Why does DC seem like such a Catholic town with so little Catholics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

This sounds like the phrase, “Have you stopped beating your spouse yet?” —guilty whether you answer yes/no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

No of course I’m not denouncing my citizenship, but I think it’s fair for people to be a little wary of institutions that have a track record of massive cover-ups (like the government, or any organized religion) and untenable internal contradictions.

Fwiw I think the example above where a poster was kicked out of something simply for being Catholic is certainly prejudiced and egregious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

No of course I’m not denouncing my citizenship, but I think it’s fair for people to be a little wary of institutions that have a track record of massive cover-ups (like the government, or any organized religion) and untenable internal contradictions.

Fwiw I think the example above where a poster was kicked out of something simply for being Catholic is certainly prejudiced and egregious.

And you can keep your faith while joining the argument against things you find wrong in the instituion, right? Look at all the wokr that has been done to get Vatican II and since the 80s with the child safe reforms, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"So Little Catholics"

This is like the other post where someone said "they should have came here legally"

If you want people to pay attention to your post, use actual proper English. That isn't it.

Maybe Catholics are avoiding the OP due to their poor grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

No of course I’m not denouncing my citizenship, but I think it’s fair for people to be a little wary of institutions that have a track record of massive cover-ups (like the government, or any organized religion) and untenable internal contradictions.

Fwiw I think the example above where a poster was kicked out of something simply for being Catholic is certainly prejudiced and egregious.

"A little wary" is a far cry from "it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this." Of course practicing Catholics are and have been "troubled" by this, and some of the people you are calling complicit are actual victims who filed lawsuits, made complaints, or who today are involved in the reforms and take and enforce the training programs so they can volunteer at CCD, and so on. There has been so much activity on these issues for the last 50 years that I just can't fathom how anyone would assume no one is "troubled."

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a very catholic neighborhood in suburban Maryland. I was othered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

I’m really sorry you were treated like a member of your church and not as an individual. But the Church has made its position on LGBQT people abundantly clear - God loves you, but living as your authentic self and seeking out human love and connection in the way you were born to want is a mortal sin that you must avoid at all costs. Your daughter may be a lesbian, but the church demands that she live without sexual companionship and will not recognize any marriage she makes unless it is to a born man.

People are not unreasonable in assuming that your continued support of and affiliation with an institution with such a clearly stated policy indicates your support for that policy. Maybe it’s not fair, but church affiliation isn’t mandatory, and it’s certainly not something that is outside your control.

If your organization serves a lot of LGBQT people, you have to accept that serving that population in a real way means recognizing when your choices make people uncomfortable. No one is going to ask a card carrying member of the Daughters of the Confederacy to join the NAACP Board, even if she’s just honoring her ancestors and isn’t really a racist. The stink is there.

I'm not sure which post is worse. Hers or yours.

I don't believe she was asked to leave because she was Catholic. That's total bullshit and didn't happen. But assuming it really did, your support for it is also bullshit. You're a bigot.

Taking responsibility for your choices is hard, I can see why you’d shut down and start insulting people who make you uncomfortable.

Maybe you should stop being bigoted to people based on who they are and how they love. How dare you presume God made them wrong?! What do you know?

One of us is the bigot and it ain't me.

Saying it over and over again doesn’t make it true. God knows what you think about his creations. You’re crazy if you think any amount of ritual can forgive that kind of unabashed hate. Absolutely crazy.

What on earth are you talking about? Are you just trolling? Spare me the Catholic bashing. I've been Catholic my whole life. I went to Catholic school through grad school. I've been to Mass a thousand times over. Never once have I been subjected to anything anti-gay in any of those contexts. My best friend is gay. I just went to his wedding with my whole family. The Pride Parade is our favorite day in the summer. We live right on the parade route and have a party. I don't give sh*t if you're gay, and neither does any Catholic I know.

You're the one generalizing and spreading hate.

You’re pretty lucky then, because our homily today (in Arlington) was centered around the holy family and how same sex couples, people who “choose their gender” and those who don’t marry and have children aren’t on the right path. That was the message. I don’t agree with it, but we get a homily like a few times a year.

NP here. This is interesting to me. As a DC native and Catholic, I have visited and attended various Catholic parishes through the DMV throughout my 50 plus years on earth. I have never heard a priest mentioned same sex couples in his homily or in other settings. If anything, I think the priests in the DMV area are soft and somewhat cowardly. They veer too much on the side of "God is love" and they go through great lengths to avoid controversial topics. There is nothing wrong with feel good homilies and inspiring hope to parishioners, but sometimes I desire to have a warrior type of priest who is not afraid to tackle tough issues head on. I am not looking to agree with a priest on every topic, but I truly embrace clergy who challenge parishioners and like to shake things up a little.

