tl;dr at bottom
Background
I was raised true catholic, not the bullshit catholic, i mean archaic, latin mass, on your knees, women must wear a veil covering on their head, believe you're eating/drinking the actual body/blood of christ, god is physically manifested when the tabernacle is open, catholic. My parents, who were not closed minded bigoted assholes, dragged us out of it when I was 6 or 7. Through adolescence, my views became more and more progressive (knew there couldn't be a hell, totally contradicts the notion of a god worthy of devotion, etc.), until I came to college.
Grandparents
My grandparents were devoutly crazy catholic (5PM mass everyday), but they were good people. It didn't matter that we weren't catholic anymore, or if it did, they had the decency not to vocalize it. Still talked to us, still loved us, sent us cards, spent holidays together, normal family.
They had a bucket-list kind of goal to visit every state in the U.S. and get a state shaped magnet as a souvenir. In 2008 they reached 49: Alaska. Went on a cruise, had a blast, couldn't wait for 50: Hawai'i. 3 months later they're in a hotel mere hours away from boarding their flight to Honolulu. My grandpa gets woken up by a pain in his left leg, and collapses trying to get to the bathroom. He's rushed to the hospital, and they discover cancer has disintegrated his marrow. It eventually metastasized to his prostate, and killed him after treating it for a year.
The Moment
The funeral was in the same dumpy, 1 room, 25 occupancy church I went to when I was a kid. Prayed the rosary that was drilled into me as a kid (reminds me of A Clockwork Orange). Then proceeded to listen to a man use my grandfather's death as a conservative pep rally, talking about how my grandfather exemplified pro-life by fathering 7 children, protected the sanctity of marriage by staying married to the same woman for over 50 years. His service to his country (Korea), to his god, to his family, all ensured he would spend less time suffering in purgatory before going to heaven. How sick is that? Telling the family of a man who devoted his life to service and spent his final year suffering from cancer, that he's still not done sacrificing for god? Now I believe in science, I like Asimov's thoughts on death, and to paraphrase: what is scary about a dreamless sleep?
Tl;Dr
My grandpa: war vet, hospital orderly/nurse for 35 years, retired to become a volunteer firefighter/ police dispatch officer, loyal family man, devoted his life to others, and dies in agony battling cancer for a year. Priest at the funeral, who knew my grandpa for 25+ years, portrays him as a poster boy for conservative values, then says he has to suffer a little more before he can go to heaven. I'd rather think he just became worm food than believe something that horrible.
Thanks for the rant.
Background
I was raised true catholic, not the bullshit catholic, i mean archaic, latin mass, on your knees, women must wear a veil covering on their head, believe you're eating/drinking the actual body/blood of christ, god is physically manifested when the tabernacle is open, catholic. My parents, who were not closed minded bigoted assholes, dragged us out of it when I was 6 or 7. Through adolescence, my views became more and more progressive (knew there couldn't be a hell, totally contradicts the notion of a god worthy of devotion, etc.), until I came to college.
Grandparents
My grandparents were devoutly crazy catholic (5PM mass everyday), but they were good people. It didn't matter that we weren't catholic anymore, or if it did, they had the decency not to vocalize it. Still talked to us, still loved us, sent us cards, spent holidays together, normal family.
They had a bucket-list kind of goal to visit every state in the U.S. and get a state shaped magnet as a souvenir. In 2008 they reached 49: Alaska. Went on a cruise, had a blast, couldn't wait for 50: Hawai'i. 3 months later they're in a hotel mere hours away from boarding their flight to Honolulu. My grandpa gets woken up by a pain in his left leg, and collapses trying to get to the bathroom. He's rushed to the hospital, and they discover cancer has disintegrated his marrow. It eventually metastasized to his prostate, and killed him after treating it for a year.
The Moment
The funeral was in the same dumpy, 1 room, 25 occupancy church I went to when I was a kid. Prayed the rosary that was drilled into me as a kid (reminds me of A Clockwork Orange). Then proceeded to listen to a man use my grandfather's death as a conservative pep rally, talking about how my grandfather exemplified pro-life by fathering 7 children, protected the sanctity of marriage by staying married to the same woman for over 50 years. His service to his country (Korea), to his god, to his family, all ensured he would spend less time suffering in purgatory before going to heaven. How sick is that? Telling the family of a man who devoted his life to service and spent his final year suffering from cancer, that he's still not done sacrificing for god? Now I believe in science, I like Asimov's thoughts on death, and to paraphrase: what is scary about a dreamless sleep?
Tl;Dr
My grandpa: war vet, hospital orderly/nurse for 35 years, retired to become a volunteer firefighter/ police dispatch officer, loyal family man, devoted his life to others, and dies in agony battling cancer for a year. Priest at the funeral, who knew my grandpa for 25+ years, portrays him as a poster boy for conservative values, then says he has to suffer a little more before he can go to heaven. I'd rather think he just became worm food than believe something that horrible.
Thanks for the rant.
Ike. 
howdy by the way.
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