I got angrier today than I ever have been in my entire life.

[nefertiti]

I'm a little heathen so I'm just gonna grab my coat and leave. Carry on...

*snort*

So am I. haven't you ever met a PK before?

 

[digimon7068]

I can give a little more detail.

My mom had a breakdown last summer. She had some really really awful things happen to her just before she met my father that she supressed with years and years of giving herself to others. It's safe to say she is the quintessential mother, and that's how everyone in her church felt about her. Like she was their mother. Anyway, last summer we had to deal with something that brought up all of those repressed memories and my mother ended up in the hospital.

She and her vestry decided the best course of action would be to go on short term disability while she focused on getting herself back together. Several months ago, while my mom was still in an extremely fragile state, the bishop called her in for an appointment and told her that the vestry had gone to him and told him they wanted to move on to another priest, that they didn't want her to come back.

Initially I had been angry with them. How could they do something so cruel, to let her get blindsided by this when they knew all she was going through? I thought they were a bunch of chickenshit assholes. My mom avoided and avoided and put off talking to the vestry, I think because she was so hurt that none of them had come to her first and told her and explained their choice to her.

I asked my dad this morning, before I was supposed to see all these people, if she had ever spoken with them. He told me yes, and that they had never gone to the Bishop. The bishop lied, they still wanted her to come back. And then he had lied to the vestry and told them she wanted to retire. My mom had then made the choice that she didn't have the energy to do the work (it's a huge church and she used to do 80 hour weeks) anymore and that's when she (actually) chose to retire.

That sonofabitch lied to my poor mother and made her feel like shit when she was going through one of the most difficult times of her life, after all she has done for this diocese, and he's supposed to be a leader in the church? Fuck him.

dang. . .that sucks. . .unfortunately membership to the asshole club is not exclusive. . .religious leaders are some of the biggest hypocrites on the planet. . .how many times have we seen one of them on tv crying and asking for forgiveness after they got busted in a hotel room with a hooker, a bottle of jack daniels and some coke?? where was all of this "humanity" that they are suddenly admitting to during the ten years that they were doing it and not getting caught. . .puh-leeez!

anyway. . .sorry. . .take care of your mom.

 

[triceptor]

Religion became tainted the moment it left the catacombs. Its a shame what has happened to your mom. I know its no consolation but another door will open for her and her life will be richer in the long run.

I was raised Roman Catholic - the whole shebang. Italian from Brooklyn, I was an alter boy, went to parochial school, had a couple people in my close family that were parish priests. Once I was able to think and make decisions for myself I ran as a fast as I could away from the church and organized religion.

Heh.. I moved to Las Vegas.. Sodom and Gomorrah on earth (LOL).

 

[PICK3]

posting pics of your tits can be very cathartic

just sayin

 

[nefertiti]

anyway. . .sorry. . .take care of your mom.

Believe me I am. So strange how much of a role reversal we've had but I am extremely protective of her, as you can see by my reaction to this mess.

 

[jh1]

dang. . .that sucks. . .unfortunately membership to the asshole club is not exclusive. . .religious leaders are some of the biggest hypocrites on the planet. . .how many times have we seen one of them on tv crying and asking for forgiveness after they got busted in a hotel room with a hooker, a bottle of jack daniels and some coke?? where was all of this "humanity" that they are suddenly admitting to during the ten years that they were doing it and not getting caught. . .puh-leeez!

.................................................

Ditto x 99.7 Petrogabazillion.


Obviously not everyone, but that 'line of work' seems to attract some of the nastiest of nasties.....

 

[digimon7068]

Believe me I am. So strange how much of a role reversal we've had but I am extremely protective of her, as you can see by my reaction to this mess.

life is cyclical. . .

 

[ceo]

Obviously not everyone, but that 'line of work' seems to attract some of the nastiest of nasties.....

so very true. some of the worst people I have met were in the church...and the worst of those were usually in leadership (preachers, elders, deacons).

That being said...I think God is great...his followers...not so much.

This can happen in any religion pretty much. I think it tends to be human nature and the thirst for power and the need to exert it over others. But, maybe I'm just being too optimistic and pretty much everyone's an asshole?

 

[nefertiti]

so very true. some of the worst people I have met were in the church...and the worst of those were usually in leadership (preachers, elders, deacons).

That being said...I think God is great...his followers...not so much.

This can happen in any religion pretty much. I think it tends to be human nature and the thirst for power and the need to exert it over others. But, maybe I'm just being too optimistic and pretty much everyone's an asshole?

My mom and dad aren't assholes.

I think the jury is still out on me, lol

 

[musclemom]

One of the reasons I sought out alternative religion was the hypocrisy and outright cruelty I encountered in conventional religion. I compare conventional religion to any paramilitary organization: You've got a chain of command and you are expected to follow certain rules.

The inherent problem with conventional religion is outside accountability; IMO it creates moral/ethical "wiggle room." In other words, you can do something rotten and get outside absolution of your behavior and you have a clear conscience. Wiggle room. The Bishop can treat your mom like shit and ask for forgiveness from an outside source, receive that forgiveness, forget what happened, and go about his life free of guilt.

Additionally, conventional religion provides for no explanation for what happened to your mother; it's an ineffable spiritual "mystery." In my spirituality you can either 1) be comforted by the fact that what has happened to her is either balancing a karma debt or will be balanced karmically in the future and/or 2) it's a lesson, and while not a pretty one or a pleasant one, anything that makes anyone feel THIS powerfully is an important lesson, a trial to be confronted, resolved and moved beyond, and that experience will not only shape who you and she will become someday, but that information can also be used, intellectually, in the future.

Your righteous indignation is perfectly understandable, but I would urge you to try to let the anger go. And then look at the situation from the point of view of the diocese (Wiccan playing devil's advocate here, how’s that for irony?). It's an "old boys network" don't tell me otherwise, and your mom is a woman having a "nervous breakdown." Men, particularly the older generation, have NO compassion for a woman with emotional problems, they don't give a shit WHAT the problem is or what generated it, she’s just the “weaker sex.” And no matter what, the church is a corporation. What they see is an "employee" who cannot fulfill her duties and could potentially be a strain on the resources, and may even impact parishioners, perhaps cause a loss of revenue.

I'm not saying any of this IS the case, all I'm saying is ... organized religion is a corporation Its purpose is to make money and to be self sustaining. To deny that is to be naive. This is one of the big reasons why organized religion worships in buildings and pagans worship in the fields. You start building shit, acquiring stuff, the spirit of the thing disintegrates. You have to start worrying about WHAT you’ve gotta do to KEEP your stuff and very often, the things you need to do to take care of your STUFF are at diametric opposition to what you need to do to take care of your spirit.