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Oh man, I did this "see what famous writer you write like" thing, using a few of my fics, and the first one it gave me was Douglas Adams (!), the second was Vladimir Nabokov (!!), and the third was... Dan Brown. DEPRESSING. Dan Brown, goddamn
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I don't think of myself as being particularly, umm, militant/vigilant as far as getting offended over pop-cultural treatment of Catholicism goes, but I think that I might underestimate myself on that, because I've had issues with Supernatural on that front!
Haha, now I'm sitting here thinking about this particular SPN episode and just... aagghh... so bad. (I'm thinking of episode 4x10; have you seen it? I can't remember how much of SPN you've watched.) OFF TOPIC, sorry.
Point is, my thing with Catholicism is sort of like with family, where it's okay for you to criticize but you get defensive if someone else does? And it's irrational and ridiculous and on an intellectual level I fully recognize that religion and religious pursuits ABSOLUTELY should be critiqued and criticized and questioned, but I still cringe sometimes at non-Catholics' comments, in a "they just don't understand" kind of way.
UM. And my other point is that I don't really know the storyline of the book that well, so I don't know exactly what other peoples' problems were with it and I don't know what my opinion would actually be.
Okay, speaking of books, what is the name/author of that series you like so much?? With... I want to say Navy SEALS? idk. Something sexy along those lines...
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LOL. Your reaction is VERY similar to mine. I love me some Ewan but when I heard he was playing a priest, I definitely made a face like David in my icon. :) As far as the movie goes, it was good if you hadn't read the book as is usually the case. The book is a million times better as far as setting up the story and executing the point.
Regarding Catholicism, I'm of the mindset you can't criticize what you are uneducated about. I know next to nothing about it, I'm open to it, have several friends who are practicing Catholics or who were raised Catholic even if they went a different route later in life and I love them all. Life's too short to be so judgmental and close-minded. I might not agree with someone about aspects of religion or politics, but it's my opinion that as long as you aren't causing mental and physical anguish to anyone else, you do what you want. That's probably why I'm a Christian scientist libertarian. I'm a walking contradiction.
As for SPN, ummmmm... would you believe I've never watched it? We've had the pilot for a while but just haven't watched it yet. *looks around*
I don't know exactly what other peoples' problems were with it and I don't know what my opinion would actually be.
I can't remember what the issue was but I remember there was a bit of an outcry and this was part of a movement to get the movie canned. I didn't really understand the issue because like I said, as far as religion goes, I thought the book did a nice job of showing both the historical darkness while highlighting the love of God and how that should be the focus of all religion... not just Catholicism. *shrugs*
Navy SEALS!!!! God, I love these books. The series you are referring to is The Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann. I suppose if you go into the series expecting classic literature, you'll be disappointed. But,if you just want to read a story about some truly wonderful characters who happen to be military or FBI or skilled assassins... you should enjoy the series. Admittedly, Suzanne does NOT write women very well in the beginning. Most of the damsels the SEALS fall in love with will get on your damned nerves the first couple of books but after that, she found her stride and created several kick ass female characters. Something else to love about this series is that it's one of the few main stream romances written with two gay leading men. Jules and Robin, I love them! Suzanne's son is gay and she is very much an advocate for gay rights. All the proceeds from Robin and Jule's story and a portion of the rest go to PFLAG. It's a pretty good cause to support and a helluva good read, if you just want to have some fun. :) I highly recommend.
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This is a good point, especially since it goes the other way all the time--i.e., not only do a lot of people who don't know about religion (or about a particular denomination) criticize it regularly, a lot of people who are religious criticize perceived "anti-"religious things regularly. Like, you know, evolution. To me (and I imagine to you) it is not particularly difficult to reconcile science with religion, but I think that comes from not aligning oneself too rigidly with one or the other. Like, if you take an absolutely strict literal view of the Bible as Truth, there's a lot of scientific shit you have to throw out, and if you see science as purely the unguided interaction of... umm.. sorry, I'm not a scientist... ~molecules~ and whatnot..., ANYWAY, then you see how ridiculous a lot of the stuff in pretty much ANY religion is, and it might make sense to throw the whole concept out. But if you can recognize that there are some things in each that make sense and some things that don't necessarily, things can balance out. Um. In my opinion.
I might not agree with someone about aspects of religion or politics, but it's my opinion that as long as you aren't causing mental and physical anguish to anyone else, you do what you want. That's probably why I'm a Christian scientist libertarian.
I try not to be judgmental, too, but I think that it's possible my measure of "causing mental or physical anguish to others" is more sensitive than yours. Or maybe it's because I'm something of a liberal-Catholic-sociologist-socialist. ;-) WE MAKE SUCH A GREAT PAIR.
And oh, idk why I thought you had watched some of SPN! I might have just confused you with Magi or something.
I suppose if you go into the series expecting classic literature, you'll be disappointed.
Ha. The closest I ever get to classic literature is Jane Austen, pretty much, so no! I'm down with assassins! All I've been reading this summer has been, like, Jennifer Crusie books. Thanks for the heads up on the women characters! I will buckle through if they bug me. I'm at the library right now so I'm going to go see if they've got the first one or two in the series. Thanks! And yaaaay, about the gay characters, that's very exciting.
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I totally understand because that's my opinion too. :)
I'm something of a liberal-Catholic-sociologist-socialist. ;-) WE MAKE SUCH A GREAT PAIR.
haha. This made me laugh right out loud. We really do make such a great pair. Anyone else in the world would probably wonder how we are friend. *is amused*
Thanks for the heads up on the women characters!
You are welcome. I enjoyed the first two books in the series as far as story goes but the second book has the female character that got on my nerves the most. The author really hits her stride in writing after about book four. But luckily, I'd fallen in love with Team Sixteen before then so I had to keep reading. Sam and Alyssa are my favorites. Man, now you've got me wanting to read them all again. I only have 2.5 books left in the series. :)
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