Some slacker angels in QC miss some of us. That's exactly what happens.

My huge extended family was having their Sunday post-church BBQ back when I was newly minted from Army basic training. They'd requested that my two cousins and I, all military, wear our uniforms so that they could honor us properly. They asked to see our dog tags and when I showed mine to my brother, I suddenly froze in horror. As I saw his face do likewise, I knew what he had seen.

My religious preference: NONE.

Sure, we had another atheist in the family. But, my cousin Severo was so militantly obnoxious about it, that he was something of an outcast and rarely invited to our family get-togethers and holidays. I mean, these people are fanatic. My sisters murmur their rosaries to EWTN while doing their elliptical exercises. Not that the Holy Mother has ever interceded. They've been struggling to lose the same 10 and 15 pounds for the last 20 years. Everyone went to catechism, Catholic schools, funds permitted; got the required sacraments. My siblings even have a couple of grandchildren who are altar boys ( I watch them with an eagle eye to make sure they're not walking bow legged).

Some neurologist now say that atheists are born with their brains wired differently and pre-disposed to non-belief. I refute this. What about European countries where the majority of the population are non-theists? Although, I admit that my skepticism started young. You know how it goes. "God created everything." "Well, who created God?" "God gave up his only begotten son to die for our sins." "No, He didn't. He came back three days later." I made it my goal to read the entire bible from start to finish in my teens, however. I figured it would bring me closer to my creator.

Big mistake. That book ought to be banned if people are expected to remain faithful. Or at least rationalize it until their heads explode. OK, this is a rant, in case you haven't figured it out. If I can't vent my spleen today, I'll grind my teeth into nubs. I stood by sadly and passively while my family swooped down and snatched up my children when they were babies, determined to save them from the hellfire that my unbelief had destined me for. I was wishy-washy and cowed, standing on the sidelines watching them get baptized, attend catechism, confirmed, married in the church. My family made sure they alway attended Sunday services while they lived in the area. Eventually, after marrying, they moved to different towns. To my relief, maybe it was the example of my lack of belief, their own was lukewarm. Once gone from the strict holy environment of the family, they cheerfully lapsed into non-church attendance.

Now, I'm fuming all over again. My son-in-law's family is as disgustingly Catholic as mine is. Around the weeks of Lent and Easter, they demanded that he keep my precious little 3 year old granddaughter, Olivia, with them while she underwent the rite of first catechism. She's adorable. But, she's rather morbid. She's gotten a fixation on vampires lately. She's got a baby doll that she likes to drag around, telling everyone it's dead. "My baby's dead. A vampire killed her. He drank her buh-lud." So, it begins. A new generation of what I consider the brainwashed. I know a lot of DU'ers are taking umbrage if they're reading this and are faithful. I respect your beliefs. If you sincerely have a faith and aren't rubbing it in people's noses and trying to evangelize them annoyingly and insistently, more power to you. But, must those beliefs be a form of indoctrination pounded into individuals at such a young, vulnerable age? Can't people be allowed to grow up a little until they get a chance to have a questing mind that allows them to reflect, question and make up their own minds about the faith their families are presenting them with?

Well, my little granddaughter was adorable as expected reciting her first canon of faith.

"Jesus loves me. He died for me. He died on the cross for me. A vampire drank his buh-lud."

;)