Are you counter cultural?

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We are unapologetically “full steam ahead” Catholics.

We don’t pick and choose which things about the Catholic Church we will believe in…we believe in it ALL.

We had four natural-born, wanted, breast-fed, co-sleeping, Catholic-educated children.

Our biggest regret is not having even MORE Catholic babies to populate the world.

We love our guns.

We’re ex-military.

We vote pro-life.

We don’t watch TV and couldn’t care less what Hollywood idiots think about anything.

We’re trying to pay off the rest of our house mortage so we don’t have any debt whatsoever.

Is this counter-cultural?🤷
 
We’re faithful Catholics. We are both EMHCs and lectors; I teach CCD.
He listens to hippie music. I listen to classic rock and punk.
We practice NFP. I always have to argue with doctors about it.
We are pro-life in an environment where this is tantamount to dragging women back to the stone age.
We want to have as many children as God gives us (and that will hopefully be lots!)
We want to homeschool that entire lot.
We read Catholic theology for fun … him the encyclicals, me the saint bios and prayer books.
We have WAY too many rosaries around the house.
We went to Rome for our honeymoon. Then we went back not even a year later.
We are both trying not to curse.
We go to Confession.

Wish all you others were somewhere close! We have lots of friends at Church, but still …
 
We are both Catholic

My dh has a Masters in Theology
We practice NFP
We do attachment parenting but to us that means if a child doesn’t like being worn or cosleeping then you don’t force it.
My dh hunts and owns guns
We do have tons of debt
We both work outside of the home and can accept that it’s God’s will for our family.
We both love Harry Potter and Tolkien
I love all films especially the more independent ones and usually try to support those films.
 
congratulations all you up-stream swimmers! i know how it is-- the old arms get tired, but GRACE* is ***amazing.
  1. we’re 100% fresh-squeezed, not from concentrate Papist.
  2. we go to Mass every Sunday, all Holy days and some weekdays.
  3. we LIKE Lent.
  4. even our little kids can sith through 5 decades.
  5. we have ten of them (kids, not decades. of those we have 20.)
  6. we just started our 19th year homeschooling. and just on time came God’s wonderful grace to get me revved up for it (till then, I wanted to quit again.)
  7. we had several babies at home, one in a swimming pool in our parlor, breastfed or breastmilk fed everyone of them (most into toddlerhood.)
  8. have taught CCD for 18 years. confirmation for 10.
  9. the husband and wife of this outfit enjoy time without kids in our tiny little prayer garden, together, with coffee and talk about the Pope-- for FUN!!!
  10. some of my kids wear the brown scapula, but we never asked them to. but we did ask them to learn Latin and none of them ever did successfully.
  11. the musician son can play the Mass of the Angels on a pipe organ. (that’s more catholic than I ever was!!)
  12. our daughter is in the convent (again) discerning between a wedding dress or a habit.
  13. we have no TV stations or cable. only a DVD player and rent movies. my little kids will watch Harvey.
  14. we talk about the Faith to people-- him to his co-workers, me to my AA pals.
  15. we both get teary-eyed at the baby baptisms at the 12:30 Mass.
but sometimes, the current catches us napping and we’re secularized as the next guy:
  1. we get mad at each other for selfish reasons.
  2. we spend money we shouldn’t.
  3. we dislike some of our neighbors and don’t like to pray for them too much.
  4. we see irony and hipocracy before we see good
  5. we want to be rich and famous.
  6. we sometimes prioritize stuff over people.
  7. sometimes we just don’t want to be bothered.
  8. generosity gets to be a drag sometimes.
  9. we wonder who’s not doing their fare share.
  10. we sometimes forget that politics is just politics and there is no great white hope, except GOD.
  11. we think we’ve worked hard enough.
  12. we don’t want to get up in the morning.
  13. we judge.
overall, people think we’re nuts.**
 
Wow… all last night I thought about the list I wanted to post here but after monicatholic… I just can’t… that was some list… the good and the bad… I knew there was a reason I liked you Monica!!!
 
BlestOne,
you’re ever so kind and neighborly! but please, POST YOUR LIST!!
 
