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Mar. 12th, 2003 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckInterestingly enough, Scott's mother did not send Scott home on Sunday with a piece of cake for me. Two pieces of bread, some non-dairy chicken Florentine and mashed potatoes, and a pasta salad, yes, but no cake. This may mean that she's figured out my taste or that she thinks I don't need to gain further weight or it may be an indication that Scott either vetoed the cake or ate it on the way home. I'm not sure it matters much.
The question of baptism has come up again. I've not gotten Scott to sit down and talk about it, so we never got back to his aunt about the crocheted dress. She's now turned to Scott's mother for an answer, so I don't think we can put it off much longer. I'm pretty clear on my position and waiting for Scott either to agree or to present his argument as to why he wants me to change my mind. I think he's more confused. He has told me that he thinks being raised within a faith is a good thing, and I've said that I'm amenable to joining the local Unitarian Universalist congregation if he feels strongly about it. I'm not enthusiastic because I find... Well, my sense is religion/spirituality works much better for me as a highly individual thing. Communities make me nervous when they become as all encompassing as a shared faith can make them. I tend to draw my ethical lines in different places than a lot of people I encounter, and I feel that each person's relationship with the divine is as private as... as... Analogies are failing me here. Perhaps, as private as what interests them sexually. It can be shared but no one should feel any obligation to do so, and some of it's likely to appear odd when viewed by other people.
This is not to say that I oppose group worship. Religious communities seem to work really well for a lot of people, and most humans are very social. There's obviously something wonderful in the experience of shared faith. I simply find that my automatic reaction is to become hyperaware of the ways in which I personally disagree with what's being presented as the common creed.
Of course, I also hate getting up any earlier than I absolutely must. This is unlikely to be an issue during the first few years of parenthood; we're not going to be sleeping in that much anyway. Later, though... The real immediate issue I foresee will be transportation. Scott works some Sundays, and we'll never know till the Thursday or Friday before if that will be the case. That will make our attendance at any church irregular and keep us from doing more than showing up, sitting through the service and leaving. The UU building is a long way away, on the opposite side of town and, I think, outside the actual city limits.
The question of baptism has come up again. I've not gotten Scott to sit down and talk about it, so we never got back to his aunt about the crocheted dress. She's now turned to Scott's mother for an answer, so I don't think we can put it off much longer. I'm pretty clear on my position and waiting for Scott either to agree or to present his argument as to why he wants me to change my mind. I think he's more confused. He has told me that he thinks being raised within a faith is a good thing, and I've said that I'm amenable to joining the local Unitarian Universalist congregation if he feels strongly about it. I'm not enthusiastic because I find... Well, my sense is religion/spirituality works much better for me as a highly individual thing. Communities make me nervous when they become as all encompassing as a shared faith can make them. I tend to draw my ethical lines in different places than a lot of people I encounter, and I feel that each person's relationship with the divine is as private as... as... Analogies are failing me here. Perhaps, as private as what interests them sexually. It can be shared but no one should feel any obligation to do so, and some of it's likely to appear odd when viewed by other people.
This is not to say that I oppose group worship. Religious communities seem to work really well for a lot of people, and most humans are very social. There's obviously something wonderful in the experience of shared faith. I simply find that my automatic reaction is to become hyperaware of the ways in which I personally disagree with what's being presented as the common creed.
Of course, I also hate getting up any earlier than I absolutely must. This is unlikely to be an issue during the first few years of parenthood; we're not going to be sleeping in that much anyway. Later, though... The real immediate issue I foresee will be transportation. Scott works some Sundays, and we'll never know till the Thursday or Friday before if that will be the case. That will make our attendance at any church irregular and keep us from doing more than showing up, sitting through the service and leaving. The UU building is a long way away, on the opposite side of town and, I think, outside the actual city limits.
