the taboo subjects

My friend Joe has a description of what his house is looking for in a roommate, and it states that the roommate-to-be must put up with conversations on "taboo subjects" like politics and religion and personal lives. I really laughed, because that's exactly what I enjoy talking about the most! In "polite conversation", supposedly these topics are not to be broached. Especially if you know you are surrounded by people who violently disagree with you. That happened at dinner one time. We had a couple over who generally is more liberal, and we and another couple have made it pretty clear that we are open minded, but we really do stand for certain things and tend to vote conservatively. It was odd that they even brought up that they didn't like our current president, and they bashed him pretty hard, but we didn't even intend to have that conversation. It kind of felt thrown in our faces, because they brought it up as everyone was leaving. It was just odd.
And yet, I do like those conversations, you just need to know that everyone else in the room feels like talking about those things, too. In college, 2am is a great time for those conversations. Who knows why, I guess like alcohol, lack of sleep loosens one's tongue a bit.
So, in the name of being a rebel, here are some fun ideas I have in my head about politics and religion.
Politics: I have no idea who I'm voting for, but if it's Hillary vs. Rudy, I am going to cry, because I'll have no one to vote for. So far, Ron Paul looks mighty appealing, as does Huckabee, so we'll see if one of them gets the nod. I like Ron Paul because as far as I can tell, he's the only honest, consistent person. He is a strict constitutionalist, even if one does not agree with everything he has to say. I like people who really do try to follow that, because, why bother having a constitution if you aren't going to follow it? That constitution made freedom possible for many countries by its example, so throwing it away just should not be an option. Like Church law, it's there for a reason, and should not fall apart because the current fashion is to not take anything seriously. Direction is good. I like people who are honest and consistent, not haphazard. At least not people who affect my freedom and that of my country. So, I give a tentative nod to Ron Paul. I know how these things go, and anything could happen in a year. We also need to get paperwork done so my hubby can vote. He is still Canadian, and *gasp* has never voted. But it will cost us $600 to simply apply for citizenship. And that is a whole 'nother political discussion...

Religion: We are Catholic, and were raised that way. We love being Catholic, and we take it very seriously. We are in the minority, even in our own families. We know this, but we take comfort in knowing that our solemnity and joy are not without logic. We read a lot, and we look at why the Church teaches what it teaches, and we know that the Pope's job is to uphold doctrine and dogma, not to invent new things. This is something that is lost on the general public. Also, the Catholic Church has only one Founder, Jesus Christ. Not Martin Luther, not Henry VIII. Peter is our first Pope. And there is a huge wealth of writings from the founding fathers of the Church which almost no one reads. If they did, they would see the reasons behind many things people continue to argue about, like abortion, celibacy, and birth control. There is so much beauty left untapped by the regular people, partly because they don't care to read it or are too busy, but also because it challenges you to be honest about your life and change it drastically. Sometimes that is very hard, as Scott Hahn and his wife could tell you. The book Rome Sweet Home is a great example of how hard discovering the Truth can be for your personal life, and yet how wonderful and freeing it is to trust God completely with your fate.
One thing that I think people have lost sight of is that the "feel good church" is not the goal. Pain and suffering happen. The Catholics and Jews have never lost sight of the power of suffering to fulfill God's will and cause growth that leads to Heaven. It stinks to go through it, of course, but it's much easier if you feel that there is a point, even if you don't yet know what it is, and if you can direct your pain to the alleviation of someone else's, and pray to God to send that energy into someone else's life, it makes the pain bearable. And if it isn't bearable, and one is mad, mad, mad at God, well, He is a big guy. He can handle it. And this, too, shall pass.

And that is my philosophical stump speech for today. Thank you, thank you.
And God bless.
And Happy Advent!