<p>Wow, how long has that list been floating around on the Internet? 10 years, maybe? I think it originated as a response to some anti-gay comments by that awful woman Dr. Laura. Who isn’t even a real doctor, AFAIK.</p>
<p>Dr. Laura has a PhD in physiology. Her thesis was titled “Effects of Insulin on 3-0-Methylglucose Transport in Isolated Rat Adipocytes,” which clearly qualifies her to yell at people for screwing up their personal lives.</p>
<p>The quotes above are at least as old as West Wing, in which a few of those old laws and subsequent questions were used in one episode…</p>
<p>Why do Korean kids like to speak Korean so much? (as compared to say, Chinese or VNese people. that’s what I’ve noticed, at least)</p>
<p>I get the impression that drinking is more accepted by Catholics than my Protestants (in general.) It’s certainly more accepted than in the small Baptist community I visited where alcohol (and dancing!) weren’t allowed in their community center. (But at the same time, we had some locals, who were Baptists, visit us and bring gifts of . . . Coors Lite!) </p>
<p>One ethnic belief I recently learned of is the Korean (South Korean?) urban legend that electric fans can asphixiate you in your sleep by blowing the air away.</p>
<p>“Fillipino-Americans are usually Catholic and, at least among those I’ve know, alcoholism is rarely a problem. It also seems to be rare among Haitian-Americans, another group that is often very Catholic. This, I think, suggests that it is about ethnicity, not Faith.” </p>
<p>As I said in post #65, I think the national-ancestry connections are far more significant than religious connections. And this applies to drinking, too. People in Spain and Italy (predominantly Catholic) often drink alcohol, but they sip it, savor it, and pose elegantly with a glass of whatever. They rarely guzzle it to excess like Catholics in more-northern countries (Germany, Ireland, Poland, etc.). Similarly, Protestants and Orthodox Christians in the UK, Russia, Germany, and the Scandanavian countries often have enormous thirsts. So I think it’s clear the excessive-alcohol thing has little to do with Catholicism.</p>
<p>I went from an Irish Catholic home, parish and neighborhood to a non-Catholic college, placed with a non-Catholic roommate, who after weeks of observation, said to me, “I don’t understand…If you are a practicing Catholic, why aren’t your ears pierced?” </p>
<p>So began years of encounters with curious people who don’t quite grasp the tenets of Catholicism. It’s nice to have a thread that clears up a few misconceptions about our various faith traditions.</p>
<p>So why aren’t your ears pierced?</p>
<p>I never heard that one before, lol, with my unpierced ears.</p>
<p>^ Well, as it happened, I had them pierced the next semester, but not as a requirement of the Church. :)</p>
<p>I was raised as a Catholic. Went to CCD every week and church every sunday till age 18. Was baptised, had my first communion and confirmation. My parents divorced and my Mom remarried outside of the church. After my Mom remarried she stopped going to church because she was divorced and remarried but she insisted that her children attend each week rain or shine. No excuses even a sleepover.
I converted to Judiasm through the conservative movement. My kids were raised as Reform Jews. By the time I finished my conversion course I was the best informed Jew in my H’s family.
My Mom’s family were Irish Catholic. I knew there were alcoholics in the family tree. My Mom’s Dad was a violent drunk. I grew up with the notion that Irish drink not with the notion that Catholics drank.
I have many friends who belong to what many would refer to as “born again” Christian churches. They are the one’s who have the worst view of the Catholics. My tennis partner who did not know I had been raised Catholic once gave me the run down on her first fundraising event she went to for her son’s new HS. He had moved from his “christian” elementary school to the catholic HS. Her comment that really hit me was that the event was flawed because “everyone knows the Catholics drink to much.”
Being raised Catholic I always found most of the Catholics I know to be fairly open minded compared to the “born again” christians I have in my life now. I would not object to my kids dating a Catholic. I would be sad if they dated someone who had strong views that if you don’t believe in Jesus you are going to hell.
