21st September 2011
“I'll always remember talking to an old monk, after he'd spent a whole afternoon listening to the confessions of the girls at my younger sister's convent. He said he didn't feel he was breaking any secrets of the confessional when he revealed that every one of those little girls had confessed the identical sins – right down to the number of times they'd had impure thoughts. Clearly, they'd learned what to say from a book and didn't really mean any of it.”
September 21st, 2011 at 3:02
they’re lucky they got away with their
pants intact.
September 21st, 2011 at 4:47
They were GIRLS, RJ.
September 21st, 2011 at 13:33
In a variety of different areas in life we find the preprogrammed response, Pavlov’s conditioned response, salivation at the sound of a bell.
Just watch any pro sporting event and the player interviews and tell me the great majority of them aren’t scripted. It is as if they were reading from a note card: “We need to get back to the basics, stick to the fundamentals…”
There is an entire class of people that are preprogrammed to say X when asked Y, to say “how High” when commanded “Jump”.
I can see no reason why fairly ignorant little girls wouldn’t have already learned to respond in a certain manner, not too guilty but guilty enough for a few Hail Mary’s.
Musician Pete Townsend spoke of an “Emminence Front” when referring to the drug scene surrounding the music industry and I’d submit to everyone that such a front exists even outside the music industry.
Fact is I can’t think of any aspect of life which presents hypocrisy, a false front, an unseen agenda, as that presented by religion.
Is that anyway to live? Any way to raise a child? So much for the glory of god. Hardly seems glorious when you expand your view.
September 21st, 2011 at 19:01
POST AT 447
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captain…. i know they’re little girls in the quote, but ya
gotta think that for some of these old church twists, a
target is a target is a target. BUT, that doesnt bother me as
much as the old fart breaking the confidentiality of the
confessional. i mean you either KEEP to a rule,
or you BREAK it. this guy thought this incident
was mildly funny……….so he broke the rule, and
talked to quotes’ author about it. harmless ?
probably so. true to the rule ??? NOT AT ALL.
what this tells ME is that monks are just as
fulla crap as everybody else. and of course
we have lotsa evidence displaying how seriously
priests take their vows. it is astounding to me
that the RCC expects ANYONE to take them seriously.
September 21st, 2011 at 19:16
POST AT 1333
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SINJIN……….
you and seem to have quite a bit in common.
i hate sports anyway, but i have ALWAYS found sports
” interviews ” overwhelmingly hilarious !
i always make a quick bet with myself when an
interview is about to start……….. i bet on how
many times i will hear THESE words :
intensity
depth
heart ( or courage……..interchangeable )
perspective
drive
lookin’ good
hungry
pulled this club (or team) together
injuries
just fell apart
( and , of course……)
FIRE !
you cant beat a sports interview for insipid nonsense !!
did i tell you i got the ” DOUBT ” book ???
September 21st, 2011 at 19:39
R j glad you got Doubt, I hope you will enjoy it and I think you may agree not only is she a rare historian with a sense of humor but she writes beautifully. I could hardly put it down. I even wrote to her and received a reply. Just a charming person: living the life she is!
The conditioned response, whether an athlete at a microphone or a school kid in a confessional or in any other place where humans interact is a sad thing. Why put ourselves through the paces of the unnecessary? Conformity? Unity? For the greater good?
Seems the truth always reveals itself anyway, why not lead with it?
Subordination by conditioned response? Man that is awful!
September 21st, 2011 at 19:48
see sinjin……………there’s lotsa stuff we do alike.
i write to people all the time about this or that……………..
and it IS cool to get a reply. i agree with you already.
the DOUBT book is beautifully writtten !!!!
September 21st, 2011 at 20:09
Aah an atheist bromance in the making 🙂
September 22nd, 2011 at 0:38
You all are bound for ((((HELL)))) I tell you.
September 22nd, 2011 at 14:49
Where is this hell which you speak of? Do you have GPS coordinates for this place?