M
Madaglan
Guest
THE FOLLOWING POLL IS TO BE ANSWERED BY MEN ONLY, although women are more than welcome to offer their opinions on this thread.
To tell everyone the truth, although in my early twenties, it has only been in the last five years or so that I have really increased in my respect and devotion to my Catholic faith. Beforehand, I was very much turned off by Catholicism, not because I knew a whole lot about it, but because what I thought Catholicism was, through what I was taught in CCD and other media outlets of religion–in addition to some Protestant influences which defined my image of Christianity in general.
Surprisingly, I started attending the sacraments again only after reading the OT. I was really surprised to read really cool stories about God zapping people, Jonathan and his shield carrier ambushing the enemy, the Maccabbean wars, the Davidic wars, etc. I also was really surprised, when I began reading the NT for myself, that Jesus is not some rainbow-aura’ed pacifist, as I had assumed, but is the Almighty and powerful God, King and eternal warrior against Satan. I soon discovered, in reading about the early martyrs and the great Christological battles of the early Church, that traditional Christianity is much more manly and worthy of the male’s attention than I earlier preceived.
Just now, I pulled out one of my first CCD books–“Church: Our Signs.” On the front cover is a picture of children who are laughing as they lay on their backs, with their heads towards a common center. In flipping through the pages, I recognize cartoonish pictures of priests, eucharistic ministers, Biblical figures, etc. Even in the picture for the Last Supper, everyone is smiling. Arggh!
I don’t know about every other guy, but when I was young, I was intrigued with war, battles, sports, competition, kicking butt. I sometimes wonder if CCD programs would profit if they taught Christian theology in a way that is attuned to the competitive and physically active nature of boys and young men.
Unfortunately, I oftentimes see the spiritual representations I experienced in CCD on television shows like EWTN–which, to be noted, is a very good station; I just can’t stand some of the commercial prayers, since they are too mawkish for me.
What do you guys think?
Please don’t think that I’m trying to be chauvinistic. I understand that Christianity needs to appeal to women, too. I just wonder if, especially in the formation years of the Christian (through CCD) there is not enough attention paid to the male nature–and instead of growing in interest of the Catholic Church, the male is put into a pink bunny suit, spiritually speaking.
To tell everyone the truth, although in my early twenties, it has only been in the last five years or so that I have really increased in my respect and devotion to my Catholic faith. Beforehand, I was very much turned off by Catholicism, not because I knew a whole lot about it, but because what I thought Catholicism was, through what I was taught in CCD and other media outlets of religion–in addition to some Protestant influences which defined my image of Christianity in general.
Surprisingly, I started attending the sacraments again only after reading the OT. I was really surprised to read really cool stories about God zapping people, Jonathan and his shield carrier ambushing the enemy, the Maccabbean wars, the Davidic wars, etc. I also was really surprised, when I began reading the NT for myself, that Jesus is not some rainbow-aura’ed pacifist, as I had assumed, but is the Almighty and powerful God, King and eternal warrior against Satan. I soon discovered, in reading about the early martyrs and the great Christological battles of the early Church, that traditional Christianity is much more manly and worthy of the male’s attention than I earlier preceived.
Just now, I pulled out one of my first CCD books–“Church: Our Signs.” On the front cover is a picture of children who are laughing as they lay on their backs, with their heads towards a common center. In flipping through the pages, I recognize cartoonish pictures of priests, eucharistic ministers, Biblical figures, etc. Even in the picture for the Last Supper, everyone is smiling. Arggh!
I don’t know about every other guy, but when I was young, I was intrigued with war, battles, sports, competition, kicking butt. I sometimes wonder if CCD programs would profit if they taught Christian theology in a way that is attuned to the competitive and physically active nature of boys and young men.
Unfortunately, I oftentimes see the spiritual representations I experienced in CCD on television shows like EWTN–which, to be noted, is a very good station; I just can’t stand some of the commercial prayers, since they are too mawkish for me.
What do you guys think?
Please don’t think that I’m trying to be chauvinistic. I understand that Christianity needs to appeal to women, too. I just wonder if, especially in the formation years of the Christian (through CCD) there is not enough attention paid to the male nature–and instead of growing in interest of the Catholic Church, the male is put into a pink bunny suit, spiritually speaking.