Things I've Observed: Priests

[woodwardiocom]

This week's altfriday5 question about "basic common knowledge in your culture, which people outside are unfamiliar with" led to me wondering what exactly a straight white guy could say on that topic. (My only minority cred is "poly", which doesn't seem appropriate here.) But, I did come up with something.

While I'm agnostic, my mother is an Episcopalian priest, and I thus, growing up, I spent a fair amount of time with assorted Christian priest, ministers, reverends, and clerics, Episcopalian and otherwise. My observation?

While Christians and Christian priests get a bad rap from a lot of sectors of today's society, in my experience, most of them are kind, smart, and, while not strictly "open-minded" qua "likely to change their minds easily" on issues of faith, are at least willing and equipped to intelligently discuss the things you disagree with them about, without hostility or judgment. I have also found them to have a fine sense of humor and to be on very good terms with the local Christian priests from other denominations. Almost all of them are men and women I'd be happy to take a long bus trip with.

My findings here are obviously colored by both me mum (who is both my beloved mother and scary-brilliant in her field), and the fact that I've mostly been exposed to "Blue State" Christians (seeing as how I live in Massachusetts), but I thought I'd put my observations out there.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you said this. J (my husband) is a practicing Episcopalian. He is involved with a very leftist activist intellectual church (St. James in Cambridge) and finds in "the community" that he is often looked askance because of this. Yet I have had the same reaction to the intellectual leftist Christian clergy as you have--many are engaging, intelligent, interesting and committed to social justice.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

I'm a liberation theology Catholic, and so have seen the gamut in terms of priests. I have greatly admired many of my Jesuit teachers and pastors in particular, whose grasp on theology and world often inspired me. I've had Franciscan pastors who give rousing Baptist-style sermons in my black church in Chicago, and I've seen a lot of good, despite the bad publicity.

I feel often I get given a pass because "the community" knows I am Catholic and practice. I pay it no mind because I understand the bad rap my church has gotten, as well as an outside impression of what priests are like that is very negative. I can say this in in the vast majority of cases is untrue.

[anselm23.livejournal.com]

Your mum is an Episcopal priest! That's awesome!

Where'd she do her divinity school work? I did mine (MTS) down in Virginia, and I've been overcoming it ever since. :-)

[tisana.livejournal.com]

Though I have little experience with ordained minister types, I think you're right. I have issues with religious zealots and people who don't really know much about their own religion but still want to whack you over the head with it...but ministers tend not to be like that.

In response to your first sentence, though...yeah, I'm as generic and white as your average American, but I still have a "culture" in that I'm a geek and a freak. Subcultures, maybe, and not based on ethnicity, but there is a shared background and many shared values with others who share those labels, and it's hugely important to many of us, almost to the same extent; many of us wouldn't bother dating outside our "culture," if only because the Others don't understand. It's pretty similar to ethnic or religion-based cultures, right there.

[zonemind.livejournal.com]

"It's pretty similar to ethnic or religion-based cultures, right there."

Mmmm… The problem I run into as a "native foreigner" is not actually understanding the nuances or social references of the super-culture to which you are subbed. It's not an identity thing where they don't understand me. It's the other way around. I don't understand them. I can't fake my way through many of the little rituals that identify the "us" and the "them", and my chosen identity is irrelevant.

When I came to America I fell pretty quickly into the "alt" culture, which talked a lot about acceptance and toleration. Either it was all bullshit, or I'm just rough-edged enough to have been the exception to the rules of hospitality.

I don't think I'm that special.

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

It's even more entertaining when you're adding religion to the subculture of "geek". The number of Orthodox jews in the geek subculture isn't so high. It makes dating.. interesting.

But yes, I'm not likely to date much outside of both cultures. At least one of the 2 is much easier to expose people to and bring them further into, as long as they're interested.

(Well, to be honest, it's possible on either account. However, religion isn't the one i meant :)

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

Oddly, i don't think Rabbis get the same bad rap. I don't really know from much other than the sterotyptical Catholic priest, but It might be because of the differences in their involvement in the community. I suspect that the other Christian professional leadership - is there a good term for lumping the minsters, priests, pastors, etc together? - get tarred w/ the same brush as Catholic priests, as somewhat outside the community. Rabbi's don't have any restrictions on marriage, and there's far more socialization w/ the lay community, with family outings, etc.


But like I said, I'm not sure how this affects the denominations that allow for marriage, or female $LEADERS, etc. It really ought not to be that different in perception. I'm just ignorant of the Protestant culture, I suspect.