"Get f****d, Catholic Church" - It Comes With the Territory

Twitter is a great online community. That's the way I see it, anyway. I'm meeting people I've known from other places there, and will be getting to know more.

"Get f****d, Catholic Church"

I was born in a virulently anti-Catholic town, and raised in a mainstream Protestant household. I knew what to expect, when I decided to covert to Catholicism. No complaints: This sort of thing comes with the territory.

Looking for fellow-Twitterers (Twitterians??), I searched for "catholic" on the site. Not all Twitters were like this, but many were:

• "[name redacted] You can always count on the Catholic church (for anything from idiocy to downright fascism): [link redacted]
• "[name redacted] [link redacted] I refuse to be counted a Catholic. I didn't ask to be one and there should be a way of renouncing one's forced baptism.
• "[name redacted] Condoms don't prevent AIDS, religion does. [link redacted] Get f****d, Catholic Church.

I've done a little redaction - like that 'adult, mature' suggestion for the Catholic Church.

Indignation at an "Irresponsible" and "Immoral" Church

Not all days may be like this. People are reacting to the Pope's "irresponsible" and "immoral" assertion that condoms won't protect you from AIDS, but limiting your sexual activity to what's healthy for body, mind, and spirit, will. (March 17, 2009)

I don't claim to be as irresponsible and immoral (by those standards) as the Holy Father, but I try to be on the same page:

• "Good News from Africa: But Some People Won't Like It"
  (March 17, 2009)
• "Sex, Condoms, AIDS, an 'Immoral' Pope, and What Everybody Knows"
  (March 17, 2009)

The person who wants to renounce a "forced baptism" shows more understanding of what the Catholic Church is about, than many 'ardent' Catholics do.

The fact is, though, that the door isn't locked, either way. Anyone who wants to, can walk away from the Catholic Church, and never come back. Can't say that I'd recommend it, but what you do with your immortal soul is your business. All I'm responsible for is relaying the facts.

I did find some promising leads on that "catholic" search, by the way: and hope to run into more, as time goes on.

Why I Twitter

Most of the people I run into on Twitter are not as uptight as the three I quoted. I doubt that any that I follow are Catholic - we are a minority in the English-speaking (and writing) world - but they don't seem bothered by my being one of Those People.

For the most part, I enjoy posting and reading short (140-character maximum) messages, and exchanging ideas, greetings, and tiny talk with others. (It'd be "small talk" anywhere else, but Twitter is so succinct, I figure it must be "tiny talk" there.)

Now, a blatant plug:
On Twitter, I'm
Aluwir