Reply #88: I knew it would please my mother-in-law to-be if I was confirmed [View All]

[kiraboo]

in the Catholic Church, so I went to classes with the local priest for some months. A few weeks before the wedding I went through the confirmation ritual. As the priest was asking me if I believed the Catholic Church was the one true church etc. etc. it suddenly struck me... NO! I didn't believe it! In fact, I knew that to be a load of crap! And I guess up until then I hadn't realized I was going to have to make this assertion. I married as planned and then proceeded to have my first child. When we decided not to have her baptized my mom-in-law proclaimed that I had "lied to God." Though this seemed a ridiculous statement I struggled with my "desertion" for many years. Meanwhile my in-laws and others couldn't help but make the involuntary point, with everything they said, did or held dear, that the Church did not INclude, it EXcluded. Finally, thanks to the last election when my in-laws voted for Bush on the abortion issue, the last of my doubts vanished. Christian hypocrisy amazes me; I can't bring myself to be part of it. I am finally comfortable with my personal God and am just as comfortable if somebody does not believe. It's a path, it's a process. Whatever.