h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm surprised no one has commented on this article.

Wait, they probably have but they are still hidden.

Anyway, I like the way this articles was written. It is very informative and well organized. And you did it all by yourself, I thought it was something many people added

I felt I should praise good articles so they continue to write more and I can waste my time here productively, learning

Actually, most of the comments on this article were in the Peer Review thread -- there were *tons* there.

And yes, Inanna did a really good job on this one, huh?


Mikey

I agree. I remember seeing an early form during Peer Review, but this one seems so much better and more polished. Well done.

All the credit for the polishing goes to Mikey, who did some wonderful re-arranging and editing - so major kudos to her.

And while I did write it all myself, there were loads of suggestions and ideas of what to add from the Peer Review thread... so it was really a community effort.

Inanna, who is now for having been the Cool Featured Entry with her first Guide contribution!

Congrats, Inanna!

As a former Catholic, I must say that this article is top-notch. It was a pleasure to read. I've been feeling sentimental towards my Catholic upbringing (not enough to re-embrace Catholicism though!)and it was nice to see such a balanced non-controversial entry.

Thanks for the kind words.

And to tweak your nostalgia still further, I'm going to be working on a couple more related entries - one on the Rosary, and another one with GTBacchus on Catholic Culture - the statues, incense, scapulars, apparitions, and all the nuances that make one Catholic. Plus how Latin American Catholicism differs from, say, Irish Catholicism.. that sort of thing.

And as a convert (received into the Church last Easter).. I'm really enjoying learning about it all.

Don't be silly ZenMondo... once you're baptised a Catholic you are always a Catholic. .

BTW, if the geographic/cultural differences of Catholicism is made, I could help as I am (a) Catholic and (b) from Iberoamerica (I don't like 'Latin America' )

And I'm from an overwelmingly Catholic area of NY, if you want a perspective on that ...

Quoth the Frood, "Don't be silly ZenMondo... once you're baptised a Catholic you are always a Catholic. ."

Catholic for life eh? Even longer? I'd much rather end up in Tir na nOg in the afterlife than purgatory then Catholic heaven.

So I guess I'll be the Irish-American-Catholic-Pagan then.

"... once you're baptised a Catholic you are always a Catholic. ..."

Yeah, that's why I say I'm "lapsed" - I think it's the Jesuits who say that if they get someone's mind by age 7, they've got it for life.

I like this article a lot; like many others, I think it's clear and fair.

I lapsed long ago when two things happened. My father was one of those who viewed canon law infalible. When we no longer had to eat fish on Friday, he and I had the first of many conversations that became arguments that ended with anger. Eventually, they involved politics in general, Vietnam in particular, philosophy, ...

The second event happened at confirmation. After everything was over (I thought) we were asked to swear that we would not drink alcohol before age 21. We'd talked about lots of things in preconfirmation classes, but the wisdom of temperance was not one of them.

Rightly or wrongly, I took a lesson from each of those events. From fish on Friday, I learned that institutions act for their own benefit rather than the benefit of those they serve. The Church acted because it was, or feared it would, lose members. My father acted because telling us fish on Friday was infalible was easier than making distinctions, or because he didn't want to admit he didn't know. Two institutions that acted for their own benefit in my teen-aged eyes.

From the temperance oath, I learned that even people you love, trust, have been taught to think highly of will use an occassion to pressure you into doing something you have not thought about. As soon as the oath was announced, the congregation turned toward the class to see how we would react, which I interpretted as seeing who would make the "right" decision.

Much later I decided that institutions are entitled to make any rules they want, but that I get to choose which ones to affiliate with based on their rules. I no longer consider myself a Catholic because several (clerical celibacy, female clergy, sexuality including birth control and homosexuality, ...), perhaps many of the rules that institution enforces seem unreasonable to me.

I know that many people belong to institutions like the Church despite rules they find unreasonable, including the author of this excellent article. I respect their choice but I do not understand it, in the same way that I do not understand menstruation or many other things that are outside my experience.

So, "...once you're baptised a Catholic you are always a Catholic. ..." strikes a chord for me. Unfortunately, the evil laugh is particularly telling.

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only 'lapsed' Catholic mainly due to their rules which I feel occasionally difficult to comprehend.

Surely in an overpopulated world, contraception is a good idea.

I never even got to the confirmation stage of my catholic education. Possibly because you couldn't really call it an education. There was never any real support for the youth of the church because we were such a small minority.

