here's a nothing opinion that was almost trashed

Priests can't be wrong, they are priests. It's the same with the nuns. That was the prevailing attitude with some [most?] parents when I was in grade school. I never hung out with anyone who had a parent who graduated college.

When it came to homelife I got lucky. My parents were more open minded and always gave me the option of going to public school. In my house staying home after lunch if the nun or priest was having a bad day was possible. Even when the day, to me, seemed like any other day. Now that I'm older I wonder what did my mom know that I didn't as a 10 year old? The bullies in the school left me alone because I was a little dangerous and unpredictable. My mom would not have allowed me to stay home if another kid was a problem. The brain washing that took place was very subtle.

We were told by the nuns that public school students were all Juvenal delinquents, we better lock our bikes up. Their education was inferior. Unfortunately for them they would not amount to anything. There was a kid in town that attended public grade school and then was accepted in the same, all boys, college prep high school as me. As a freshman I didn't know how he was going to keep up. Boy, was I wrong.

I use to laugh when someone tells me that if a nun slapped me in the face I would slap her right back. No you wouldn't, anymore then you would hit your mother. As a high school teacher every now and then I would ask the students how many of you would hit your mother. I was shocked when hands went up. I don't know if the brainwashing in Catholic school is thought out or just part of a long line of upbringing.

Wow, this is a great post with lots to chew on. Speaking of chewing, let me have lunch first. But I'll be back to NOTHING shortly. Thanks, tomwed.....good stuff.

I long ago came to the realization that Catholism was NOTHING but a cult that centered around control and money. I did accounting at the time so I did the monthly report that parishes send to the archdiocese (along with all of the money collected in the offering) and learned a lot (not involving children though). Later on I had a friend who dated a catholic priest she met on a dating site for 10 years. The bishop knew about it but did NOTHING until it somehow got to be a liability for them and then he had to dump my friend and go for "counseling" for his "problem" before he could be reassigned to a parish further away.
*Disclaimer, this is my opinion only you do not have to agree*

Here's a nothing story I have told many times.
So when our kids were 4, 6 and 8 I thought it was about time to take them to a Children's Mass. We were working parents and there were options for the kids including, CCD, Soccer, TBall and scouts but they couldn't do them all so we passed on CCD.

We go to the Children's Mass and the Priests ask that all the children come up front and sit on the floor. My younger son stayed with us and the 5 and 9 year old go up front. During the homely, in a Q&A format the priest tells the Birth of Christ. Where was the star? He picks a little one who says North. How many wise men were there? 3 is the answer What were the gifts? And that's when I realize my son has his hand up the entire time. Towards the end his arm is getting so heavy the 5 year old is helping him keep it up. I'm feeling so proud because of how smart he is and that he must be getting all this good Christian support from the babysitter. After he concludes the priest asks if anyone has any questions and sure enough my son's hand goes up. The priest says, "Stand up little boy. I thought I knew everyone here from CCD but I don't recognize you. What is your question?" My darling young one says "That's a wonderful story. Where did you hear it?" The parish laughs for about an hour or it felt that way even if it was only 30 seconds. The priest tells his bio for the next 5 minutes and asks if he could meet with his parents after Mass. I told everyone one at the conclusion that I got the baby, I'll meet you by the car.

Thanks for adding the disclaimer. I have NOTHING to disagree with because I have my own personal stories regarding this, but it is important to be reminded that we can express our opinions here without judgment or anger toward one another, accepting that differences are okay. So thanks for noting that, fw.

Religion and politics can be touchy subjects. It would be NOTHING but wonderful if we could set an example that one can talk about these topics in a respectful and dignified manner.

And as I just now see tomwed's post following yours, a little levity along the way is always helpful......:a20:

I have so much I could share on this that I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just tell you about the most unusual story that I remember regarding my Catholic upbringing. We had a youngish priest who came to our small town. His "claim to fame", at least in my age group (teenager at the time), was that he would invite teens to the rectory and smoke pot with them! I have never heard that kind of story before or since, but it's NOTHING but true. I know because some were classmates of mine who frequented the "rectory parties". How that was ever allowed to go on is beyond me, because if you know anything about a small town you know everyone including the police knew what was going on. I guess arresting a priest was off-limits and maybe the powers that be thought it was a good way to get teens to come church. :confused: :ohdear:

Okay, so here's a NOTHING story that happened to me a couple of weeks ago -

When I work my long day on Wednesdays, my son will often call me on my drive home to see what I'm planning to do for dinner. Usually he knows it's NOTHING so we will usually plan to meet up and have dinner out somewhere. Well, that particular Wednesday I was not feeling well. In fact, this was the time period when I first came back from vacation and for about 3 weeks I had pretty much no appetite and most food made me sick just to look at it or smell it. As I explained this to my 31 year old son, apologizing for not wanting to go out with him, he responds by saying, "So you're not pregnant, are you?" Well I was so taken aback, I just kind of chuckled and said, "Noooo, I doubt that", kind of questioning in my head you're kidding, right? So I get home and proceed to tell my husband what had just happened. He asked me, "Well did he laugh afterwards?" And I said, "No, that's what I thought was weird. You don't suppose we never told him the rest of the story, do you?"

My husband thought about it for a minute and said, "Don't say anymore about it. Don't even bring it up. If he doesn't know any better just let him worry about having to share his inheritance."

We went to the train show here a few weeks ago and one of the train guys was telling us how they had taken a picture of the whole layout for the kids so they would know that they had NOTHING but that they had spent their inheritance on a worthy cause.

Here's another bit of NOTHING that K might appreciate about an artist in California that creates lighted artworks from the charred wood from the wildfires. So cool!

"Beauty in the ugliness": California artist turns wood scorched by wildfires into art - CBS News

NOTHING but a great find!

We had a younger parish priest who ran the CYO and the musicals. I was in both and went on 2 CYO trips to Miami and LA SF and Denver. We made a lot of money and had a lot of fun putting on musicals. I have many fond memories of those years. The younger priest seemed to enjoy the company of one of the chaperones, my friends older sister who was the school nurse. I think I left nothing to the imagination,,,well maybe somethuing,
.

I think reminiscing sometimes makes us forget our NOTHING...:)

Whoops! I wish I would have left that little bit of NOTHING go. K would have never known. Guess you can say I have more than my radar on today - I have KADAR.

We had a younger priest who could say a mass in 20 minutes...I can't describe how popular he was. He also had a very good "friend" who spent a lot of time at the rectory but I am sure that NOTHING happened. :icon_wink:

My goodness, only 3 of us on here and the stories we can tell. Obviously there has been a lot more than NOTHING going in the church over the years!