Last night I went with a friend to Seattle Repertory Theater to see Bill Cain’s play How To Write A New Book for the Bible. Cain is a Jesuit priest who believes that the bible is not a list of rules but a collection of stories, a narrative of the human search for the sacred. The lead character in the play, Billy, is a priest and a writer who moves back to live with his mother for several months while she is dying. The new book he’d like to add to the bible is the story of his own family’s struggle with life, death, and the poignant moments in between.
The play is deeply Catholic, and the Theater provided the equivalent of Cliff Notes in the lobby so that playgoers without that religious background would understand more of the nuances.
I haven’t practiced as a Catholic since leaving college 45 years ago. But I didn’t need the Cliff Notes.
Oatmeal sticks to the ribs. Spilled candle wax sticks to the table, not easy to remove without leaving scratches. Early religious formation is in there, whether we choose to have it or not.
Most parents of my era believed that children should be raised with some religious sensibility, and then as adults they could decide whether or not to practice. I didn’t love growing up Catholic, and didn’t want to pass it on.
No matter how many other points of commonality we might have, my kids and I will always see the world though somewhat different eyes.
Tags: cultural anthropology
January 28, 2012 at 5:26 pm
I have to agree. Growing up Catholic is one of the worst things a parent can do to a child. Actually, indoctrinating a child in any religion is just as dangerous.
January 28, 2012 at 6:21 pm
For Ron: I think kids who went to Catholic grammar school and high school, as you did, had a particularly rough time. I wonder why so many parents were OK with their kids being smacked around the way they were.
January 28, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Not only smacked around, but totally brainwashed!! Very scary and today those nuns would probably be brought up on charges of child abuse.
January 28, 2012 at 11:20 pm
For Ron: I agree.