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| Bee Gee Barry Gibb |
So I grew up in Seattle on Capitol Hill in the 1960's - 1970's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_(Seattle) My family was Irish Catholic and Jewish, (having assimilated and inter married.) I went to Catholic Schools like my mother and grandparents did before me. I grew up with the Jesuits and the Concepts of "Social Justice" and "Jesus Christ" as one in the same. My family probably was Catholic on the Irish side for a thousand years right? I kind of hope they were Druids too. We have alot in common with Native Americans. St. Joe's was a social club and community organizer. My family lived in one of the Gothic Houses of Capitol Hill and hung out at the Surrogate Hostess, (sort of sounds like a hooker...great food and pool) http://www.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2012/11/still_pining_for_the_surrogate.php They came to the USA during the first potato/toe famine, they made money had were educated and rich off the fat of USA Native American land. An Irish Matriarch ran the show. Capitol Hill, or McHill was the stomping grounds. I grew up with priests and nuns being family members. They smoked, they drank, and some of them even screwed and many of them were LGBTQ or at least LG. In the closet for sure but they were there. The Catholic Church wsa the perfect cover for LG people. You do not have to get married and you might meet someone in the same boat and you can serve and show compassion which is your nature.
Jesus was (and is) "groovy" to me. He wore sandals and had a dress with a rope tied around it. All the animals loved him and lambs sat at his feet. I loved Jesus and I still do. I think of him as the, (or big The) Radical Jewish Reformer who took on the Roman Empire and Won and Lost. Even though I am educated and know that belief in the supernatural probably means I am superstitious and profoundly illogical it does not matter to me.
My house is haunted and I have seen ghosts. My housemates have seen them too. We are all probably batshit crazy. The Jesuits taught me that Science and Reason stand side by side the Supernatural. It is the Human Condition and it is mine and I think it is yours. Duality and Diversity guarantee we have balance and lots to choose from. Faith...well I have to admit it is like magic and even though I scoff at myself I will take Pascal's Wager any day. I like going to Mass just like I like the theater. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/
You can do the math if you like.
I went to school where the priest had a picture of Jesus Christ on his desk. It was from the Catholic Supply Company, possibly Kaufers Supply Company, artist Richard Hook, Jesus looks like a BeeGee Brother, Barry Gibb. I could well imagine Jesus singing falsetto! Jesus for me was about helping the poor and accepting others. He was also very Gay and Gay Friendly, but that was before I understood what being LGBTQ was about...but culturally I have always accepted Gay people before I knew anything about sexuality. Why?... it was part of my upbringing and culture. This is why I read with interest this morning about the new Pope, Fr. Francis, letting the world know that it is okay to Love LGBT people "again." Can Love Really Mean, "Never Having To Say Your'e Sorry.?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_means_never_having_to_say_you're_sorry Only Ali McGraw and Ryan Oneal knew for sure. Oh that hippy dippy thing again.
One thing I know for sure. I support Marriage Equality and treating LGBQT people with respect. I was a devout Catholic and sometimes I still think I am if being Catholic means loving others as Jesus did. It finally dawned on me how awful this debate is. Can't Christians who hate LGBTQ people understand what they are doing when they claim that God's Plan does not include Gays? Really, thrown out of the Garden of Paradise, in Hell on Earth, Rejected by God....Nope I do not buy it nor do millions of rational people. Christians have to reject that notion too. Why not? We are all still talking about our invisible friend.
I read all the articles about Fr. Francis. from all over the world. It is a bit like reading Catholic "Tea Leaves" everyone has their take on it. What I know about the Jesuits, is that they are totally ambitious, driven and smart. They love rebellion and rebellious Catholics, but if you watch closely, all their arguments are on the road back to the Catholic Church. You can be a rebel but eventually you will come back and wonder why you ever left. It sort of sucks for those of us who have left. (always my Catholic friends say "temporarily,") some keep one foot out and one foot out and you do the hokey poky and you keep the gays out (or in depending on your interpretation.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus,
The Jesuits get you where you live. God's Marines they are called and truly I can attest, you can take the Catholic out of the Church but you will never take the Church out of the Catholic, even though many of us are still trying. I left when the hypocrisy over the sex abuse and LGBT issues got so bad. Many argue the Catholic Church has done bad things to humans since its inception and frankly I have to agree but I was practicing at one point and I loved it. Many non Catholics and people for that matter, and even the Church have confused Homosexuality with Pedophilia. I left the Church when all hell broke loose and the Church was hiding its role in the sex abuse at the same time it was scapegoating LGBT people. It got really ugly and it is ugly. LGBT and Pedophilia are not the same. Girls and Boys were abused about 50/50, what pedophiles have in common is that they are attracted to children....not adults. That is the problem, not being LGBTQ Get it? Most Christers don't. This is one of the big problems of people not really understanding sexuality in the first place.
