Catherine Deveny writes about Catholicism, her childhood religion, with all the subtly and wit of a 15 year old know-it-all flaunting a new-found sexuality and atheism to annoy her parents. (That is, with none at all.) Trouble is, she's 40.
I also wonder about this section:
Why would the priest even recognise her? Unless she gave warning of her attendance (and why would she bother doing that?) I would be quite surprised that she would otherwise be known to him.The priest, obviously drawn by the unusual sight of new people, approached us to welcome us to his flock. I shot out my hand. "Hi, I'm Catherine."
All the blood drained from his face. "You're that writer?" "Yes," I replied. I happily introduced my sons, who, in an uncharacteristic display of manners, shook the priest's hand and said, "Nice to meet you." The priest wandered off in a daze. Or was it a trance? Maybe it was religious melancholy.
She's seems profoundly proud of her kids being brought up as free thinking libertines:
After surveying the ''good news'' of carnage and damnation on the wall, the 11-year-old asked what a virgin was. I explained. Then he said, "Is there something wrong with sex?"We know what her answer would be. One gets the impression from previous columns that she intends to be terribly non-judgemental and open-minded to the point of quasi-encouragement to experiment, probably as a continuation of her resentment of her parents trying to set some boundaries for her. (Just a guess, there, but she does write in her column today how a comment made in the car by her father, about another family, made her want "to jump over the front seat and ram my father's head into the windscreen".)
If there is any justice, at least one of her kids will have a conservative rebellion and end up very religious. It will, hopefully, annoy Deveny no end.
2 comments:
An annoying piece of drivel. I wonder why these self serving pieces of piffle that perpetuate whatever misshapen lump of Catholism they half remember from childhood pop up everywhere.
"not bitter" !!!!
I suspect the priest is rather sensitive to hypocrisy, smugness and cant and sees it when it arrives - he nonetheless succeeded in being welcoming and induced uncharacteristic politeness in her sons.
I'm sure she sees what she wants to at mass. She just should not have been there if she was not participating. There was certainly no communion between her and the participants she so derides and journalism does not excuse such behaviour.
"If there is any justice, at least one of her kids will have a conservative rebellion and end up very religious. It will, hopefully, annoy Deveny no end. "
Amen to the first, but for all her kids, not just one of them. The second is.. secondary. If she raises her children to be truly intelligent and rational, then there is hope that truth will be found in that household someday. For every one of them, one can pray.
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