  • We are both Catholic and go to mass on Sundays, Holy days and the occasional weekday mass.
  • We wonder if it would be better to call ahead when we bring the whole family to reconciliation.
  • We refuse to use contraceptives
  • We believe in God’s will
  • Family prayers in lent and advent
  • We love Advent here too….
  • Most common dinner conversation is about our faith
  • Kids actually wanted to learn Latin and go to a TLM
  • All kids profess to be virgins and waiting until marriage (21, 18, 17, 13)
  • Have no clue what attachment parenting is…
  • Only debt is our mortgage
  • No Credit cards…
  • Proud to have 4 registered republicans in the family…
  • Pro-Life to the max (with the t-shirts to prove it)
  • Kids are the summer time altar servers even though they were taken off the list
  • 50% of the youth group from our parish belong to my household
  • DH and I both signed up to work with RCIA this year
    Now for the bad….
  • I work full time and always have (no choice)
  • I cuss like a longshoreman…. I was military
  • We eat foods that are bad for us and eat out wayyyyyy too often
  • DH and I renegotiate our marriage contract every election year when he goes overboard (my opinion only)
  • DH and kids have to remind me to be charitable sometimes
  • We often wonder why things just seem so hard for us and so easy for others
  • I am obsessive about Bible Study…. Sometimes overly and to the neglect of my kids
  • I am intolerant of others that lead an immoral lifestyle… (read: I judge)
  • Both DH and I have held grudges way too long…
  • DH and kids are RPG gamers… and I love the time alone when they are playing
  • We all love fantasy books and films… including Harry Potter
  • I have done drugs and abused alcohol in the past….DH has not.
  • We fall asleep to TV at night… every night (just about)
 
SteveG said:
Most of the folks in this forum by definition are to some extent counter-cultural (being a faithful Catholic automatically qualifies you :yup:)

So is anyone else out there fiercely proud of that fact? I feel that the more I am doing things counter to this increasingly secular culture, the closer I am to being on the right track. That being said, it’s often difficult to find others who are like-minded (it’s why this forum is so awesome), and don’t look at you as some kind of freak.

So let’s be unabashedly proud of those things we do which break the mold of a decadent, ultra-individualistic, selfish society and thump our chests a bit. Let’s share those things that make us different from society, and maybe we can also learn from one another in the process.

What do you or your family do/believe/live that is counter-cultural and what are the blessings you’ve wrought from these things?

I’ll start.
We…
  1. Are 100% Faithfully Catholic – Don’t think I need to expound on the TREMENDOUS blessings this brings. We LOVE being Catholic.
  2. Practice NFP – Has strengthened our marriage, and our appreciation for life, love and babies.
  3. Have Mom stay home with children – Do I really need to explain this?
  4. Practice Attachment Parenting (includes family bed, extended nursing, carrying baby in a sling, etc. you know all that ‘hippie’ stuff :whacky: ) – Has given us secure, affectionate, peace filled children (not perfect mind you), who are easy to discipline because they know that we are always there for them and they trust us.
  5. Have NO consumer debt and buy EVERYTHING with cash (don’t even own a credit card) – Has given us the peace of mind that if something should happen (lost job), the entire world will not crash in on us and we can survive with out having to declare bankruptcy. Remember, scripture says, the borrower is the slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
    …That’s just for starters.
I hope no one will get the impression that this about being better than others because we do things a certain way (except maybe number 1 😃 ), but rather I am looking for a place for like minded families to share, and to know that they aren’t alone.
Code: 
     So, Are you Counter Cultural?



  God Bless
Steve
Click to expand...
Counter-cultural to me means ‘hippie.’ And that is my polar opposite.
 
BlestOne,
I loved your list-- especially calling ahead for confession-- toooo funny and tooo true!

ooops, I forgot to admit this:** I cuss like a longshoreman**. me too. I’m not military, but I was raised in NewJersey in the 70’s. my husband, a clean-talking fella, sometimes wants to tape my mouth shut (esp. when I’m driving in NewJersey.) yikes.

but i confess it and work on it.
 
SteveG said:
Most of the folks in this forum by definition are to some extent counter-cultural (being a faithful Catholic automatically qualifies you :yup:)

So is anyone else out there fiercely proud of that fact? I feel that the more I am doing things counter to this increasingly secular culture, the closer I am to being on the right track. That being said, it’s often difficult to find others who are like-minded (it’s why this forum is so awesome), and don’t look at you as some kind of freak.

So let’s be unabashedly proud of those things we do which break the mold of a decadent, ultra-individualistic, selfish society and thump our chests a bit. Let’s share those things that make us different from society, and maybe we can also learn from one another in the process.

What do you or your family do/believe/live that is counter-cultural and what are the blessings you’ve wrought from these things?

