The "My family/friends differ from me in politics & religion but we still love each other" thread

In My Humble Opinion
41

I’m essentially a Jewish atheist; my wife’s family is mostly ultra-religious Ukrainian Catholics, who immigrated from Ukraine after WW2, of the ‘folk religious’ variety - they consider themselves, quite literally, more Catholic than the Pope, in that the Pope often will not sanction some of their more extreme beliefs (they tend to see miracles everwhere).

I often find them highly surreal, and no doubt, they find me the same.

It was particularly odd and disconcerting when we started dating. On one of my first visits, I read a devotional pamphlet sitting on their coffee table: it was all about various meditations you were supposed to do (in English and Ukrainian). Apparently, each day of the year you were supposed to meditate on a different torment suffered by Jesus for forty minutes. Since Jesus didn’t suffer 365 different torments, they had to get a bit creative; the one I was reading about was where “the Jews” rammed human shit into Jesus’ mouth.

Seemed more than a trifle odd to me, to sit there for forty minutes thinking about that.

Another time, I was sitting with her in her room when the door suddenly opened and in popped a priest in full regalia, with a sort of silver wand in his hand. He shook this thing straight in my face and out shot a stream of water, soaking me. Then, he popped back out and shut the door. [Turned out this was just a yearly blessing of the house and part of the ‘fun’ was soaking folks with the holy water].

Anyway, in spite of their oddness to me, and mine to them, they are good folks who have never been unkind to me.

42

Perhaps your grandchildren will be Sarah Palin in '36 supporters. :smiley:

43

Well lemme see here:

My Dad is Christian (Presbyterian) but seems to have a very much of an ecumenical slant (at least perfectly fine with Judaism theologically speaking) but politically is to the right of me and listens to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin and uses rather simplistic political arguments.

My Mom is Mahayana Buddhist (though she goes to church with us) and politically leaning conservative but not particularly so.

My mother’s side aunt and uncle (sibling) are politically left though my aunt is socially conservative and are Mahayana Buddhists.

One of my friends is half-Syrian, half-Croatian, Sunni Muslim and his family used to be Republican until President Bush’s actions in the Middle Eas.

Another of my friend’s family is Jewish Democrats (goes to a Conservative synagouge but agnostic in fact) who are very liberal.