I would hope my children find mates that judge people by what actions they take in living their lives versus what “god” they believed in.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree. Although as the mother of a gay son, I would hope that if he did date a Catholic, it would be someone who accepts themselves and their family does as well. </p>
<p>Having been raised Irish Catholic, I must say that as an adult I’ve come to be associated with a group of people who drink far more than what I grew up with and they would be Episcopalians. A typicaly weekend schedule can be fairly described as starting off the morning with a Bloody Mary followed by wine with lunch, wine before and after dinner then cocktails in the evening. During the week the drinks get dropped with breakfast and most often there are not drinks with lunch but the rest of the schedule stays the same. </p>
<p>It’s impressive in a sort of distressing kind of way. Of course, most of my family does not drink anymore, we take anti-depressants, so perhaps my view is skewed.</p>
<p>"Like if your son or daughter started dating a Catholic, what would your concerns be? "</p>
<p>Well I would want back all the money I am spending on the Israel trip, right off the bat. Plus how do you think we are going to tell your grandmother? And really, you are going to have to stop bugging us for buying non-kosher beef. I mean, where to begin?</p>
<p>“Of course, most of my family does not drink anymore, we take anti-depressants, so perhaps my view is skewed”</p>
<p>You SURE you’re not Jewish? :)</p>
<p>“I converted to Judiasm through the conservative movement. My kids were raised as Reform Jews. By the time I finished my conversion course I was the best informed Jew in my H’s family.”</p>
<p>Did you ever see the film, Enemies, A Love Story.</p>
<p>Theres a great scene you might find amusing.</p>
<p>On the drinking issue, I grew up in a town in southern Virginia where ethnicity of origin was not really a factor (except for black and white), and drinking was clearly linked to religion. What I recall, though, is that it was the Episcopalians who were most reputed to be drinkers (the “Whiskeypalians,” as they were known). Catholics were primarily famous for having very large families.</p>
<p>I’d like to take a shot at answering some of these:</p>
<p>
As with many of these rules, this only applies to members of God’s chosen people dwelling in the land which he has given to them. Unless you live in Israel and want to buy a Syrian, you don’t need to worry about this one. </li>
</ol>
<p>
Unless you live in a society which follows all of the provisions involving slavery in Exodus–including redemption of slaves, etc.–this one really doesn’t apply either.</p>
<p>
Since this should only be your wife (or at least, one of your wives), she should be observant as well, so no problem.</p>
<p>
Sacrifices can only be offered at one place: the Temple (before the Temple, the Tabernacle), and since the Temple was destroyed, no sacrifices. If you are sacrificing anywhere else, you are committing the sin of Jeroboam, and the smiting will be on you.</p>
<p>
Is no work on the Sabbath the law of the land where you live? That is, are you living in ancient Israel under the authority of one of the Judges or a King? If not, you’re in a foreign land, and this is a moral law, not a legal one.</p>
<p>
How could this possibly matter? Of course, there are different punishments listed for different crimes and sins.</p>
<p>
There is no altar of God any more, so this is irrelevant.</p>
<p>
I don’t see anything in that passage about killing people who do this, but it might be elsewhere. Are you living within the “assembly of Israel?”</p>
<p>
Not on Saturday, or after sundown on Friday. Besides, footballs aren’t made out of pigskin, anyway.</p>
<p>
Again, where is this farm?</p>
<p>Semi-seriously, I think misunderstanding of a lot of these rules in Leviticus is that they are supposed to be universal moral rules for all human beings. They aren’t. They are supposed to govern the behavior of a specific chosen people in a specific land. (You can note that some of the rules apply to the “aliens among you,” while others don’t.) Most of the ones relating to worship, sacrifices, etc., can only be fulfilled at one specific spot on Earth–which no longer exists.</p>
<p>And when you go to Israel, and go to the Temple Mount, and see this spot, which is less the size of a football field, and you think of all the bloodshed over this one spot – it’s truly amazing.</p>