I’ll start.
We…
  1. Are 100% Faithfully Catholic – Don’t think I need to expound on the TREMENDOUS blessings this brings. We LOVE being Catholic.
  2. Practice NFP – Has strengthened our marriage, and our appreciation for life, love and babies.
  3. Have Mom stay home with children – Do I really need to explain this?
  4. Practice Attachment Parenting (includes family bed, extended nursing, carrying baby in a sling, etc. you know all that ‘hippie’ stuff :whacky: ) – Has given us secure, affectionate, peace filled children (not perfect mind you), who are easy to discipline because they know that we are always there for them and they trust us.
  5. Have NO consumer debt and buy EVERYTHING with cash (don’t even own a credit card) – Has given us the peace of mind that if something should happen (lost job), the entire world will not crash in on us and we can survive with out having to declare bankruptcy. Remember, scripture says, the borrower is the slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
    …That’s just for starters.
I hope no one will get the impression that this about being better than others because we do things a certain way (except maybe number 1 😃 ), but rather I am looking for a place for like minded families to share, and to know that they aren’t alone.
Code: 
     So, Are you Counter Cultural?



  God Bless
Steve
Click to expand...
Yes, I am, but in a conservative sense. I’m strongly opposed to secular-progressive thought, in most cases, and the expanding, increasingly tenacious atheism it breeds. Some consider me a bit of a ‘reactionary’, in the context of American thought, culture and politics. I’d like to think I’m not that extreme. At work, I’m drowning in a sea of liberalism. In the teachers’ lounge, for example, the more radical teachers rail against Traditional America and Christianity, almost constantly. I bite my tongue.:mad:
 
monicatholic said:
BlestOne,
I loved your list-- especially calling ahead for confession-- toooo funny and tooo true!

ooops, I forgot to admit this:** I cuss like a longshoreman**. me too. I’m not military, but I was raised in NewJersey in the 70’s. my husband, a clean-talking fella, sometimes wants to tape my mouth shut (esp. when I’m driving in NewJersey.) yikes.

but i confess it and work on it.
Click to expand...
OMGosh… maybe it is my east coast upbringing not my military service… I was raised just outside Philly…
 
KingAlfred said:
Yes, I am, but in a conservative sense. I’m strongly opposed to secular-progressive thought, in most cases, and the expanding, increasingly tenacious atheism it breeds. Some consider me a bit of a ‘reactionary’, in the context of American thought, culture and politics. I’d like to think I’m not that extreme. At work, I’m drowning in a sea of liberalism. In the teachers’ lounge, for example, the more radical teachers rail against Traditional America and Christianity, almost constantly. I bite my tongue.:mad:
Click to expand...
Maybe it’s time to un-bite that tongue!

Aren’t we called to evangelize? Good things happened to me when I finally opened my yap in a similar situation.
 
OK I’ve been thinking about this since the post started.

The Good:
  1. I go to Church every Sunday that I’m in Atlanta or when I am traveling and can find a Catholic Church.
  2. I teach Sunday School - 2nd grade - Reconciliation + First Eucharist
  3. I listen to 104.7 The Fish on my way home from work
  4. We use NFP
  5. I loathe half of the shows on television
  6. I go to Reconciliation
  7. All of my friends are Christian…but not necessarily Catholic.
  8. My husband, although not Catholic, attends Mass with me and promises to raise our children Catholic
  9. I plan on breastfeeding.
  10. I am a pro-life, anti-large government Republican.
  11. I read the Bible everyday.
  12. I say a decade of the Rosary everyday.
  13. I am a huge fan of Christian female authors (Elizabeth George, Stormie Omartian). I try to read one of their books or one like it a month.
  14. My parents are immigrants from Rome. It is my favorite city in the world 😉
  15. The only debt we have is Nathan’s student loans. Our car is paid for, no credit cards, my parents paid for my college, and we save money like crazy…but spend a good amount too.
  16. I wear a beautiful diamond cross necklace that Nathan gave me on our wedding day and smile everytime I look at it.
The Bad:
  1. I curse. a lot. I’m working on it.
  2. When I can’t find a Catholic Church while traveling I skip that week to sleep in.
  3. I work…a lot of hours…like 60 a week and I go to grad school. I see my husband maybe 10 hours a week not including sleeping time.
  4. Nathan is a househusband…which while not bad is certainly not the norm.
  5. I don’t like the idea of co-sleeping. I plan on keeping the bed for my husband and I.
  6. I am really judgmental.
  7. I love a good Chick fil A original sandwich with a milkshake…and chocolate…and ice cream…and dining out.
  8. I drink…almost every night. 1/2 glass of wine with dinner. Saturdays are my “party nights” where I allow myself to drink more than that.
  9. I love name brand clothing.
  10. I have really short hair and wear make up every time I step out of the house. I hate to leave the house looking less than presentable.
  11. I have absolutely NO desire to homeschool…at all.
  12. I have a weakness for some rap music…but not that hard rap stuff…the fun stuff.
  13. The tv shows I do like aren’t Catholic friendly at all: Two and a Half Men, Law + Order, The Office, 30Rock, Seinfeld
Maybe I’m not as countercultural as I should be.
 
