A
bit of background for this post. As you may or may not know, my 17 year old is
attending a Catholic High School. The irony is she has desperately wanted to be
a witch since she was old enough to grasp the idea of counter-culture. (This
was prior to Harry Potter, which she wasn’t particularly interested in because that
clearly was just a story.)
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When she was still pretty little, she went through a
few weeks where she was really ticked off at me for not having witch DNA. I
side stepped that with some innuendo. “Well, you don’t KNOW what witch legacy you
may or may not end up with. If I were
you, I would hedge your bets and be extra nice.”
She currently tolerates the academic religiosity by making comparisons between Catholic dogma and the theoretical practice of spells, ritualized incantations and symbolized representations of supernatural power. I have to admit, there are some correlations. After all, the Pope doesn’t wear his hat as a fashion statement.
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She
has some excellent points including how religion, in theory a forum of charity
and service, has perpetrated some pretty egregious acts. In addition, she discusses how this is an
expansion of the “We’re right. You’re wrong. My dad could beat up your dad and
so there!” thought process with an advancement in weaponry and driven by a fabricated
fear of Hellfire and brimstone.
I
have no idea what her Theology teacher thinks of her but I’m thinking how a
healthy dose of skepticism would have benefited me at 17!
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Being
unable to stop myself, I interject my thoughts about group identification as
part of the human psyche. And being unable to stop myself I will now share a
truncated version of this interjection with you.
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Well, human history is not exactly characterized by charity or service. Rape and pillage seem to be a more accurate description. It was, and still is, of enormous benefit to be seen as part of a powerful, successful group. So now car decal and jersey color correlated to ancient facial tattoo and hair adornment is the equivalent of congratulatory car honking to being left to hunt and or gather with some protection from marauders.
That
is so very interesting, you say as does my daughter. So when her friend texts
her a few hours later asking what the essay assignment was, I offer my proofing
services. Sadly I am rebuffed and must find a new outlet for my tangential
thoughts.
Thank you for participating in my thoughts of tangent.
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