"The line is just for the wristband, yo."

[anotheranon]

Margaret Cho has a blog. Delightfully rude and funny! I especially enjoy what she wrote about Ann Coulter, a right-wing pundit I STILL haven't figured out (is she a phony, or a real phony? In other words, are A.C.'s paranoid accusations put out there just to muddy the waters, or does she actually believe all the insane stuff she says?)

Comments

Re: Margaret Cho

[hadesgirl.livejournal.com]

I think that in terms of birth control issues, the Catholic church is living in fantasyland to think that people don't have sex until marriage, or that sex between members of the same sex is wrong.

I agree with you 100%. But it's not that the church doesn't believe people don't have sex until marriage, it's that they should abstain from sex until they're married, because the sexual union is meant to be shared only by man and wife. Everyone should share this great thing, not just married couples. Sex is a powerful bond between husband and wife, but I also think it's for everyone, regardless of marital status. As for sex between people of the same gender, that's normal as well.

However, in telling their flock that condoms don't work, they have crossed a line.

Doesn't make any sense to me either.

I am pressed to ask - if you disagree on so many issues that seem to be of such vital importance to the church leadership, why are you still Catholic? I'm not asking to be obnoxious, I'm genuinely curious!

Not obnoxious at all! I think we know each other well enough not to take offense, eh?

I thought long and hard about why I'm still Catholic. I don't believe in some of the things we're taught, because I think they were initiated by men at a point in history where they made sense because of the very time in history they were at. Male-dominated society developed laws restricting women to the traditional role of child-bearer and mother. It was patriarchal - little mention is made of the women in Jesus' life because they were not allowed to be "full" participants like the apostles were. They were there (Mary Magdalene, Martha, Veronica, etc.) but they weren't as prominent as the males of the time.

One of the things which keeps me Catholic is that I believe in transubstantiation. The bread and wine used at Mass are not merely symbols of my faith, they really are transformed into the body and blood of Christ - and lots of people have problems with this and I understand and respect their viewpoints - my own mother doesn't believe it anymore and she was raised a strict Catholic. It takes a lot of faith to believe it. The words of Christ say "this IS my body" and blood" ...not "this is a representation of my body and blood". That is a basic belief. A lot of other things have gotten interpreted strangely by the church leaders. As a Catholic I'm supposed to believe the Pope is God's voice on earth and he is infallible in all matters relating to religion. I don't know how I stand on that - but I don't agree with the church's statement on condoms, sex, or homosexuality - I like all 3! We are a very sexual species - it is part of our most basic programming and it is natural, good and perfect. I think it's a shame when it's made to be unnatural and perverted and constrained. Unlike animals, which may have gotten things right, we have managed to put a choke-hold on our most basic driving force. Weird x 10. I just can't understand it.

A very important thing is that I believe (and this isn't specific to Catholicism by any means) is that there is an awful lot of good in the teachings of Christ. I believe in the Golden Rule. I believe in loving my neighbor, and forgiving them their wrongs against me as I myself would hope to be forgiven. That's only right. But these things are so central to a vast myriad of religions I can't say it's Catholic. The Golden Rule predates Christianity. The concepts of kindness, compassion and love arose before it. I say I believe in the teachings of Christ because my education in these areas and my beliefs were founded in Catholic upbringing and schooling. In my adult life I discovered the many other religions and belief-systems which also hold these tenets as core to their life-philosophy and I am fascinated by the similarities between them.

Hope I haven't come over as a fanatic bible-thumper. Maybe I'm an aberration - I love to write slash, believe in sex outside of marriage, and think homosexuality is normal. And I don't mind discussing all this religious stuff - it is enjoyable because it makes me think and that's good.

Do me a favor - if you are a spy from the Vatican, pretend I didn't say any of the above, okay???? GRIN