BlestOne, I am from outside Philly too…

I think that is where I picked up my foul mouth as well!
 
BlestOne, I just used your list with some edits for myself 😉

We are both Catholic and go to mass on Sundays and all Holy Days (even when we are on vacation
We refuse to use contraceptives
We believe in God’s will
We love Advent and Lent.
Pro-Life to the max
I teach SRE (sunday religious education) and help with Bible School.
I homeschool my children
My children are always commenting on how wonderful babies are (honestly, at the store it’s “Mommy look at that wonderful baby”).
My 3 year old is a mini-apologist…I asked what do you want for your birthday… she says “A baby brother”. I say um, what…DD says “Mommy, Jesus has my baby brother and he will send him one day”… 😃 I say “I hope so dear”

Now for the bad….
We eat foods that are bad for us and eat out wayyyyyy too often
We often wonder why things just seem so hard for us and so easy for others
DH and I are BOTH gamers (rpg, board, ccg, computer) and we are raising gamer children.
We all love fantasy books and films… including Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga
I have a bad temper at times.
 
gee…I always thought I was…counter culteral
  1. Not into the co-sleeping…my DH like our own bed and the kids have theirs (they are grown now) DS is still home going to college
  2. A baby sling…I would have loved that back in 83 and 85. We did have one of those back packs though
  3. Both kids went to Catholic school until grade 4 until we could no longer afford it.
  4. I worked at a Catholic school for 10 yrs and taught CCD for 7 yrs.
  5. I like chant…I like some Haugen/Haas songs
  6. I Corinthians 12 really speaks to me
  7. I enjoy the sign of peace. I believe it should be contained to the pew you are sitting in. I respect those who do not wish to participate.
  8. I have instructed my children once you enter the Church, the noise and talking stops
  9. I see nothing wrong with female lectors, altar servers, or EM
  10. I love the “COLORS” of the seasons…
  11. Lent is not repressive to me…but a reflective time. Not eating meat on Friday during Lent is doable.
  12. I am a feminist for life.
  13. I am an independent moderate. I have never voted a straight ticket. No one tells me who I should vote for.
  14. Marital relations between husband and wife are no ones business.
  15. I have been on birth control. Couldn’t handle it. I believe it works on your brain…it’s not for “me”. But “I” would not make it an absolute for anyone else.
  16. Pro-Adoption…it’s the loving choice.
  17. I do not care for hunting animals. I like eating what is purchased in the grocery store.
  18. I am not a gun person. If you are…that is your right.
  19. Being half Italian and half Irish, I do swear. 😃
  20. I work outside the home and I love it. If a woman wants to stay home and she loves it…great.
  21. Everyone in my family drives a Ford. I like Wal-Mart, Target and enjoy a latte at Starbucks. If you want to boycott, have at it.
  22. Favorite band: Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, most anything between 1968 and 1977.
  23. I may not agree with ones sexual orientation>>>I don’t berate them or tell them they are going to hell in a handbasket. I don’t tell any “human being” that they are going to hell…because “I don’t know…and you don’t know either”
  24. As a human being I rise and fall with the tides of time.
  25. I am a Holy Spirit kind of gal. The gift I received is “empathy”. I put myself in others shoes…as those same shoes could very well be mine at any given moment.
  26. My Baptist grandmother told me my birthday verse is Proverbs 31:9. I was born on the 9th. I learned alot about different religions…now I understand rather than assume.
  27. The priest that married DH and I (27 yrs ago) and baptized our son is awesome! He is SC still and going strong.
  28. I believe the downfall of society is random divorce and flagrant adultery. Family is what keeps a society strong. (yes, I can lean to the right)
  29. I have never asked permission from my husband to do anything. I let him know what I am doing, where I am going. Our checking account is joint.
  30. The most powerful verse in the Bible is:
    Matthew chpt 24 37-40
The song on the radio right now is: “One Tin Soldier” by Coven.

Great song…speaks volumes.
 
Love this thread! It’s ironic that “counter-cultural” these days means largely following what used to be considered “The Establishment”: Traditional stable families, fathers as authority figures, virginity before marriage, etc.

When I used to teach in the public school, it was obvious that the only true counter-cultural students were the ones who wore Christian shirts to school, didn’t drink, abstained from sex, concentrated on their studies, etc. Those who parroted leftist talking points, were atheists, hated George W. Bush, lived to party, espoused the religion of Global Warming, etc. were just spouting the same thing you can now read in “Newsweek”.
 
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