Rachel came home from a pedicure and mentioned that Molly, her pedicurist, had invited her to attend Molly’s church, Kensington Church, in Birmingham. They have rock music, Molly told Rachel. It’s a modern, upbeat, Megachurch. None of that old steeple stuff. In fact, Rachel tells, me, you can bring a latte. Rachel has searched her entire [...]
Archive for the ‘Religious Wars’ Category
Rachel’s Born Again
Posted in Religious Wars, tagged anti-gay, kensington church, parish, pre-marital sex, puritanical, rock music on February 2, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The Priest and the Piano Player
Posted in Religious Wars, Uncategorized on September 25, 2009 | 4 Comments »
My fling with the Unitarians is over. They were too nice. I missed the incense, holy water, and constant irritation offered by the Catholic Church. Rachel and I had gone to a second service at the Unitarian …. do they even call it a “church”? The funny, irreverant, recovering-alcoholic lesbian minister wasn’t there the second time. The substitute minister, in her sermon, urged us not to waste [...]
Borders Rip-off
Posted in Religious Wars, Uncategorized on September 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Alani and I are at Borders, paying. The cashier gestures toward small stack of children’s books on the counter and asks if I’d like to donate one. He says something about ”underprivileged children”. I always say no. I’m cynical about corporate charity. If they trumpet it to the world, it’s not charity, it’s business – polishing the corporate [...]
A Nun Chases Me Out of Church
Posted in Religious Wars, Uncategorized on September 7, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Alani elbows me. My eyes are closed. I’m sitting in the front pew at church, before the start of Mass, meditating. I open my eyes. A lanky nun stands in front of me. It’s Sister Angela, the grey-haired nun who dresses in regular, if understated, clothes and plays her acoustic guitar with the choir at 10:30 [...]
Rachel’s Going to Burn in Hell
Posted in Religious Wars, Uncategorized, tagged church, husband, kids, Mass, meditation, raising, religion, spiritual, stepfamily, Sunday, tradition, wife, women priests on May 22, 2009 | 3 Comments »
On Tuesday Rachel told me that she’s not going to church on Sundays anymore. This development was not unexpected. Raised Catholic like me, she has many objections to church doctrine – the ban on women priests, the position against stem-cell research , the fact that you can’t bring a latte to Mass. We don’t disagree on these matters, it’s just that I enjoy the [...]
Dad? I’m a Buddhist.
Posted in Religious Wars, Uh-oh. Teenage Daughter., Uncategorized on April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Alani recently announced that she is an atheist. I reacted with nonchalance. It’s easy for a seventh grader to be an atheist. Teenagers believe they’re immortal – they are gods, so what do they need with another? She later clarified. It’s not that she doesn’t believe in a god. She just doesn’t believe in the [...]
If Only Jesus Wasn’t Such a Geek
Posted in Religious Wars, Uncategorized, tagged church, geek, gospel, jesus, King James, prays, stepfather, wayne dyer on March 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, filing out of church by myself, I spotted our friend Beth ahead and felt a twinge of apprehension. Since Rachel and I started coming to St. Columban’s more than a year ago, Beth has been an admirer of our brand new marriage. “Everytime I see you two, you’re smiling and holding hands,” Beth said once. “You [...]
