Questioning the Text Discussion: Confessions of a Closet Catholic

In response to Erin’s Questioning the text post on Confessions of a Closet Catholic I am writing this blog.

I felt similarly to her as as I was reading this text. I would also consider my family "twice a year Catholics." I am technically Roman Catholic, I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten til I was a senior in High School, and I do believe in God. However, for me, at least I see myself as more spiritual than religious.

My family attends mass on Christmas Eve and Easter morning. It wasn't always like that. When I was in school I attended mass once a week during school and sometimes twice a week if we also went on Sundays. I think as I have grown up I have started to look at the human aspect of the Church (meaning the mortal institution) and I don't like what I see.

I disagree with a lot of what Church officials say Catholics believe in such as issues of gay rights and birth control. I was once told by a nun (my religion teacher in fact) that I was a "cafeteria Catholic" because I would pick and choose what I wanted to believe in and, so, I was going to hell. That is just one more thing I do not believe in.

So, for me, I could see where Justine's parents were coming from when they decided not to observe many of the old Jewish customs and traditions like keeping kosher. I know in my family, we still, for the most part, refrain from eating meat on fridays in Lent. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school and the nuns that made our hot lunchs would only make tuna sandwiches and mac and cheese on fridays. I had a lot of grilled cheese, veggie soups, and meat free pasta dishes as a child. We did it because my father (like Jussy's) grew up in a strict Catholic home. When my siblings and I grew up and learned the origins of some of the practices we chose for ourselves if we were going to continue. As I was always taught, the "no meat on fridays" thing was not even about sacrifice to remember Christ's eternal sacrifice of his life. In fact a MAN (the Pope), not God, ordered this to be a part of Catholic traditions. The fishing industry was not doing well and so the Pope told his followers that not eating meat on fridays during Lent made you a good Catholic. This caused people to seek out protein in the form of fish. It solved the problem. I am not saying all religious practices are flawed or based in lies, but a great many of them are based on human decrees. This means that Jussy choosing or not choosing to follow one of these human decrees does not mean she is any more or less "Jewish."

I still observe Catholic traditions as far as diet goes on Good Friday because of the nature of the day. (the actual day Jesus was crucified). But, even on that day...my mother had to go to church and kneel and pray from noon to 3pm (the approximate time Jesus suffered on the cross) when she was a child. My family always listened to Jesus Christ Superstar on the record player, sang, and cleaned the house in preparation for Easter. It was our tradition and it meant something to us. Kneeling on the Church floor did not. So, does that make my family less "Catholic" than someone who does go to church and sits in prayerful silence for 3 hours? Perhaps, but I do not think it makes my family worse people or any less spiritual or less loved my God.

The View

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to bring something to light. I caught a little bit of The View this morning and one of the "hot topics" the panel discussed was about The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter. I thought it was interesting because we talked about this book at the beginning of the semester when we covered Native American Literature. What they talked about in particular was that the book was on Oprah's Book Club and once it was revealed that Carter had affiliations with the KKK it was removed from the list. One point I found interesting was that the panel was under the impression that Oprah knew about Carter's background before she added the book to the list in the first place. So, why take it off now? It was an interesting conversation.

Whoopi Goldberg was adament that for her the art is separate from the artist, and that if the book is good and well written it should not matter who the author is.

I think this topic also gets at our insider - outsider debate.

I am curious to know what other people think about this issue and if you want to read more about it here is a link to an Associated Press article http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hn9MPi92q2bX2QxOxZ5hRLrwaPywD8SOGA601