If you don't mind me asking, "What parish in Arlington are you referring to?"

[Anonymous]

I think OP's premise is wrong. I'm not Catholic, but I know many in the area and the facilities, such as the Catholic Information Center and the Basilica. I would guess 1/4 of my friends are catholic. I sent my DS to a catholic school for the rigorous classical books education, but still remain non-catholic > many of my co-workers in top biglaw firms, DOJ, Education, and other agencies were catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

I’m glad somebody said it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

I’m really sorry you were treated like a member of your church and not as an individual. But the Church has made its position on LGBQT people abundantly clear - God loves you, but living as your authentic self and seeking out human love and connection in the way you were born to want is a mortal sin that you must avoid at all costs. Your daughter may be a lesbian, but the church demands that she live without sexual companionship and will not recognize any marriage she makes unless it is to a born man.

People are not unreasonable in assuming that your continued support of and affiliation with an institution with such a clearly stated policy indicates your support for that policy. Maybe it’s not fair, but church affiliation isn’t mandatory, and it’s certainly not something that is outside your control.

If your organization serves a lot of LGBQT people, you have to accept that serving that population in a real way means recognizing when your choices make people uncomfortable. No one is going to ask a card carrying member of the Daughters of the Confederacy to join the NAACP Board, even if she’s just honoring her ancestors and isn’t really a racist. The stink is there.

I'm not sure which post is worse. Hers or yours.

I don't believe she was asked to leave because she was Catholic. That's total bullshit and didn't happen. But assuming it really did, your support for it is also bullshit. You're a bigot.

Taking responsibility for your choices is hard, I can see why you’d shut down and start insulting people who make you uncomfortable.

Maybe you should stop being bigoted to people based on who they are and how they love. How dare you presume God made them wrong?! What do you know?

One of us is the bigot and it ain't me.

Saying it over and over again doesn’t make it true. God knows what you think about his creations. You’re crazy if you think any amount of ritual can forgive that kind of unabashed hate. Absolutely crazy.

What on earth are you talking about? Are you just trolling? Spare me the Catholic bashing. I've been Catholic my whole life. I went to Catholic school through grad school. I've been to Mass a thousand times over. Never once have I been subjected to anything anti-gay in any of those contexts. My best friend is gay. I just went to his wedding with my whole family. The Pride Parade is our favorite day in the summer. We live right on the parade route and have a party. I don't give sh*t if you're gay, and neither does any Catholic I know.

You're the one generalizing and spreading hate.

You’re pretty lucky then, because our homily today (in Arlington) was centered around the holy family and how same sex couples, people who “choose their gender” and those who don’t marry and have children aren’t on the right path. That was the message. I don’t agree with it, but we get a homily like a few times a year.

NP here. This is interesting to me. As a DC native and Catholic, I have visited and attended various Catholic parishes through the DMV throughout my 50 plus years on earth. I have never heard a priest mentioned same sex couples in his homily or in other settings. If anything, I think the priests in the DMV area are soft and somewhat cowardly. They veer too much on the side of "God is love" and they go through great lengths to avoid controversial topics. There is nothing wrong with feel good homilies and inspiring hope to parishioners, but sometimes I desire to have a warrior type of priest who is not afraid to tackle tough issues head on. I am not looking to agree with a priest on every topic, but I truly embrace clergy who challenge parishioners and like to shake things up a little.

If you don't mind me asking, "What parish in Arlington are you referring to?"

You’re replying to me. Come to St Agnes or St Charles in Arlington. We get the anti gay marriage homilies. I’m surprised to hear at least 2 PPs say they never get these messages. I want to walk out on the homily once or twice a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

Same. I could not be more liberal, but when people hear where I went to school, they immedialtey asusme the opposite. Do people not know Catholics historically have been evenly split in U.S. politics? Kennedy anyone? Biden, Pelosi?

Sorry but the Catholic Church has done so much harm to so many people (abuse cover-ups, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, curtailing women’s reproductive freedom, the untenable priest celibacy requirement that leads to repression and covert expressions of sexuality) that it’s hard to to see practicing Catholics as complicit or as not being troubled by this.

I was raised Catholic and can’t fathom practicing now. Also, Kennedy was a complicated person individually and full of the contradictions and buried flaws just like the Catholic Church writ large - not sure that’s a great example…

That is BS and you know it. Apply that to any other group where some in it, it's leaders, have done great harm or hold views you don't agree with. Are you denouncing your citizenship because of the evil done by our government?

No of course I’m not denouncing my citizenship, but I think it’s fair for people to be a little wary of institutions that have a track record of massive cover-ups (like the government, or any organized religion) and untenable internal contradictions.

