Christmas Eve

[wednes]

I was raised in a family that occasionally pretended to be Catholic. I sang in the choir with my brother. I was an altar server when they just began allowing girls to do it. When my parents decided to send us to Catholic school right when I was supposed to start junior high, we were baptized immediately and started attending Catechism and tithing so we could get the in-parish rates. I didn't understand most of it, had no real foundation in prayer or the bible. I knew that other version of The Lords Prayer because my fifth grade teacher (in a public school--we didn't even know what a can o' worms THAT was) made us say it every morning after the flag pledging oath thing. I had a bible I got as a gift when I was 3, but I mostly looked at the pictures. I didn't really read it.

Up to that point, I used to ask to go to church and my mom would come up with reasons why I couldn't go whenever someone invited me. I was very interested in god and religion, because I was pretty damn unhappy and thought my friends with faith were happier than me. Turns out, there were lots of other reasons for that. :-/ Plus, the people at the churches were nice and wore fancy hats. My mom always wanted as few people butting into our lives as possible.

Obviously there is a lot about Catholicism that I can't get with, the Nazi background of the current pontiff not the least of them. They have a long history of feigning piousness while robbing the poor and literally selling access to heaven. Taking advantage of faith for financial gain is reprehensible. Then there's the subjugation of women, their stance on divorce, on reproductive rights, homosexuality, I could go on. Even though I kept searching for some kind of meaningful spiritual connection long after leaving Catholicism, I still really miss going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. And if I had anybody to go with, I'd totally go this year.

My bro got his package of holiday cookies and such. Apparently, it was to his liking, so that is nice. My Aunt sent H and I a gift cert to La Shish (now called Palm Palace) so we can go there and indulge at some point. uterdic and smarbaby got H some Star Trek online game that's coming out soon. I got Fido and the new Tek Jansen comic book that just came out. Sweeeeeeeet! We got them a digital camera with a timer that you attach to a pet collar. Then they can see what their pets do all day. It should prove hilarious. I'm giving out some slick gifts this year, chosen with great care. I'm pretty excited to give out stuff to my peeps. Then, all I have left to do is bake the rest of the cookies and make peanut butter fudge so I can give out goodie bags at the New Years Eve party. Wheeeee!

Finally ordered myself a copy of Half Blood Prince. Since I did that, I got to preorder District 9 for only $7. How could I resist that? Those two fliks, and Zombieland are the only movies I intend to buy for awhile. I'll probably get Up eventually, oh, and then Where the Wild Things Are will certainly be bought almost immediately. So yeah, I guess I do have a few movies to buy. I guess I probably shouldn't have ordered Lifeboat from Columbia House with the rest of my stuff. So I'll be paying that off for a paycheck or two. *blush*

Comments

[jeffpalmatier.livejournal.com]

Obviously there is a lot about Catholicism that I can't get with, the Nazi background of the current pontiff not the least of them. They have a long history of feigning piousness while robbing the poor and literally selling access to heaven. Taking advantage of faith for financial gain is reprehensible. Then there's the subjugation of women, their stance on divorce, on reproductive rights, homosexuality, I could go on.

I could loan you a number of books about atheist communist leaders and their regimes who did the very same things . . . except they did it to a much higher degree and viciousness. The Catholic Church also fed the poor, took care of the sick before there were secular hospitals, not to mention the non-hypocrites who took the ideals of Christianity seriously and tried to treat others better.

It's interesting whenever I read about various friends who fell out with their faith/church because they were turned off by what they saw there. The same thing happened to me with academia. When I was in late teens/early twenties I bought into all their bullshit about how progressive and wonderful they were in comparison to those religious meanies, etc. Then I saw so many of them act viciously, fucking over other people, including finally myself, unfortunately. The lesson I took away from both examples of organized religion and academia is this: assholes are everywhere, but there are some good people too.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Point taken. As you may know, my husband is a Christian. So I'm certainly not thinking that ALL Christians are money grubbing hypocrites. I have volunteered for Catholic Social Services on several occasions and have met many good people as a result. I'm sure there are people within every religion that I wouldn't want to keep time with in real life. Still, the main tenants of the Catholic church espouse things like anti-gay bias, original sin, and a few other things I can't get behind.

There are also plenty of holier than thou pagans around who use their faith to make money in various ways. I also find that appalling, but unlike with Christian sects, I don't see their behavior as a reflection on me. That clearly has much more to do with me than with the faith itself.

[jeffpalmatier.livejournal.com]

Still, the main tenants of the Catholic church espouse things like anti-gay bias, original sin, and a few other things I can't get behind.

Yeah, I agree. Also, I'm guessing that in actual practice that Catholics and Christians of other denominations don't necessarily agree or follow every tenant their particular church teaches. I've known a fair amount of Christians that don't make a value judgment about homosexuality, instead just accepting it as something that exists and isn't a sin.

In my reply to your entry, I was just stating the other side of the issue just for the record. I really wasn't responding to you personally but rather to the issue. I think you're a reasonable person who's compassionate, open minded, and who gives others the benefit of the doubt.

Wanna hear something totally evil? I saw a documentary on National Geographic's Taboo series about some Pagans going moonclad during their ceremonies. Even though I consider myself a Christian, I immediately thought, "Hey, all right! I'll join a local Pagan community so that I can see a bunch of chicks naked!" Yes, apparently I'm still 13. :-D

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Ha! I've only been to two skyclad rituals ever. The people were very friendly and festive, but the nakedness was pretty far from arousing, or even remotely appealing. I basically learned that I'm not very comfortable around naked strangers, regardless of how welcoming and well-intentioned they are. ;-]

[groovesinorbit]

And let's not forget the Catholic Church's history of subjugating the Jews, the millions of people killed and tortured during the Inquisition, and the current pope's obsession with beatifying a Nazi sympathizer (Pius).

But I can see where you'd miss Xmas Mass. There's something about the ritual, the music, and the buildings they can take place in that resonates with me even brought up agnostic as I was.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

There's no shortage of reasons to dislike The Church. And that's too bad, because it can make you forget that the Jesus in my bible is a good guy who honestly sought to improve his world through simple acts of kindness, charity, and genuine respect for fellow human beings.

That said, if I had someone to go to mass with, I would totally go.