Ash Wednesday single moos

Quote
Techie
There is another thing that I have been noticing this weekend. A good number of pregnant women that are just barely starting to show it. These are probably the ones that were "busy" around X-Mas time. Looks to be a round of September "arrivals". No rings on those hands either, but, since there was no ash stamp on the forehead, I could not tell if they were of a particular religion or not.

I work in an office of 100 people, they post the month's b-days of everyone so you can wish them happy b-day. People range here from 20 thru 75 yrs old. September is the most popular b-day montht by far. Obviously, mommies and daddhies have one too many at their Xmas parties over the years and do the deed, unprotected. I think you get a lot of Oops babybees that have Sept b-days. I have even heard people say about their own pregnancies, 'my wifey doesnt drink and she had a drink or two at the company party and now we're expecting a new Bratley" As we all know, MOST pregnancies are accidents and them moo and duhd convince themselves they have been blessed. eyes2

I've heard that the month with the most birthdays is October because so many loaves are conceived around New Year's. But, I don't know how true it is.

Ugh, last time I got ashes was when I was still in Catlick school, and I remember my mother bitching at me when I washed them off one year. Why is fucking everything related to Catholicism such bullshit? Am I the only one who finds it a little creepy that kids receiving their first Communion have to dress like little brides and grooms? What is the magic in having grease rubbed on my forehead by the bishop and choosing a second saint-based middle name (Confirmation)? I remember my grandma always making fish on Friday because she "couldn't" eat meat. Can someone tell me how fish isn't meat? It's the flesh of an animal, is it not? What makes a fish so special that it can be eaten while any other animal can't?

Fuck religion. As far as I'm concerned, God never gave me any indication s/he exists, nor have they ever done anything for me, so why should I believe? The existence of Catholic schools infuriates me too. Catholic colleges are fine because, by the time someone can attend one, they can decide on their own if they want to go to classes on a religious campus. But Catholic elementary schools are horse shit; it's just a way for parents to force their religion down their kids' throats and mold them into good little Catholics. I'm glad I started to see through the BS early on. I remember one of my ways to "rebel" was by not saying "under God" during the Pledge of Allegience. Of course, none of the kids ever really meant it anyway. They were just blindly repeating a series of words that they were forced to memorize, and most of them had their hand everywhere but over their hearts.

Mandatory confession at school was always great because my definition of a sin was very different from the church's definition. If I told the asshole priest I'd been good and hadn't sinned, he'd insist that everyone sins and I had to have done something wrong. So I'd make shit up that was vague, like "I lied to (person)" or "I didn't listen to (person)." Say 30 Hail Marys as penance? Fuck you! I got better shit to do than sitting around repeating the same prayer thirty times.

But Cambion, don't you know, since you live in western PA and see the lawn signs everywhere:

97%!! of Catholic School grads GO TO COLLEGE! And the parents believe the signs.

Quote
Cambion
I've heard that the month with the most birthdays is October because so many loaves are conceived around New Year's. But, I don't know how true it is.

My birthday is November 14. Yup, nine months after Valentine's Day. I'm really surprised I don't meet more people who share my birthday, or at least one close to it.

As for the "why isn't fish meat?" question, I also went to Catholic school and asked my teacher about it once. She said it had to do with the fact that, during Biblical times, fish was a common food, while other meat was eaten more rarely, like during times of celebration. Makes sense from a historical standpoint, but not so much now.

I also agree about the creepiness of the bridal dresses for little girls receiving first communion. Even as a little kid, I hated dresses, so having to wear a big poofy wedding dress was like torture to me. Now as an adult, I also realize the creepy implications of dressing little girls up as brides.

For anyone else who went to Catholic school, was being confirmed a requirement for passing 8th grade (or 7th grade or freshman year or whatever age your church did Confirmation) at your school? It was at my school, and I always thought that was bullshit. Epecially since one girl in my class had previously lived in England and was already confirmed years prior, but had to go through the ceremony (and the preceding classes and tests) again since it was a school requirement.

My mom's got my first Communion photo on the wall and I look like a child bride in an arranged marriage. I'm just kind of looking sadly down at my little bouquet, but I just was not a smiley, photo-friendly child and having to waste time at first Communion "practice" pissed me off. All this fuss to eat a paper wafer? Such bullshit. I remember getting bitched at by one of the nuns for putting my hand on the back of the goddamn pew as I was walking in line with the other kids during practice. Apparently, that wasn't allowed.

My former school went from kindergarten up to 8th grade and I'm pretty sure Confirmation happened every three years, so I think any students from 6th grade to 8th had to go through it in order to graduate from 8th grade (my cousin and I were at the same school, but she was two years ahead of me and we were confirmed at the same time). And the fuckin' nuns got on all our asses about the religion trivia we had to memorize to impress the bishop. All the kids forgot the answers, and guess what? The bishop didn't give a shit.

