Reply #27: I was never into it, really.

[Fenris]

My memories of Mass involve my sister and I trying not to laugh when the priest was doing that sing-song thing: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spiiiiiiii-riiiiiiit." The entire process seemed silly to me - the ritual, the standing/sitting/kneeling process, the goofy hymns that often sounded like folk songs with "Jesus" inserted into them.

But church always had a certain comical overtone to it. I remember my mother, during one of her many Catholic Guilt phases, decided that we were going start going to church every week. We had recently moved to California and I suppose she thought it was her chance to start anew with Jesus. So the first time we went, we went to the 12 o'clock Mass - which seemed logical, sense we were probably the laziest people going to church. We sat down, and the first thing I remember thinking as I sat there was, "Man, there sure are a lot of Hispanic people here." When Mass started, I realized why: this was the Spanish Mass. Since none of us spoke any Spanish, we were forced to sit there feigning reaction to what the priest said, my mother stunned beyond words and my sister and I trying to contain our laughter once again.

The last time I was in church was Christmas a few years ago. I had agreed to go because my grandparents were there (churchgoers all) and they needed a driver. We didn't go to the old Catholic Church, with it's wood paneled walls and somber beauty - no, we had to go to the new church, St. Mammon of the Holy Dollar or whatnot, a spectacle of affluence and ornamentalism. The mass started off fine, until the deacon began to lecture on why not just abortion and contraception were wrong, but also in vitro fertilization. Because, said his immanence, in vitro fertilization made a child out of selfishness, not love of God. I told my grandparents to excuse me, and I walked out of the church. I don't intend on ever walking back in, either. I don't need anyone to tell me to act morally, and I certainly don't need anyone telling me that couples who utilize in vitro fertilization (like my aunt and uncle, for example) are selfish.