Here, here!

Ok - not to start something here - but this is what it is like where I live.

I am Italian. Brought up strict Italian with a solid Catholic background (you did everything the way God would do it) that was beaten into us (damn nuns!) to the point that my generation was brought up with nuns teaching us about mortal sin and that because Catholics are baptized to remove this sin after we are born, Protestants, etc. are not baptized as "Catholics" and therefore have mortal sins on their souls and will die and go to hell and any Catholic that befriends a Protestant will also go to hell with them.

God sits on his throne pounding His fist and condemning us for batting our eyelashes.

Today - most of those old biddies are dead - and I hope they are roasting in hell.

I have friends that come from all different religions and beliefs - and we respect each other.

What I do not like - and this is so true here - Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, etc. are the days that the Catholic Church is packed with the "Protestants" - as we call them - they are not good enough to attend services on any other days of the year - they just show their faces 2 or 3 times a year and try to "play the role".

You can always tell when it's a "Protestant's" Catholic holiday - there is no parking in the lot, the pews are packed, and these clowns have the audacity to recieve Communion yet! And as soon as they recieve the Host, they proceed to walk towards their seats but head right out the door! Then they make all kinds of noise and yak in the hallway because it is their annual tradition to see their fellow non-church-goers and all they have done is showed their faces. You hear their engines revving and off they go.

Parishioners like that have been known as "Protestants" for decades here - and this is in no way a reflection of anyone that practices the Protestant (or any other form of) religion.

They take your parking space, they take your pew, they wear false smiles, doze off during the mass, talk during the mass, and fidget until they can get out the door. Very distracting.

In truth - they should not be called "Protestants" - they should be called azzholes.

And I even think that our loving God shakes His head at these jerks.

BTW - I've been to many Protestant, Episcopal, etc. masses and I am godmother to several that are not my faith - but that didn't stop me from holding these precious angels in my arms and respecting their church and mass. One of my godsons has been brought up Jewish and Episcopalian - the faiths of both his parents. When he is ready he can make his choice. But these boys are now grown men with families of their own - so I don't know what their choices have been.

OMG I just spit water on the table when I read that. Toooooooooo funny!

I don't do religion. I went to religion private school for 3 years and was really turned away. And then when I got married to another non-believer, that tipped the barrel as well. My hubby's uncle is a Deacon in a Catholic church. Hubby wanted his uncle to be our officiant. So in order for us to be married by his uncle we had to endure these horrible, horrible marriage classes. And if we didn't pass the class, the Catholic church would not allow us to get married. Just horrible. We had to pretend that we had never slept together and these strangers told us how to have sex. It was really mortifying.

I am agnostic. I have met very few Christians who practice what they preach.

Being brought up so strict I had always wanted to be a Carmelite - cloistered - no talking, etc. and devote my life to God.

I wanted the old fashioned habit and all - but when Vatican II stepped in and changed the mass from Latin to English, etc. - I was turned off. then they took away the habits.

I taught in the Catholic and also Christian schools for years - even in an all boys high school run by the friars. And I even ran the tuition office for one of the top schools here and got to dine and rub elbows all day with the nuns. No more habits - they bought their clothes at Kaufmann's and Macy's - wore bright colors, etc. even fancy shoes - and get this - they wore patent leather shoes!

And all those years they said that we should never wear them because the boys could look up our skirts and dresses and se our unerwear!

And their rooms? OMG - no more "cells" - fancy furniture, curtains, each with her own private and elaborate bath - and a kitchenette for every 4 rooms with a private dining area for the nuns in that area if they didn't want to eat what the caterers were bringing for the breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Yeah - catered meals all day.

Why don't they cook????