Rich: Dude...I totally went to Catholicism because of my parents. Especially considering that my abusive biological father has a strange habit of trafficing heroin from Thailand, laundering $$, conterfieting, etc. I wanna fit in w/ him! :rofl:
It's funny, but it's really not. My biological father really is a basket case, who does exhibit strange habits as illustrated above. When he see's his family on Christmas or Easter (his family who I rarely see, and NEVER on the holidays) where do you think he goes? Yup...Catholic Church service.
My mom is still "diveroced" and not Annauled from my father. It pains her to have to go through that process, so she will probably never remarry. Because of the Catholic 'rules' on Divorce, when she was engaged awhile ago she was attending the Unitarian Church. For a long time, she wasn't Catholic either.
I grew up in a very disfunctional environment; the kind where I would be getting my @$$ kicked in the car on the way to Catholic Catechism. I went through the sacriments when I was young for the very reason that you mentioned; my parents wanted it, and I had no choice.
That is not the reason I choose to be Catholic now. I hated Catholicism for a long time because of my experience. It wasn't until I was able to pack away my emotional bagage and research many different ways of thought that I was able to start looking at Religions in a more logical fashion. I stopped looking at the "actions" and "mistakes" of the people, and I started looking at the belief systems themselves. That was how I was able to "pick" Catholicism.
So...I agree...many Catholics (and other religions) do pick their faith because of their families. I, however, am not one of those people.
An interesting side-bar: Some Catholics, and many Christians don't like my beliefs either. You see, Catholicism is my religion because of it's interpretation of the "God-creator." My way of thought and worldview, however, doesn't lie within the Western Christian Realm. Christians tend to think that I "Don't have both feet in the water," so to speak because of this. I tend to identify with the indiginous or "tribal" way of thinking, because I feel that many aspects of "western" thought cause structural problems within our government and society. Some of my political views, which are very liberal in nature, are evidence of this. However being in "western" america, I find it difficult to do research, because most of what is "written" is New Aged with no real basis other then the authors viewpoint, or its historical writings from a "western" perspective.
I guess my point is that my "worldview" often identifies with people who consider themselves "Pagan" rather then Christian.
I find the irony in this to by hilarious. :rofl:
Please do not explain to us how Judaism views the function of bowing. Please also do not attempt to define what is and what isn't in the eyes of someone with a different belief structure. Meaning...TO YOU, bowing is a sign of respect and not worship.