I wonder, when they say fish isn't meat, do they mean things like salmon, tilapia, cod, and other filet fish specifically? Or is it any seafood?

I just have no patience with a belief system where all the fun things are sins. I'd rather just skip the bullshit, commit the sins and have fun.

Quote
Cambion
My former school went from kindergarten up to 8th grade and I'm pretty sure Confirmation happened every three years, so I think any students from 6th grade to 8th had to go through it in order to graduate from 8th grade (my cousin and I were at the same school, but she was two years ahead of me and we were confirmed at the same time). And the fuckin' nuns got on all our asses about the religion trivia we had to memorize to impress the bishop. All the kids forgot the answers, and guess what? The bishop didn't give a shit.

Confirmation, by definition, is the process of declaring to the world that you have freely accepted the tenets of the Catholic faith, as an adult. So why is it done when a kid is just 12 or 13?

Why not at age 21? Or 25? Or 30?

If the Catholic Church had any confidence in what they were selling, they'd postpone Confirmation until a person was of legal adult age, and had the ability to make a rational, informed decision as to whether or not they wanted to be a part of the faith. Instead, they do this at a young age so kids basically have no choice in the matter. How convenient.

Im sure you can google this, but the reason we eat fish was more of a business move when the fish industry was flailing: Here's an example of text from net:

Fishermen were hurting. So much so that when Henry's young son, Edward VI, took over in 1547, fast days were reinstated by law — "for worldly and civil policy, to spare flesh, and use fish, for the benefit of the commonwealth, where many be fishers, and use the trade of living."

In fact, fish fasting remained surprisingly influential in global economics well into the 20th century.

As one economic analysis noted, U.S. fish prices plummeted soon after Pope Paul VI loosened fasting rules in the 1960s. The Friday meat ban, by the way, still applies to the 40 days of the Lenten fast, which ends this Saturday.
Clicky for the scoop

Quote
StudioFiftyFour
Confirmation, by definition, is the process of declaring to the world that you have freely accepted the tenets of the Catholic faith, as an adult. So why is it done when a kid is just 12 or 13?

In some cases, it's done even younger than that--like I mentioned in my previous post, there was one person in my class who had already been confirmed when she was in (I think) 5th grade, so she would have been about 10 or 11. She lived in England at that time (I'm in the U.S.), so there might be differences based on location. Late childhood-early teens is pretty standard, though.

Then there's also the fact that a kid's first confession happens at age 7 since that's considered the age of accountability in Catholicism. Granted, that is plenty old enough for kids to know the difference between right and wrong, but in retrospect, it's a little fucked up to tell kids that young that they're going to hell if they don't confess their sins to a priest. My school required that all students from second grade on up go to confession every other month. I have anxiety issues and used to get so stressed out about that, especially with the rest of the class right nearby and able to see how long everyone spends in the confessional. I think there can be benefits to talking privately with an impartial listener about things a person feels guilty about (if the person chooses to do so), but not in this way.

When I went to Catechism, once a month, instead of having class, we were hearded into the church for confession. I dreaded it. I was in eighth grade when I was sitting with two boys in my class, waiting our turn in the booth, when I told them how much I hated confession. That's when one of them told me, "Just don't go! We haven't gone in two years! The teachers aren't paying attention, and we just sit here until it's time to go home." So that's what we did. The teacher came around and asked, "Okay, has everyone had a chance to go to confession? We solemly nodded before being dismissed. I never went again.

^You're lucky the teachers didn't pay attention--at my school, the teacher watched and checked off a list to make sure everyone went to confession.
I also forgot to mention that while waiting for our turn, we had to do Eucharistic adoration, and we would get yelled at afterward if we didn't do it "right" (like if we spent too much time looking at the prayer book instead of the monstrance). I don't agree with the people who say the presence of art like statues in Catholic churches is idolatry, but I feel like Eucharistic adoration is definitely edging into that category.

A little off topic, but while we're at it.....
So little catholic boys and girls get First Holy Communion around the age of 7 or 8.
The whole dealio with FHC and the Eucharist, inter alia, is all about knowing the difference between right and wrong. If little catholic childrens do something bad, they learn that they did a bad thing and that it requires the whole confession and penance thing.

In other words, the little shits KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG.

SO I say, that in this world where we all have to tip toe around everyone's "freedom of religion", then it's time for turnabout. If a child does something very bad and is RC and has received Duh Body of Christ, then, in the eyes of their religion, which is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD, then have them tried AS AN ADULT in an ADULT COURT with ADULT PUNISHMENTS.

Just watch how fast all these little shops pandering to the white gloves and gowns crowd go under...