conversion

I hate to talk about my personal beliefs but this place is my playground, without meaning
to alienate anyone who comes here, I simply can't run a site about me and my great
loves in life and leave God out. One of the most irritating thing to me is people popular
knowledge of religion and how little, even Catholics know about their very religion.
Most of what I hear is superstitions, popular and even pagan beliefs.
I have spent years studying books who were published by the Vatican and I certainly
feel like it's something to share. I don't pretend knowing much more that most
people but then again I wouldn't bother writing what I knew was not 110% reliable.
Religion is the words of God, the Verb is alive and as anything that's alive grows and
becomes more elaborated but never changes.

I'm Roman Catholic. Today is a very important Catholic event, the Immaculate
Conception celebration. The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is a recent
dogma that's been recognized by the Church after the Apparitions of Our Lady in Lourdes.
From the beginning, Mary has been known for conceiving a child, Jesus, yet remaining
a Virgin. Immaculate Conception means that Mary was believed to be born without the
sting of the Original sin, which is one of the first biggest misconception of religion. The
Original Sin being desobedience to God & not some sexy love affair between Adam & Eve.

This date is very important to me. I was Christianised on this date in 71, 3 years after my
birth. I grew up with a total lack of religion. In fact, my father was walking in the house
with a book called "When China Will Rise"and literally scanding "Viva Mao!" so saying
he was a communist and religion was not discussed in the house is an understatement.
I don't even believe I even heard there was such a concept of God until I was way older.
I don't know what it's like to grow up with a religion but I can tell you my upbringing
was a lot like the one of an animal in a way, submitted in no law of morality was
so ever. My father was Sardinian so the closest to what I may relate to somewhat of
code of behavior was my father's idea of the role of a woman and how she
should dress etc.... Let's just say that he wouldn't endorse my looks nowadays.
I loved my dad and was planning on marrying him but my mom had the same idea a
bit before me so this plan went astray.

From the start, it was a big problem, my dad wanted to be my God father which simply
can't be since the God father assumed the role of a surrogate father in case this one can't
fullfil his function. The whole event turned into a fight and the Priest was about to call off
the Ceremony but luckily they went thru with it. My parents were both peasants, made
it later on in life. I'm not sure it helped my father's image of the Church but I made it....

I spent many years of my youth exploring spirituality and religion. I'm terrible, I have
to be presented with facts to believe and most religions are based on the unseen.
Then again, if you show me a very well built flawless system of beliefs, I will believe it.
I'm often numb on an emotional level so I simply can't rely on what I feel at time
and needs some serious grounds to back it up when I'm confused, those grounds are
based up on fact, my intelligence and knowledge.

In a way, God and I we have a love affair. It's not all hearbeats & butterfly in my stomach,
I'm not the manic type of lover. I do fall in love at the first sight and this is how it happened
w/ Him as well. And it was on december 8th 1984. I literally got stroke with the absolute
conviction that not only God existed but the Catholic religion was His making.

Many people argue that the Bible has been re-written and edited and I argue back that
none of this is relevant to me. If those same people were a little more savvy, they would
know that, even in the very religion none of this matters. It is common knowledge that
we follow the religion as it is during our lives and we are not penalised for following
the possible alterations going on in the law at a given moment of the history. It amazes
me how we all, at time, seems to forget that perhaps God has allowed such changes
& have some ideas of His own behind them.

It seems so irrelevant to know that Jesus was not born on december 24th and the
Catholics have agreed with the Romans to celebrate the birthday of Christ the day
of the winter solstice in order to get along with the reigning government of the time.
Perhaps the first Christians should have all been exterminated in order to make sure
we had the right birthday or perhaps they were wise enough to see that misplacing
a date doesn't change the message.
Christ was born and that was the message. Where and when was not.
We are allowed to change the name we were given at birth by our parents if we don't like
it but a religion can't change a birthday for social reasons without being accused of lying.

Once I became Catholic I was amazed to found out about the 'outlaws' religions separating
from the Church for disagreeing with certain dogmas.
I felt very puzzled. How can we embrace the idea of an All Mighty God and believe He
can create Heaven and Earth yet can't conceive a child from a Virgin. It sounds so much
easier than coming up with a whole Universe!! I guess my God is really Allmighty and I
can't imagine Him having any limitations and issues at creating whatever His mind pleases.
We always look at God lending Him our own limitations and simply rejects what our
intelligence can't conceive. Saying God simply can't do certain actions is saying that there
is no God cuz the very idea of God is that there is an All mighty being above us.
It feels like it's an attempt to humanize religion by stripping if off the
very attribute of God's power.