Friday, July 24, 2009

Books, newspapers, magazines and toothpaste tubes!

What am I getting at here? Reading of course!

I was perusing another blog site the other day. You should really check it out, it's flat-out hilarious. I have it on the side bar. Cake Wrecks and the name should pretty much spell it out for you for it's subject matter.

Anyways, I missed the actual discussion as it occurred since it occurred on July 12th. The discussion started innocently enough with the subject matter. Harry Potter and in particular Harry Potter cakes. Ohhhh...and reading. From there it just bloomed and ran rampant. I wouldn't say that it got out of hand per se (the hosts kept everything in check), but there were a couple tangents that led off the subject. Feel free to indulge yourself.

Anyways, my concern lies in the fact that several (I'll say...more christian) participants felt it was necessary to proclaim that they would never allow their children to read any of the Harry Potter novels because they expoused witchcraft and sorcery and the fantastical.

On the other side you have the more "open-minded" folks (and I'll use that term loosely) that are berating the religious-types to no end for their close-mindedness.

Personally, I'm a voracious reader. I'll read anything and everything. I'm not so much big on novels and fiction but I do have my favorites that I'll occasionally indulge myself. One of these days I'll get down to reading the Harry Potter series myself.

And yes...I do find myself reading toothpaste tubes if for any reason to do something while I'm brushing my teeth. I scare myself sometimes.

I'll go out on a limb here and say this: I'm what I'd call a non (or semi)-practicing Roman Catholic. I definitely don't go to church every week and I know I probably should. I'll also say that I'm definitely not in lock-step with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I'd say that their is a fair amount of hypocrisy within the Church and it's clergy. Always has been, always will be. I've also come to believe that there is an unknown amount of conspiracy within the Church as well. Regardless, that doesn't make me a non-believer. I guess I don't believe that I need to switch religions to practice my faith the way I wish.

Anyways, what I want to say is that I grew up in a Catholic environment. Not a strict environment but one that I think was typical for the time. You said your prayers, said grace before meals, went to church on Sundays, did the Lent thing..that kinda thing. But the one thing that my parents didn't do was censure what we could or could not read. I didn't go out on a limb and test his patience...but he understood that reading was the path to enlightenment (so to speak). He wanted us to be smart, go to college, and make something for ourselves, like any parent (I would hope).

At the same time...I don't believe that anyone should be chastised for their beliefs, no matter what we think personally. I don't agree with a lot of things out there. I don't agree with some/much of what my family and friends believe. We call it agreeing to disagree, and I can live with that. It's called being mutually respectful of each other and our beliefs and opinions. Golden rule stuff.

In today's society...I think that's something many of us lack or forget.