good friday confession...

mmmmmm meat!
I'm officially a non practicing Catholic. Most of the time, I don't even really consider myself that, as I don't go to church and haven't prayed in years. This is because as I have grown older I have realized that in many ways the Catholic church & I just don't see eye to eye. Gay marriage, the non existence of women priests, no sex before marriage, and abortion are just a few of the few examples of this disconnect. Not that I don't believe in a higher power, but my version of God really doesn't fit the mold of most conventional religious faiths. However, to be honest, I was born and raised to believe in the Savior Jesus Christ, and I never really fought that association.

Being the non-practicing Catholic that I am, I don't partake in the usual lenten activities. I do not give up something of value (like chocolate or swearing) as a symbolic remembrance of the occasion. I don't go to mass on Ash Wednesday nor do I abstain for eating meat on Fridays. However, my mom adamantly insists on no meat on Good Friday, the holiest of all Fridays during lent. As usual in life, I give in to her wishes, mostly because I don't want to upset her and not eating meat for one day is a small price to pay for her happiness. Thus, this past Good Friday I did the same thing as usual. All day, I abstained from my beloved carne, eating the equivalent of twigs and veggies..only to be hungry a mere hour later. I don't get it, how do vegetarians ever feel full???!! It is horrible!! Horrible I tell you...

But I digress..my real confession is...at the tune of midnight, I dug into the leftover Beef Fried Rice and drank a few beers and life was good! Blah to no meat. Blah to a symbolic day which holds no value to me whatsoever!

WHEW! There...I feel much better gettin' this off my chest!

mmm..chocolate virgin mary ?

This morning while browsing the web I came across yet another story about people worshipping some type of food which THEY BELIEVE holds a likeness to the Virgin Mary. Just what exactly is it with people always seeing depictions of the virgin mary in food ? This time, it was found in a chocolate factory among scraps of other pieces of chocolate.

I don't know about you, but I don't see the likeness here at all (see pic below)...in fact, just looking at this picture of chocolately goodness is making me hungry. I understand that in these days and times everybody wants to take some comfort in their religion and salvation, etc...but just the thought of people literally worshipping a mis-shapen piece of chocolate with prayers and rose petals is just a little too much !! C'mon people..its a fucken piece of chocolate!!!! Get over it already.


depiction of the virgin mary or just a wonderful chocolatey replacement for sex?

to all the haters...its our bodies, not yours (so suck a lemon)

Today women worldwide rallied for their reproductive right to choose abortion. While I may be pro life for myself, I am definitely pro choice for other women. I truly believe in a woman’s right to decide what happens to her body and don't think the government, religious institutions, or even family members should have any say in whether she should have a baby or not. Its a woman’s prerogative and since she is the one who will be raising and caring for her child, she should be the only one to ultimately decide whether she should bring it into the world or not.

Now don't get me wrong, I do not take abortion lightly, especially since I recently found out that my own life was almost put to a premature end through abortion. My mom seriously considered aborting me when she found out she was pregnant because my parents simply couldn't afford another child. Then, she simply fell in love with me, and decided to have me despite all the money issues. Of course I'm thankful, and this revelation gave me a whole new perspective on abortion...

...but I still think abortion is a woman’s right and not a privilege. Many of these pro life activists judge and speak against a subject matter which they ultimately have never been forced to consider. I mean, all these people who call abortion murder obviously never had to deal with living in extreme poverty to the point that they are forced to nearly starve because they are obliged to give their children whatever limited amount of food they have. When they find themselves pregnant yet again, they are forced to make the hard decision on whether they can feasibly feed, clothe and care for another child.

These activists have never been in the shoes of a scared young single teenager who's "loving boyfriend" which she gave everything to (including her virginity) left her, with no support system, with no money to support herself, none the less support a child. While some may say she was stupid to begin with by getting knocked up, this is not a perfect world; sex is human nature and teenagers are increasingly sexual active. Even people who are protected sexually end up with babe 9 months later.

There are countless situations where women have to choose abortion over becoming a mother. It’s not an easy decision for anyone to have to consider. It's a scary, sad, and very personal decision that no one has the right to control except the woman herself. Pro life advocates may call these women murderers and whores and insist that its necessary for these women keep their children, but they do nothing to help these women out. They can say what they want, but they will not help these women raise their kids, and they certainly will not provide any monetary or psychological support for these children. Shit, they are just trying to force women who OBVIOUSLY do not want or cannot feasibly have more children to adhere to their ideals and religious beliefs. What’s worse to me, is that these children, if they were brought into this world, would most probably be raised in very undesirable and dire circumstances. This ultimately just increases the number of people living in destitution and just increases the gap of poverty in the US. Sigh…

What I really don't understand about all these right wing republicans (i.e. BUSH & gang) is their wide support of the death penalty (is that not murder as well? I thought they were PRO LIFE), and their rollbacks on laws protecting the environment (are they not supporting the poisoning of us & all the children of the world by lowering these standards?). Its frustrating to me. If they truly wanted to get to the root of this problem and reduce or eliminate abortion, they should at least make birth control and health care widely available to all those who need it in the US. Maybe then, there would be a HUGE drop in the numbers of abortions performed. But of course, that will never happen...So I continue to say:

"To all the haters...its our bodies, not yours (so suck a lemon)"...That is all.