Now my mum and aunt run a small group that takes the young children out during the sermon so they can learn about their faith in a way that is aimed at them (we have a priest who uses words that I as an educated 21 yr find complex ). However I'm not suprised to hear that there are no children who are there from their own choice (ie about 14+) there is nothing for them and they hold little respect for 'the old foggies' who make up the major proportion of the congregation.

I stopped going to Mass regularly when I was 16, when my mum let me make my own decision. I have learnt more in the last 3 years about the religion I was brought up in than I did in the entire 16 years that I was a part of it. I find that incredibly sad

I have tried going back, different churches etc but I always find the same feeling of hypocricy when everyone stands there reciting the Creed like zombies. It is a beautiful piece, I never realised until I read it in place of reciting it. How can you learn something off by heart and never question what it says



At the end of the day there will always be a soft place in my heart for the Catholic church. A bit like for my Sister. Something that has made me what I am today, is a major part of my life but is not something I get on with!

Mel

It's probably worth noting that even in the Catholic church, not all churches are the same. The problems you experienced at your church are by no means universal throughout the church, nor are they limited to Catholicism.

Myself, I had to hunt around a bit for a parish which really "clicked" for me -- one which had a priest who gave homilies I really appreciated, and an incredibly good "faith formation" (i.e., religious education and bible study) program for both children and adults, and also had an incredibly diverse, supportive, and compassionate community.

I can understand that you don't see the Church as working for you, and I have no problem with that. But I do think referring to people who *do* find good in the Church as a bunch of "zombies" and "hypocritical" and "old foggies" to be a bit much -- just because you weren't able to find what you wanted there doesn't mean that other people have not. And even if you were reciting the words mindlessly and without thinking about what they meant (which I find somewhat sad), that by no means translates into everyone else at the service doing the same thing.

Mikey I'm sorry if you took my post the wrong way. I know not all churches are the same.

As for the words you highlighted, one must admit that the average age of the catholic church goer is not as young as it used to be, maybe 'old foggie' is a little strong but I stand by what I said, at my church I have never seen a wedding but there have been many funerals, sad but true

Hypocrites was another you didn't like, how do you think I feel when I see children being brought to church just so they can get into the local RC school when they're older. The parents aren't there because they believe, but because they want their kids to have a good education (the RC secondary school is one of the best in the area that doesn't have an enterance exam), now I'm not saying that's wrong but I'm saying the method leaves a little to be desired. Hopefully their children will take something from the church other than a good acadeamic education

Zombies, this was more to how they sounded when they were reciting various pieces of text. Like young children reciting a poem. It is the kind of voice that can only be produced when saying something that has been learned by rote. I really hope they do think about what they are saying when they say it, I hope it's not just said in the way we sing Jerusalem (see Eddie Izzards comments on his Circle DVD a little blasphemous at times but amusing!).

I too find it sad that I never had the Creed explained to me or was asked to question it until my scientific mind took over and said 'your standing here saying something you never even read'.

You don't say if you're a convert or a catholic from *before* birth (to quote our dear old Monty Python) but I will tell you now, if you had the upbringing I did you too would be disenamoured with the way the catholics celebrate mass. I was told off for asking where the dinasours fitted in to the creation story. I was told that I either believed in creation or I believed in evolution. As it happens I believe in both, I believe that God created the world and all the animals (incl dinasours ) but that he did it in a logical and structured way so that when we as scientists came to look at it millions of years down the line we could find something that interested us and marvel at the amazing things our Lord has created.

I believe that God has anticipated us growing as a race to be intelligent and accomplished beings. I don't feel that the church anticipates this in the same way.

We are at the teenage years, we are just beginning to realise that we've broken all our toys. We are questioning what we once took for granted. If the church doesn't adapt to help us answer those questions then when we have found the answers ourselves we may decide that the 'church' is unnecessary. Think of Parents who spend their time trying to rein in their Teenager rather than helping them to grow. When that teenager is grown the first thing it does is breaks away from it parents whereas the teenager that received a steady guiding hand will honor it's parents for the rest of their lives.

I know the analogy is not perfect but I do feel it is apt.



Mel

I'm always surprised when I here how other Catholics were brought up. My parents are what you would call 'liberal' in the Catholic sense. We all went to the local Cathoic schools and were taught both scientifically as well as religiously. I can never imagine my Mum saying believe this because I've told you to. Getting confirmed was my own choice, as was attending mass afterwards. I don't go as frequently as in the past, more due to laziness than anything else, as my local church has one mass a week, early on a Sunday morning.
Being religious is more than attending mass, mosque, synagogue or other service. It's how you live your life too.