Growing up without god, but not without a rich fantasy world.

[pinto]

14. Thanks for your story. Suspect we all had some similar experiences as kids.

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.