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okasha

(11,573 posts)
45. On the topic, though:
Tue Dec 30, 2014, 07:05 PM
Dec 2014

I come from a multicultural and multi-regligious background. My mom was Southern Baptist before the SBA went off the deep end with Anita Bryant and the increasing regimentation about interpretation of the Bible. My dad was Episcopalian. I went to Catholic schools both in Mexico, where I was born, and after the family returned to the States. My cousins and I spent part of summer each year on my maternal grandparents' farm in North Texas. Grandpa was a practicing adeweh, a Cherokee holy man, as his own father had been. We learned our people's tradition and ceremonies from him.

Long story short, the Baptist church never "took" for me. I didn't like the shouting, pulpit-pounding preacher at my mom's congregation, and the music was awful. The Ursuline chapel, in contrast, was a quiet, contemplative and beautiful space, and made an unlikely comfortable fit with native ceremonial practice. As an adult, I became an active Episcopalian, partly because of my liking for Catholic worship, and was involved with the parish's various ministries. My grandfather had died when I was a teen, but I still kept up Native practices with with a local intertribal group. Gradually I realized that while Native religion could accommodate Christian beliefs, Christianity as I then understood it had no place for traditions and teachings I was unwilling to give up. I had to step away from the church, but it was a sideways step, into a faith that incorporated not only Native beliefs but Christian liberation theology, and later, process theology.

Along the way, I developed an interest in comparative religion and took some formal classes. I tend now to see more of what various faiths have in common and to discount differences that don't bear on human rights questions. I'm here because I like to talk about the subject and learn more about it, preferably with the sort of intelligent and tolerant people who post in Interfaith.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

I was raised a Roman Catholic by non-religious parents. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #1
Did your granfather remain Episcopalian? rug Dec 2014 #3
No. He became RC to marry my grandmother but his family did remain Episcopalian. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #6
My father's family are all Anglicans, my mother's family are all Jews Fortinbras Armstrong Dec 2014 #12
We would be happy to have you! hrmjustin Dec 2014 #33
Although I was born and raised as an American Baptist, my family's religious history is complex. ColesCountyDem Dec 2014 #2
Were your Mom's parents able to have a religious wedding here? rug Dec 2014 #4
They were. ColesCountyDem Dec 2014 #5
Yeah, that's been a long-standing requirement. rug Dec 2014 #7
Indeed. n/t ColesCountyDem Dec 2014 #8
Why I am here. TM99 Dec 2014 #9
Thanks, that's quite a lush path. rug Dec 2014 #10
Thanks Rug. TM99 Dec 2014 #11
The Episcopal Church considers itself part of the Anglican Communion Fortinbras Armstrong Dec 2014 #14
And, ironically, the new breakaway conservative Anglican church is not. rug Dec 2014 #15
I am a preacher's kid. cbayer Dec 2014 #13
Did you ever have religious beliefs or did they simply not take? rug Dec 2014 #16
They never took. cbayer Dec 2014 #17
No, not really. rug Dec 2014 #18
While I realize that justice and equality are not dependent on belief nor cbayer Dec 2014 #19
No, that's not what I mean. rug Dec 2014 #20
I'm not sure what I mean, to be honest. cbayer Dec 2014 #21
I tend to think that the anthropomorphism of the eternal annabanana Dec 2014 #38
I agree. I think the anthropomorphism creates a whole slew of problem. cbayer Dec 2014 #39
Pretty complex and ever changing... NRaleighLiberal Dec 2014 #22
How much do you think the denomination matters? rug Dec 2014 #23
oh my, what a complex question. It shouldn't - but lots of people seem to use it as points of pride NRaleighLiberal Dec 2014 #24
I look for the commonality more than the differences. rug Dec 2014 #25
we really have and feel so fortunate. Commonality is a great approach and should be NRaleighLiberal Dec 2014 #26
I am a "cradle Catholic" who had sixteen years of Catholic education. No Vested Interest Dec 2014 #27
I would have had sixteen but I dropped out in my last year. rug Dec 2014 #28
You may have a point re problems from cultures, but No Vested Interest Dec 2014 #29
I was thinking more of the cultures within the Church. rug Dec 2014 #30
Certainly there has been that aspect in the US church hierarchy in recent No Vested Interest Dec 2014 #31
Enthusiast of 19thc US religious history, especially non-Christian and "alternative" groups carolinayellowdog Dec 2014 #32
How do you think the Unitarianism and Universalism of the 19th century developed into UU today? rug Dec 2014 #34
the Free Religious Association, founded 1867, was pivotal carolinayellowdog Dec 2014 #35
Thanks! I always wondered about that. rug Dec 2014 #36
I was born a Catholic and went to Catholic school through middle school. goldent Dec 2014 #37
I had stopped going for years but i didn't change my beliefs. rug Dec 2014 #42
I am Mormon - i post here on occasion because I decided to no longer post in the Religion Room el_bryanto Dec 2014 #40
That's a pretty accurate description. rug Dec 2014 #41
It's rather nasty in there right now. okasha Dec 2014 #43
I think everyone is getting out their anger before the new year. lol. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #44
The rest of us shouldn't have to be treated to the effects okasha Dec 2014 #46
I have decided to just not respond to the baiting and it works. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #47
On the topic, though: okasha Dec 2014 #45
Was your grandfather, who was an adeweh, your mother's Dad or your father's? rug Dec 2014 #48
He was my mom's father. okasha Dec 2014 #51
That's an interesting match, Southern Baptist daughter and Native American adweh grandfather. rug Dec 2014 #53
They didn't. okasha Dec 2014 #55
Sounds like z great family history. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #49
There's a novel or two there okasha Dec 2014 #56
kicking. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #50
kicking again. hrmjustin Jan 2015 #75
I am an old (64) Catholic man TexasProgresive Dec 2014 #52
I'm glad you found it. rug Dec 2014 #54
Glad you found this group, sorry for the hornet's nest elsewhere carolinayellowdog Jan 2015 #61
Great assessment of DU! kentauros Jan 2015 #66
I think your thread is great. cbayer Jan 2015 #62
The rec pattern "over there" indicates a small number of bullies vs. a silent majority carolinayellowdog Jan 2015 #64
Though it is not easy and I am not always successful, I try to stay above that fray. cbayer Jan 2015 #65
I've often thought about this exact example el_bryanto Jan 2015 #72
I am one of the hosts. hrmjustin Jan 2015 #63
I'm probably one of the least-likely people to be a member of this group. kentauros Dec 2014 #57
I think you're a perfect fit.. rug Dec 2014 #58
And this reminds me of kentauros Jan 2015 #59
Lol! rug Jan 2015 #60
My father's parents were Catholics, but his father... TreasonousBastard Jan 2015 #67
That's a common story, leaving the Catholic Church over an experience with a priest. rug Jan 2015 #69
It might be mentioned that the problem my grandmother had... TreasonousBastard Jan 2015 #71
Heavens to Betsy! MADem Jan 2015 #68
I'm the opposite. The only thing I talk about on the internet is religion, politics and sex. rug Jan 2015 #70
Ha ha ha--I'll bet you're a blast at a dinner party! nt MADem Jan 2015 #73
Three of my favorite subjects. hrmjustin Jan 2015 #74
+10 okasha Jan 2015 #76
Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Interfaith Group»Who the hell are you and ...»Reply #45