this is an interview with m. a bit more serious. you just never know.
i: now i will interview you, m.
m: now i’m in trouble!
i: (looks at m)
m: what are you interviewing me about?
j: men.
m: men? oh, heavens!
g: religion! there’s a good one!
i: what shall it be? men or religion?
m: religious men!
i: what about religious men?
m: well, i’ve always found them kind of interesting and crazy.
(there’s a side conversation about men in kilts going up ladders. isabella isn’t quick enough to catch the whole thing)
m: alright. mh. so. as a child, i was a catholic. we were told that the priests were very special and holy men. quite the surprise to find out that most of them were perverts, later in my life. well, maybe not most. many.
(as we’re saying this, my husband walks around the kitchen, wearing a t-shirt that says “utterly perverted”)
m: that’s probably what trigged me into this topic. g’s t-shirt. so then later i had a friend who went off to join a monastery. he was bisexual or confused, one or the other, and thought this would be a good way to sort out his sexuality, by going to a monastery. he returned a year later because he found out all the guys in the monastery were having sex with each other. no confusion there! he was pretty disappointed. that didn’t help him at all.
m: you have to ask a question! come on, interviewer!
i: so then what happened? (note the intelligent question!)
m: i just found that i was exceedingly disillusioned about religious men and the whole religious establishment. the church has a lot to answer for.
i: but this was all a little while ago. have they changed, perhaps?
m: not likely. been reading the papers lately? no, not likely. no.
i: is there anything that can save the church?
j: pure anarchy.
m: yeah! women!
i: what about the nuns?
m: oh, please! not the nuns i knew! no, i’m talking about laywomen. any organization that eliminates women from certain positions is doomed to failure. don’t your agree? (she asks the interviewer)
i: (the interviewer just types and types) (then scratches her head)
i: i have a question!
m: yay!
i: i posted something about a woman who started a church support group for people with mental health issues. did you read that?
m: sorry, i didn’t.
j: i read it!
i: does this contribute something to our conversation?
j: yes. it showed women being given the opportunity to grow in leadership and being supported in that. she was an inexperienced facilitator and was a co-facilitator to work with and it was extremely successful.
m: was that within the church?
j: yes! it was supported by a minister.
m: what church?
j: i remember her being nervous about it, then through trying it out finding it was the best she could have done.
i: it was an evangelical church in burnaby.
m: most of my experience has been with the catholic church and although they are evangelical catholics – maybe they’re better, i don’t know.
i: but the ones that you know … ?
m: they’re stuck. they’re totally stuck.
this is hardly a comprehensive discussion but it might open up comments for people who have had similar, or maybe completely different, experiences.
this is an entry for my participation in the 2008 blogathon, a 24-hour marathon of blogging. please support the cause and donate – however much, however little – to the canadian mental health association (vancouver/burnaby branch). to donate, email me or use this URL: www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=d2252. you should be able to get there by clicking the link; if not, just copy and paste the link into your browser. it will take you to the appropriate location at canada helps.
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