Fwiw I think the example above where a poster was kicked out of something simply for being Catholic is certainly prejudiced and egregious.

And you can keep your faith while joining the argument against things you find wrong in the instituion, right? Look at all the wokr that has been done to get Vatican II and since the 80s with the child safe reforms, etc.

You can also keep your faith by joining another religious institution that doesn't do the sorts of wrong things that your current religious institution does. Or you can drop religion entirely, as more and more people have done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universities, the churches/cathedrals, and yet I never meet any Catholics out in this area at all.

What gives?

This is a hard town to be openly Catholic with people that you don’t know well. Although the majority of US Catholics and Catholics in this area particular, are not social conservatives, you will be tar-brushed as right wing.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered for years with a nonprofit that did art therapy. In 2019, someone joined the board who assumed that I and another volunteer would be anti-LGBTQ because of our religions. She demanded that we quit because she said it made her feel uncomfortable and she was certain we made the population we served uncomfortable. She only knew I was Catholic because she asked to change a meeting to accommodate her religious holiday and I said I couldn’t attend the new date because my religious holiday was the next day.

When I was told I had to quit because I was Catholic, I fought back a bit, pointing out that 1)one of my kids was an out lesbian and very active in our parish, 2) the witnesses at my wedding were a gay couple, and 3) I had been the volunteer who brought in a trans masc artist (a friend’s partner) to work with our Haitian clients.

It didn’t work. The knee jerk on her part was that as a Catholic, I had to be a bigot so I had to go.

Since then, I have been hesitant to identify myself as Catholic. When it happens online, I see that same knee jerk response even when I am clearly protesting socially conservative policies and ideas.

I’m really sorry you were treated like a member of your church and not as an individual. But the Church has made its position on LGBQT people abundantly clear - God loves you, but living as your authentic self and seeking out human love and connection in the way you were born to want is a mortal sin that you must avoid at all costs. Your daughter may be a lesbian, but the church demands that she live without sexual companionship and will not recognize any marriage she makes unless it is to a born man.

People are not unreasonable in assuming that your continued support of and affiliation with an institution with such a clearly stated policy indicates your support for that policy. Maybe it’s not fair, but church affiliation isn’t mandatory, and it’s certainly not something that is outside your control.

If your organization serves a lot of LGBQT people, you have to accept that serving that population in a real way means recognizing when your choices make people uncomfortable. No one is going to ask a card carrying member of the Daughters of the Confederacy to join the NAACP Board, even if she’s just honoring her ancestors and isn’t really a racist. The stink is there.

I'm not sure which post is worse. Hers or yours.

I don't believe she was asked to leave because she was Catholic. That's total bullshit and didn't happen. But assuming it really did, your support for it is also bullshit. You're a bigot.

Taking responsibility for your choices is hard, I can see why you’d shut down and start insulting people who make you uncomfortable.

Maybe you should stop being bigoted to people based on who they are and how they love. How dare you presume God made them wrong?! What do you know?

One of us is the bigot and it ain't me.

Saying it over and over again doesn’t make it true. God knows what you think about his creations. You’re crazy if you think any amount of ritual can forgive that kind of unabashed hate. Absolutely crazy.

What on earth are you talking about? Are you just trolling? Spare me the Catholic bashing. I've been Catholic my whole life. I went to Catholic school through grad school. I've been to Mass a thousand times over. Never once have I been subjected to anything anti-gay in any of those contexts. My best friend is gay. I just went to his wedding with my whole family. The Pride Parade is our favorite day in the summer. We live right on the parade route and have a party. I don't give sh*t if you're gay, and neither does any Catholic I know.

You're the one generalizing and spreading hate.

You’re pretty lucky then, because our homily today (in Arlington) was centered around the holy family and how same sex couples, people who “choose their gender” and those who don’t marry and have children aren’t on the right path. That was the message. I don’t agree with it, but we get a homily like a few times a year.

NP here. This is interesting to me. As a DC native and Catholic, I have visited and attended various Catholic parishes through the DMV throughout my 50 plus years on earth. I have never heard a priest mentioned same sex couples in his homily or in other settings. If anything, I think the priests in the DMV area are soft and somewhat cowardly. They veer too much on the side of "God is love" and they go through great lengths to avoid controversial topics. There is nothing wrong with feel good homilies and inspiring hope to parishioners, but sometimes I desire to have a warrior type of priest who is not afraid to tackle tough issues head on. I am not looking to agree with a priest on every topic, but I truly embrace clergy who challenge parishioners and like to shake things up a little.

If you don't mind me asking, "What parish in Arlington are you referring to?"

You’re replying to me. Come to St Agnes or St Charles in Arlington. We get the anti gay marriage homilies. I’m surprised to hear at least 2 PPs say they never get these messages. I want to walk out on the homily once or twice a year.

