Far out. My parents were āChristianā hippies in Greenwich Village in the 60s and 70s (hey, they were āChristianā and were hippies, it works). Guess what āChristian hippieā name I got? Yep, Eden. Peace.You go girl!!
Iām probably many years older than the majority of you, so donāt ever question my views again!Since I am several years older than mrs_abbott, does that make me more correct than she is? Cool.
Oh, no, Iām surrounded by hippies!
Iām not! My parents were. They grew up though. 
Eden said:
Hahaha! Itās no big deal b/c Iāve got 'em in my family too, unfortunately. On the bright side, their ideas are dying out with them. I guess thatās a perk to being young, eh, Mike? BTW, Eden, your next post will be your 3000th. Make it a good one!Eden said:
JSmitty2005 said::clapping:
^Heās my favorite. lol
And I thought conservatives were so uptight and never had fun or goofed around. Sorry for that Mrs. Abbott. I was tested for ADHD in 2nd grade and didnāt have it, but maybe they missed it! Who knows. Iāll try to shut up now until you ask something. 
JSmitty2005 said:
Oh please Mike, donāt make this an age thing. Youāre only 10 years older than I am and we are complete opposites. Our Holy Father is many years older than both of us and do you believe that he would agree with your liberal views concerning the Church. I think not. Age doesnāt equal wisdom in this case. I mean no disrespect and I do respect your postition in this conversation. However, I do not agree with it. Of course I am not an authority in Church dogma, however neither am I ignorant. God bless.
He has a habit of resorting to that when we get into little debates. It just tells me that he has nothing else to turn to, no more arguments or valid points. Actually, whenever he appeals to his age it comes off as very prideful. āIām older than youā¦you wouldnāt know any better, youngināā
In all reality, though, if I may be a little prideful myself , I am more knowledgeable than and can outwit/outdebate the majority of older adults that I know - at least when it comes to Catholicism.
Thatās irrelevant becauseā¦What goes around, comes around.
Mrs_abbott you may have blocked me as well so I may very well be writing this for nothing. However, on the chance that you are seeing this I hope that you will reconsider blocking people who have a different view of things than you do. I have been a member here for a fairly long time. I have had many conversations with people I both agree with and those that I do not. Yet in all that time, I have yet to block someone. The reason is, I invite opposing views. I have absolutely no problem with someone disagreeing me. There have been several times that I have learned a great deal by reading opposing views on a given topic. If I had blocked those who did not see things as I did, I would have never learned anything. I seriously do not believe that Smitty means to disrespect you. He (as do I) simply wishes to answer questions which you had asked. It is my hope that as we answer these questions, you will seriously consider what we have said. You donāt have to agree with it, but maybe you will do some independent research and come to a better understanding of the original question you had. I donāt claim to be an authority on the Churches beliefs. However, neither am I ignorant. Your past and mine have similarities. We both were cradle-Catholics. We both questioned the Church. And we both moved away toward āmore protestantā beliefs. I have since returned after a departure of almost 20 years. I have been back now almost 3 years and I will never again leave. If I can help someone else (maybe you) avoid such a separation, I would gladly do so. God bless.I blocked Smitty so I canāt read what he wrote anymore but by catching the fragments that youāre quoting from him, sounds like youāre going round and round like I did.
Thanks for at least understanding my point of view on this, even if you donāt fully agree.
Feel like chanting?You go girl!!
:whacky:
Maybe you missed the one where I explained the reason for blocking. I felt myself thinking uncharitable comments to make toward that individual so I chose to block for a little bit and collect myself. Wasnāt meant to be hurtful, it was meant to maintain charity and respect.
How, may I ask, did you become so knowledgeable at the age of 19 or 20, since you mentioned you were five years younger than me?
I readā¦a lot.