The priest who had the picture was my advisor and totally cool. He was bright eyed, sage and he looked like a friar, balding with a fringe of hair and a beard. He drove a Harley Davidson Motorcycle and smoked like a chimney. He was always putting out cigarettes when we knocked on the door and spraying air freshener. The kids loved him (and I mean properly and appropriately. Agape Love...) but he was always in trouble with the other adults (or so we thought) Not sure how he could stand dealing with horny sheltered Catholic teens who were so spoiled and yet so pure at the same time. Most of us were white and our families could afford private schooling and it was to avoid busing and integration problems and basically being Catholic and the schools are like a private club or so we thought. By the time we got to Catholic Schools the Irish had gone up the food chain and were middle class.
Yes there was sexual abuse and yes there was physical abuse but also there was a damned good education. And most of the clergy, were my role models and damned good people. (4% is the accepted figure...the same figure in the overall population.)
I was raised by my mother and grandmother after my parents amicably divorced. My father is Jewish and and my father and my mom remained friends until her death. My father paid child support and we got to visit him in New York. My mother was very Irish and more of a Banshee than a Saint. (but ma I think of you as a saint today that is for sure.) She was highly educated and encouraged rebellion and independence. I used to think of my grandmother like she was Katharine Hepburn. Women were supposed to be college educated and independent. My mother fought for birth control, human rights and so I could wear pant suits to school. My grandmother took on the nuns at Holy Names Academy when my Aunt, a lefty recessive gene, (blue eyes, blond hair and very beautiful) was not going to be allowed to use her left hand. Grandma didn't follow all the rules either
but was still considered a good Catholic, namely because she had a huge pocketbook.
The Irish are openly sexual and prudish at the same time. When I was 12 I asked my mom, "what is sex like" She laughed and said "well honey" it is like flying to the fucking moon...but don't do it" I grew up gloriously protected and openly inhibited. Sex is great, but don't do it...it might be dangerous. At 12 years old my mom gave me the famous book "Our Bodies Ourselves," She believed in sex education (as long as I did not have sex...LOL.) My mom, used the word fuck alot at home. Today it is my favorite word. I think if it as an Irish word...really. She would say, "now you kids do not swear outside the house." She was like "Mary Richards" on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. She swore like a truck driver and smoked too at home, but in the outside world and in Church she was perfect with a Capital "P". In fact my brothers and I called her Miss Perfect. My mom wanted to be a nun growing up and was very hurt she was never asked. I admit that I still love the nuns especially the ones on the bus. http://www.networklobby.org/bus. I know there was abuse, especially in Ireland but I thought of the nuns as my protectors and mentors. They taught empowerment and independence, ultimately I understood after awhile why mom wanted to be a nun. In a word the desire to serve a fiery faith of service to humankind. Many progressives have this desire and we have brains and education as well. We are superstitious I suppose but ultimately we see the human person, all human persons worthy of love and acceptance. Dane Cook the comedian talked about JC, "the ultimate invisible friend" but isn't it better to attach to a symbol of love and sacrifice, rather than of materialism and possession? Humans, all of us want to love and attach to others, (unless we have attachment disorder.)
I am glad Pope Francis has made at least an attempt to give Gay Bashing a rest. Those of us who know that many of our clergy have and always will be LGBTQ and we do not care. The scandal in the Catholic Church came about because of lack of transparency and trying to hide a very real fact. Clergy, some of them are Gay. When predators got caught, the knew the would not be punished because they blackmailed some of the superiors. This led the whole way to the Vatican and went on for decades. What would have happened had being Gay, was Okay? Can we at least enter the 19th Century as far as Medical Science is concerned? Can't we be sexual and moral at the same time?
I would love for the Clergy to be able to Marry (whom they choose), have sex and and for women to become priests, if they want. Or not. Celibacy and Chastity could be optional based on personal choice.
I used to think that would make the Church less Catholic but I have come to the realization, no, actually it would make us all more healthy and tolerant and this is what I thought being a Catholic was all about. It Stands To Reason....that accepting our human condition AND human body will make the Clergy and the Flock healthier. I'd really like to come out of the closet about accepting everyone for who they are and who they love. Make Love Not War, Fight Poverty and Love Thy Neighbor, Yep add more water to the pot of beans, we have alot of mouths to feed and many people to help find love and acceptance. Go Fr. Francis Go. I think it is what Jesus WOULD Do.
Rosebud.
