Catholics in the South

Hey yall' - or you guys or yous guys lol
I am from Ct. originally and didn't realize that most of the country wasn't Catholic - and I certainly didn't realize that Protestants in the US hate Catholics the way they do until I moved to SC 12 yrs ago. WOW!
Whats worst imo is that (boy I hope someone here agrees with what I am about to say lol) - whats worst is the Catholics here are so Protestantized imo! In Ct. we had singing etc. but not to the extent we do here... in Ct. devotion to the saints and especially our Blessed Mother was normal - people knew what the scapular is - the Priests knew how to enroll you into it. People up north know novenas and pray them all the time - litany's - all neglected practice here - except by the ppl over 60 and those who moved here from "up north" somewhere. Here stinks quite honestly - people are more protestant that Catholic - and I am talking about the Catholics. People raising their arms up during the "Our Father" like Protestants do, God forbid I start talking about St. Faustina talking to Jesus and Our Lady - or Fatima - I get the same looks as I do by the Protestant heathens usually. I see people coming to Mass in shorts and flip flops! FLIP-FLOPS AT MASS!!!!! Can you believe the dis-respect? Now listen - I certainly am nowhere near perfect myself. I went through many years when I was away from my faith but I have to point these things out because for 10 yrs now I have been back and wondering where is my Church?? All of this "unity" between Catholics and Protestants would make my Irish grandparents flip in their graves. How can wrong be "ok" - how can that be allowable? I am not a old one either who cannot get used to Vatican II 47 yrs later... I wasn't even born until 1971 (I am 38 now) - but this Catholicism here in SC is not the same upbringing I had in Ct. It seems that all of the old ways are gone. They even removed the pew that was in front of the large crucifix (where the candles are) - so I kneel on the floor now instead. I knelt on the floor to pray to Our Lady and was seen and a week later her statue was moved elsewhere where I cannot go in front of it to kneel. I just don't get it here and I don't like it.
I also am in a Bible class and ppl are left to interpret the Bible on their own -to chime in on their opinions - without a Priest or Deacon to give the absolute Churches teaching on it. That's what the Protestants do!! That's why so many different sects and denominations. I go to Bible study to know the Churches stance on specific scripture - and if nobody there knows it then what is the Bible study doing except reaffirming the wrong way that people are interpreting the Bible? What is this? I told all this to the adult educator and was told that people will believe what they want and if they were to have a study on the CCC people would leave and go to a feel good church (protestant church). UGH!!!!! I feel as if I am on a island on my own here! HELP! lol

A strange southern moment from MS: Yesterday my daughter was cooking lunch, kinda... she was reheating some biscuits so she wouldn't have to wait for more to bake. This child has discovered a "Southern" way to reheat biscuits, which is a decidedly un-southern thing to do. She cut the biscuits in half, melted some butter in a skillet, and placed them inside-down in the hot butter. Then she decided to make sausage and proclaimed, "This is gonna be some good sausage; I'm cooking it in biscuit grease." Yes, she did mean it as a joke, so please don't call someone to send her away, but it was such a southern thing to say--and she laid the drawl on so thick--that I had to share it here.

Paganus, thanks for the quotes, although the Lee quote makes me question the information I got from my friend, which implies that slavery would have been abolished either way.

Cracker Mom, that's great, (and yes I've done that, too).

Sherry and Rich, my grandparents lived in Mena for a few years. It was a nice town with one of those, "That's too big to be the Catholic church" parishes. At least that's the way I remember it, but that really was in the sixties and I was much shorter.

I had a friend who was a great history buff, especially of the South. He said The Constitution of the Confederate States of America included the abolition of slavery BEFORE the "Emancipation Proclamation" of the US; which begs a question or two: "So what was the war about?" Because the South was rural and agricultural, we were not represented fairly in federal government and were taxed heavily; so we wanted to free ourselves from that government and found our own. Sound familiar? (That was the same reason for our American Revolutionary War less than 100 years previous, JRPO.) Had we won, we would not have suffered as much economically, and given our economic role today, we would at this point (I believe), be a greater nation than the USA--for a while, anyway. But, as was pointed out, it's all speculation as to what things would be like now in the CSA and USA if it were two nations. One thing that's a little less uncertain: if it happened today, things would not have the same outcome. It would, however, be far worse for both sides. Good news for us, though: our soldiers would receive better medical care, because all the good doctors would defect South! *Disclaimer: not everything my friend the history buff told me was true, even though he possessed an amazing store of obscure facts. I never got around to checking on that CSA abolition clause.

Paganus, that's great about your grandma picketing "Gone With the Wind." Yes, we've lost a LOT of moral ground since then, even though I still say she's right about Rhett being offensive (although I think so more for his actions than his "line.") He was, after all, a scoundrel.

JRPO, yes that's MLK. But don't forget the great music, lovely belles, and legendary Southern hospitality. You might even catch a book-signing of one of our talented authors. Come on down... um, I mean up. Well, that'll take some getting used to. We usually say, "Come on down and set a spell," or something like that. (BTW, "set a spell" has nothing to do with witchcraft. It means plant your backside on a chair--or porch swing--and visit.)

To all our new friends: Welcome!

The Mardi Gras parades in Slidell and Bougalousa, and on the Gulf Coast in MS aren't as rowdy as the NOLA parades have gotten, but they aren't as big. I have family in NO that were on krewes for generations, but I don't think they do that anymore, now that it's so lewd. Still, we celebrate Shrove Tuesday at my house, and we all eat like teenage boys for days, cleaning out the fridge and freezer, planning our "Fat Tuesday pig-out" before Lent.

Paganus, Arkansas did join the Confederacy, but it wasn't a traditional "Southun" state with famous antebellum plantations and such. It was and still is a relatively poor state.

In fact, not all Arkansans (or, to some, Arkansawyers) supported the Confederate cause. After the fall of Little Rock to Union forces in 1863, Arkansans supporting the Union formed some eleven infantry regiments, four cavalry regiments, and two artillery batteries to serve in the Union Army. It wasn't quite like Missouri in having split loyalties from the start, but it certainly wasn't "firebrand" like Georgia and South Carolina.

Regardless of politics, it is, a gorgeous state scenically in the Ozarks and the Boston Mountains.

There's a state park, Petit Jean, high on a mountain looking down on the Arkansas River, and I had the thrill of looking over the edge and seeing flocks and flocks of birds flying well below where I was. Odd not to look up to see birds flying.

Sherry, what town do you live in? I've not visited parishes any farther west than Morrilton, and there's that retreat center there.

I'm not a native Arkie, just stayed here after I left the Air Force some three decades ago. I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY as is my wife.

I moved to Arkansas in Sept. 09, have a wonderful parish here in the Ozarks. I have lots of relatives here on my husbands' side of the family and am enjoying explaining the beauty of the Catholic Church to them at every opportunity. We all went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and lots of questions have ensued much to my delight. This place is gorgeous, up in the mountains and the peole are so hospitable, I feel like I've gone back in time to the fifties and sixties! God is good!

I'm from Australia Right.
Now MLK ..... I know him he's the " I have a dream, " guy isn't he.
And Paganus....... Clean beaches, pork barbeque and southern fried chicken sounds like my kinda place. I'm just gunna have to join those folks from Detriot and Boston one day.

Here's a "You know you're in the South ..." moment: :
Last week I went to the local power company office & spent 3 mins. on electrical issues & 10 mins. exchanging recipes for sweet potato pie & Low Country Boil.