Have you ever walked out on a homily that you disagree with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are not supposed to talk about it... it's like fight club.

We are supposed to stay under the radar.

Because you are MAGA Traitors Anti American

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. The Deep South, the heart of MAGA country, the most anti-gay and anti-choice region in the country, is far and away the least Catholic. They're practically non-existent there. The KKK hated Catholics almost as much as it hated black people.

Catholics are most heavily concentrated in urban areas of the northeast, Midwest, and California -- the bluest areas of the country. The nutjob Catholics on the Supreme Court weren't picked because they're Catholic; they're there because they're conservative. Conservatives come in every stripe. Stephen Miller is Jewish. Scott Bessent is gay. Justice Sotomayor is Catholic. So was Justice William Brennan, the liberal lion anti-death penalty champion of abortion rights and gay rights who Justice Scalia once said was the most influential justice of the 20th Century.

Anyone who thinks that we Catholics are all running around hating and judging gays just don't get us. They're certainly not going to Mass with us (where gay sh*t is never discussed) and they're not having dinner with us. Sure, from time to time some bishop or somebody in Rome says something about the gays -- we roll our eyes and go on with our day.

There's a lot of "official" stuff that I don't like about many other mainstream religions. I don't judge every member of those faiths for that stuff. If you are judging every Catholic for every official tenet of the religion it makes you a bigot. Plain and simple.

SCOTUS Common denominator is Catholic. No getting around that.

I grew up in an all Catholic community one of 4 Jews I can say unequvically that town is still racist, antisemitic, maga garbage. The Catholic Church is right next to the local elementary school and one of the junior highs. It puts out tons of political crap still. During Jan 6ht it sent buses for god's sake.

My neighbors in Potomac are Catholic they are all MAGA.

Is everyone who is Catholic bad of course not. But MAGA is very large representation in the Catholic community. My kid played on a soccer team age 10-18 everyone else but us went to Good Counsel & Academy of Holy Cross we are Jewish, it was not pleasant but my kid and the coach handled the shitty parents. Those families are all MAGA I can see their FB posts it is horrifying.

Catholics are about 27 % of this country it would be disengenuous to say Catholics are not a huge part of what is happening with the Trump Administration in terms of racism and antisemitism.

Again not all Catholics are MAGA huge amount are and to deny that is foolish and absurd.

Plus Catholic Church is still paying to protect criminal sex offenders great religion to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. The Deep South, the heart of MAGA country, the most anti-gay and anti-choice region in the country, is far and away the least Catholic. They're practically non-existent there. The KKK hated Catholics almost as much as it hated black people.

Catholics are most heavily concentrated in urban areas of the northeast, Midwest, and California -- the bluest areas of the country. The nutjob Catholics on the Supreme Court weren't picked because they're Catholic; they're there because they're conservative. Conservatives come in every stripe. Stephen Miller is Jewish. Scott Bessent is gay. Justice Sotomayor is Catholic. So was Justice William Brennan, the liberal lion anti-death penalty champion of abortion rights and gay rights who Justice Scalia once said was the most influential justice of the 20th Century.

Anyone who thinks that we Catholics are all running around hating and judging gays just don't get us. They're certainly not going to Mass with us (where gay sh*t is never discussed) and they're not having dinner with us. Sure, from time to time some bishop or somebody in Rome says something about the gays -- we roll our eyes and go on with our day.

There's a lot of "official" stuff that I don't like about many other mainstream religions. I don't judge every member of those faiths for that stuff. If you are judging every Catholic for every official tenet of the religion it makes you a bigot. Plain and simple.

SCOTUS Common denominator is Catholic. No getting around that.

I grew up in an all Catholic community one of 4 Jews I can say unequvically that town is still racist, antisemitic, maga garbage. The Catholic Church is right next to the local elementary school and one of the junior highs. It puts out tons of political crap still. During Jan 6ht it sent buses for god's sake.

My neighbors in Potomac are Catholic they are all MAGA.

Is everyone who is Catholic bad of course not. But MAGA is very large representation in the Catholic community. My kid played on a soccer team age 10-18 everyone else but us went to Good Counsel & Academy of Holy Cross we are Jewish, it was not pleasant but my kid and the coach handled the shitty parents. Those families are all MAGA I can see their FB posts it is horrifying.

Catholics are about 27 % of this country it would be disengenuous to say Catholics are not a huge part of what is happening with the Trump Administration in terms of racism and antisemitism.

Again not all Catholics are MAGA huge amount are and to deny that is foolish and absurd.

Plus Catholic Church is still paying to protect criminal sex offenders great religion to do that.

I am proud to identify as Catholic, in part, because of the church’s stance against MAGA.