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Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
In my sixth form religious studies class, my teacher decided to introduce us to various vocations that we might be called to in life (we also learned about various types of love, but that's another far more awkward story). What were these vocations, you ask? Motherhood, Wife, and Nun. Nothing about careers, d'accord. Our teacher spoke to us about being a mother, our school chaplain about being a wife, and our school nun about being a nun. Needless to say, my class was incredibly unimpressed with the talks on wifery and motherhood, but Sr. Colleen kicked it with her talk on the Sisterhood. Seriously, my whole class was enraptured. This is also the same nun that was fiercely anti-war, etc. Total bad-arse!
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Green Goth Brit Chick - AlternatEve
12/27/08

@Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith: My Priest when I was around 9 to about 14 was kick ass, as was the Sister assigned to our church. Whenever my grandfather (strict Irish Catholic) was being an ass about much Church attendance they managed to calm him down.

I ended up agreeing to do readings in Church and they made sure I always had the nice short readings, although one day he deliberately left the wrong page open - I think it was because I was having one of my teenage angry stroppy moments and it was his way of making me smile.

He also caught me sighing with releif after my first reading and made a joke about it whenever he could. But it was never mean or nasty, he understood my sense of humour well and could always make me grin.

I miss him a lot, even as an agnostic.
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Snowbunny
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
I just saw Doubt last night.

I wouldn't be a nun in Boston, but I would totally be a priest.
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Brigit
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
The nuns I had in my school sucked for some people, but to me they were extremely nice, and some frankly mothered me. It helped that I was nerdy, had a baby face, and`was non-rebellious.

The asshole in my school was a male, married religion teacher. He was an intolerant misogynistic ass, and when I had to do the confirmation I thought I had the parish priest as the teacher... but they switched my sections at the last minute.

He made my confirmation meaningless.
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Jessi Ramsey
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
Nuns are awesome . Once in catholic school I was sent to the principal's office, because I didn't finished my test in the allotted time, by my teacher. The principal( a nun) listened to the teacher rant about me and then after she left the nun turned to me and said, " Well she has a cross up her butt." and then gave me candy and let me play Oregon Trail on her computer.
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LadySoprano is a Fat-Fighting Superwoman
12/26/08

@Jessi Ramsey: YES!!! Love it.
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applejuice
12/27/08

@Jessi Ramsey: Oregon Trail FTW!

Oh, by the way: Your teacher has died of Dyssentary.
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YourScreenplaySucks
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
I love (and slightly fear) nuns. I had a convent elementary education and 4 of my relatives are nuns (in my family, everyone is either violently atheistic or a bride of Christ - middle ground is for wussies). As Tina Fey said, they get shit done. And if they rapped your knuckles a bit when you were growing up, you probably needed the discipline.

A few of my favorite nuns:

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The Harlot Queen Likes The Word Strumpet
12/26/08

@Your Screenplay Sucks: Did these people "need" the discipline?

[www.adultandchild.org]

[barangayrp.wordpress.com]

[www.freedommag.org]
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Shotrock
12/26/08

@Athaliah: I'm curious. If I posted that my dad spanked me, oh, like 2-3 times when I was a toddler, would you reply with a link comparing him to Josef Fritzl?
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hellosunshine
12/28/08

@Shotrock: Right? My parents swatted me when I was bitty and all it did was teach me not to do stupid shit. I guess I just never thought I was being abused?
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Lauren Milner
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
My friend's older sister is currently visiting a convent in New York to see if she wants to join that one. So she went to a private college for 4 years to become a nun.. the thing about this nunnery is that you can only see your family every 9 years.. I dont think poor Jennifer could make it even 9 days without talking to her mom.
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theysaidwhat
12/26/08

@Lauren Milner: Every 9 years??? Did they offer some explanation for this practice?
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sequined
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
I adore nuns. I correspond with a few of them (long story) and they are incredibly thoughtful, smart, and caring. It makes me want to live that kind of lifestyle--dedicated to service and community and teaching--, but I don't think I could give up the recreational sex. Ah well.
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Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith
12/26/08

@sequined: Yeah, but if you don't have it in the first place, or feel it's less important in the grand scheme of things, then what's to miss?
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Cesybabe or Nirvanah Crane
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
I was taught by the last teaching nun in our area. Gret lady, tough as nails. Everyone loved going to her classes, and there were alway plenty of volunteers anytime she needed a hand at her house as she always handed out toffee and nails. She was alway interested in her 'kids', even as we grew up and moved away. My family went and visited her in Auckland last year. She was very old, had several strokes, but was still mostly with it. She insisted on showing us around the convent, which was situated on a cliff in a beautiful part of Auckland. She insisted we go look at the stations of the Cross in the chapel, and just said, 'Oh never mind Sister Agatha, we're having her funeral a little later'. What she didnt tell us was that it was an open coffin. Slightly disconcerting that was to see a Bride of Christ, in her white clothes all prepred to met her Maker!.

She was a great old lady, who died 2 weeks later. It was a privilege to see her again

RIP Sister Jo.
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theysaidwhat
12/26/08

@Cesybabe or Nirvanah Crane: The first funeral I ever attended was for a nun at our Church who was my Sunday school teacher. I was maybe 9 or 10. She also had an open casket.

Surreal was the only way to describe it, as she looked so unlike her living self.

I'm sure my parents struggled with whether I was old enough to attend. (My siblings, all younger, didn't attend, if I recall correctly.)

My parents are disappointed to this day that they couldn't afford to put us all through Catholic Schools, but I'm glad they did not. They did put my sister in them briefly during a rough patch of hers, but quickly yanked her out when they realized she was being taught the curriculum we had been taught 3 years earlier in our excellent public schools.

Realizing we had one of 'those priests' also got my brother yanked from altar boy practice. Once my mom learned the priest had been moved from parish to parish to parish with no explanation, she was on that shit. She never explained it to us, but she knew that we didn't generally have itinerant priests in the RC church. Someday I will have to ask her how she 'knew' and why she 'knew'.

I'll stop now as I am rambling.
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LadySoprano is a Fat-Fighting Superwoman
12/26/08

@theysaidwhat: Never doubt a mother's intuition. Sounds like your mom has it!
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theysaidwhat
12/26/08

@LadySoprano: @Cesybabe or Nirvanah Crane: I actually just called my mom and asked her about it. LadySoprano, you called it. She said she just never had a good feeling about the man. Intuition. Didn't want to have him over for dinner, as would be customary for a new priest in your parish. She and my dad apparently fought over it, since she only had intuition to back her up.

I recall my brother coming home from an altar boy outing and vomiting. Right before my mom pulled him from the altar boy duty, or around the same time. Maybe he was invited to the outing in the hopes he would return-I can't recall.

But my mom said the same thing that I had been thinking: when the scandals broke, she immediately wondered if that priest was one of 'those priests' and hopes she got my brother out in time. As do I.

Cesybabe, yeah. There have been huge mistakes and abuses. But there have also been many good priests and nuns who have benefited people. Touchy subject, for sure.
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Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)
12/27/08

@theysaidwhat: "she knew that we didn't generally have itinerant priests in the RC church."

Depends. In many dioceses in the US, it's pretty typical to rotate the young priests every 2 to 3 years; you don't stay put until you have some seniority. (And, depending on parish needs, maybe not even then.)

But yeah, good on your mom's intuition.
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SisterMaryMartha
12/26/08

In reply to Sister Act
fiesty.
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