Swing and a miss...

I mentioned on my Facebook status, with the intention of humor, that I was giving up the same thing I've given up for Lent for the past several years for Lent, which is Catholicism. Most people seemed to get it. One of my friends -- a devout Baptist -- said, "Good choice. Just be a follower of Jesus instead!" Another friend replied in agreement with that comment.

See, here's the thing: No.

If I wanted to remain Christian, I'd probably just stay Catholic. As much as I'm not a fan of Catholicism, it's the faith I grew up in, and the evangelical faiths seem just as crazy if not more so.

Further, last I checked, Catholics believe in Jesus. I know I haven't been to church in a long time -- let's be real, I am shooting for excommunication after all -- but the belief in Jesus as God personified is the central tenet of Catholicism.

And really, the nerve that someone would need in order to say something like that. That just reeks of unadulterated arrogance, and is a big reason why I have such a problem with religion in general. I just got done reading Christopher Hitchens' book, "god is not Great" (punctuation his), and that book made more cogent points about religion than every mass, sermon, pamphlet, Sunday School lesson, and conversation I've had with "men of God", combined.

While I'm against Catholicism, I'm not against it because I perceive it as a failure of a religion. I'm against it because it's a religion. Specifically, it was the religion I was raised in, thus the vendetta. It's not any better than any other religion ... but it's not worse either.

Ash Wednesday...

Ash Wednesday is so much more enjoyable when you no longer consider yourself Catholic.

(Also, I need to update this more often.)