INTELLIGENCE we know exists within this time frame...yet despite 15 billion years of... million mistakes for one success ie natural selection/evolution, we still get to watch one busybody faction of humanity SNAP the finger and create another INTELLIGENCE it calls god, out of nothing- and also forcing the LAW to exist only under its domain!
Our whole goddam culture is corrupted by

"The best lack all conviction,while the worst are fulla passionate intensity" as the Saintly Che Guevera once stated....

I had a similar upbringing and experience of incredulity at other children's religious expression. I didn't understand, and looking back on it now, I'm not sure how much they understood either. The worldview in which the idea of God makes sense (as opposed to being something that is just believed because you were told to, or because you're afraid of what will happen if you don't) is not really an intuitive one in everyday culture. So we get the magic old bearded white man in the sky.

I also had a middle-class Jewish upbringing and was taught the Bible stories.
It wasn't a part of my fantasy world and never presented as such.
When I was encouraged to use my imagination or pretend, religion was not part of those episodes.

It wasn't until I was older when I realized how much my fantasy play had in common with my religious teachings.

Bad juror #1.

So, what did the jurors say about your 4 hides?

You've been busy since you returned from 5 hides.

Thanks for owning up. I'll see you around.

children don't and can't understand the nuances of concepts of religion, theology, spirituality.

Children in religious families are usually dogmatic in what they understand, as when, for example, they tell another child he'll "go to hell" if he doesn't _______ (fill in the blank).

Religious ceremonies are not constructed for a child's mind and no one should be surprised that they are bored or restless when brought to such services.

boring and and being restless as an adult?

My curiosity leads me to try to understand what is being offered in that place.
I know that the practices are rooted deep in history and culture, and I want to be a part of that.

Much more, but I don't feel up to the psychoanalysis necessary for expressing the whole at this time.

Occasionally witness a baptism or marriage.

although I have watched masses on TV (EWTN) before.

I went to the ordination of a friend as an Episcopal deacon at the Episcopal cathedral in my city, and it was, as they say, more Catholic than the Pope. I felt very comfortable, though awed, during that service.

As for attending a Roman Catholic mass, it can likely be confusing if one is not familiar with the liturgy. And some masses are well done, some are routine and hurriedly done. Good and bad homilists. Good and bad music. I believe many/most Catholics go through life unaware of the elements that are part of the Mass as we know it today.

Once in a while a funeral or other ceremony is presented on TV where someone knowledgeable on what is happening explains the various elements to the viewers. Masses on EWTN usually presume a knowledge of RC liturgy.

Beautiful pieces. Church as theater, in a way. Which was likely the point at one time.

sung in Latin. Ex. The Sanctus, or the Pater Noster, or Kyrie (in Greek).
I always enjoy joining in - that doesn't seem to leave one, just like how to ride a bike never leaves.
Once in a great while, Benediction is done, and the Tantum Ergo just doesn't translate well into English

I grew up, too, with women wearing hats or veils, and the boys preparing to be servers.

My good friend Sally was having a conversation with her imaginary friend god. It is only after years and years of indoctrination that adults think something else is going on.

The alleged subtleties were sophistries.

I can relate to the 50's, those were my childhood years. Somewhere around 4th grade I walked to school. Alone or with my sibs, friends. We stayed out futzing around in the neighborhood 'till sundown - that was the get home marker. A very different time from today I guess.

Mom was Catholic, Dad an Episcopalian. We were all introduced to Catholicism, all baptized, yet I never felt there were any strings attached so to speak. I also experienced temple services with a Jewish friend. I liked both rituals. And both cultures - I think that was my take away from my early days. I recognized a cultural component to it all.

None of my sibs followed up in any religious involvement. I did, though. Completed the CCC classes. Got confirmed. It's seen as a coming of age ceremony like the Jewish bar mitzvah.

Though I don't practice the religion of my past much at all, I value the community it still represents. And some of that community are positive actors in our larger communities. A cultural Catholic seems apt in this context, for me.

Thanks again.

The cultural aspect often becomes the social aspect as one goes out into the wider world.