.

[Ultralight]

Nope, because I went to a Catholic school and got religion from 8-3 every day.

I am sorry to hear that.

[catherine]

I am sorry to hear that.

I'm not. I got a great education.

[Ultralight]

I'm not. I got a great education.

I was just playing.

Then you did better than me at my public school.

[catherine]

I was just playing.

I know. You're like my son. It took me years to figure out when he was for real or not because he's always putting me on. I'm starting to get it with you, though. We gullible people are pretty slow..

[jp1]

The nuns and the priests I dealt with were strict and unpleasant, for the most part. But my questions annoyed them -- and probably to this day!

I remember taking classes every Sunday to learn about religion. They were called CCD. Did you have to take that?

Catholic Compulsive Disorder?

[LDAHL]

Catholic Compulsive Disorder?

One of the many reasons I enjoy being a Catholic is that so many people attach so much importance to the Church as a symbol of what they are not. How often do we hear someone eager to establish their bona fides to opine on all matters Catholic by telling you about how they’re no longer in the Church? From Henry VIII to the Obama Justice Department, statists quite correctly see the necessity of rolling over organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor for their non-conformity to the government approved monoculture.

Look at Bernie’s recent pilgrimage to Rome during a critical primary to give the Vatican his views on social justice and maybe try gaining himself a little gravitas. Would he do the same for the Lutheran Missouri Synod? I wonder what it is about the Church that captures the imagination so powerfully among believers, unbelievers and bigots alike?

[catherine]

One of the many reasons I enjoy being a Catholic is that so many people attach so much importance to the Church as a symbol of what they are not. How often do we hear someone eager to establish their bona fides to opine on all matters Catholic by telling you about how they’re no longer in the Church? From Henry VIII to the Obama Justice Department, statists quite correctly see the necessity of rolling over organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor for their non-conformity to the government approved monoculture.

Look at Bernie’s recent pilgrimage to Rome during a critical primary to give the Vatican his views on social justice and maybe try gaining himself a little gravitas. Would he do the same for the Lutheran Missouri Synod? I wonder what it is about the Church that captures the imagination so powerfully among believers, unbelievers and bigots alike?

The Church is a global powerful force, and people are attracted and repelled by power. The Holy See has used that power for both great good as well as evil through the millennia. And many of us are vulnerable to the Church on a deeper level than other powerful institutions, because you're talking about faith, identity, morality, community, politics.. all things we live by, and then throw in mysticism and hope for the hereafter.

Yes, I am one of many, many lapsed Catholics, and the reason started when I gave in to DH because his Scottish parents would not have even entered a Catholic church for our wedding. Because I've always clung loosely to dogma, despite love of the Church--I wanted for years to be a nun--I converted to Presbyterianism and raised my kids in that church.

I have had many strong yearnings to go back, but returning to the fold is harder then getting into college. And I truly don't put much weight into the false fences that divide us into little categories of belief and ritual, so I'm happy going to Mass and skipping communion for the time being. But I have to say I am Catholic in my heart. Every day I read works by a Catholic writer, whether it's deMello, Rohr, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Bernadette Peters. I gain direction, strength and wisdom from all of them.

I just don't like to pigeonhole myself, but OTOH, I think if you inclined that way, being part of a community of faith is important. Maybe someday I'll tackle the re-up and become Catholic on paper again.



ETA another point to LDAHLs question: In our neighborhood we have several mainline Protestant churches and a Catholic church. The Protestant mainline churches are lucky if they get 30 people on a Sunday, and most of them are over 50.

The Catholic church pulls in hundreds of people for each of 5 Sunday Masses. The church is at the end of our street and if we make the mistake of trying to leave the neighborhood when church is getting out, we're stuck.

And the huge difference in attendance has nothing to do with the proportion of Catholics in the community overall. It's just that the Catholics go to church and the Protestants don't.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Look at Bernie’s recent pilgrimage to Rome during a critical primary to give the Vatican his views on social justice and maybe try gaining himself a little gravitas. Would he do the same for the Lutheran Missouri Synod? I wonder what it is about the Church that captures the imagination so powerfully among believers, unbelievers and bigots alike?

I think people have issues with their parents and were raised Catholic and that's what it is (or went to Catholic schools and have issues with that). If you weren't raised Catholic then it's not your concern so much and other people's issues with their parents are only so interesting to you. Unless fundamentalists start making government policy and going after sex toys and birth control etc. then that's EVERYONE'S worst nightmare.