Which “Sweet Land of Liberty” is that, exactly?

There are many things that a woman like Aretha Franklin can get away with.  I mean, come on, she sang Respect.  RESPECT people! Respect.

I respect you, Ms. Franklin.  You are an innovator.  A game changer.  The music world was different before you came along and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are all made better by the impact you’ve had on our lives through your music.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out a–shall we say–lack of judgment on the part of Ms. Franklin.  During the inauguration of President Obama on Tuesday, Ms. Franklin approached the podium to sing “My Country Tis of Thee.”  She sings the first few words in a way that suggests a different “Sweet Land of Liberty” than, I believe, was intended.  I mean, is it just me?   Or rather, my roommate and me (he picked up on it too), who, mere seconds into the song, were left saying “your what?  Your WHAT?”  Well, you decide:

Practicing Catholicism

Sorry I’ve been MIA lately, kids.  I got hit with a pretty considerable Holiday Hangover, both mentally and economically.  You’d think that would mean I’m spending more time at home in front of my computer, but I’ve also discovered online video games (thanks to my roommate) and have been wasting many hours killing zombies and blowing up spaceships.

I got interviewed for The Catholic Spirit (the official newspaper for the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Mpls) a while back, to get a perspective on the show I’m currently performing, Altar Boyz.  It was pretty straight forward, nothing different from what I would expect from a Catholic newspaper.  But now that all the Holiday-related shenanigans are over, I’ve had some time to step back and think about it, well, one question in particular.

“I would like to know if you are still a practicing Catholic?”

Before we go any further, Alex Trebek would like to remind you to phrase your question in the form of a question, but I digress.  While I was looking at online responses to the reviews of our show, I came across a blog written by a woman who apparently is a very traditional Catholic.  She decided that based on the reviews, she wanted to publicly denounce the show, and the theater for producing it.  She insinuated that there are disgruntled “former Catholics” in the theater world who are hell-bent on taking down the Church brick by brick.

So am I still a practicing Catholic?

Well, if you’re asking, do I still go to church? The quick answer is no.  But does that mean that after attending a parochial grade school, Catholic high school, and a Catholic college, that I don’t practice Catholicism?  This is one of those things that, in my opinion, is one of the reasons people of my generation (and the generations to follow) are growing more and more disillusioned with the idea of organized religion.  Could I be a promiscuous, drug-dealing, serial killer that drop-kicks baby harp seals just for the fun of it, and still make it to weekly mass–just so I could go around saying that I’m a practicing Catholic?  When I was a little kid, some non-Catholic friends told me that Catholics can do whatever they want as long as they go to confession.  I don’t believe that’s true.

Nor do I believe that going to church is what makes someone a person of faith.

A professor of mine in college, a monk, once said that there is more diversity within the Catholic church than there is between Catholics and other denominations.  I don’t know why that stuck with me, but I do know that when I think about what Catholics are said to believe, I disagree with a lot of things.  When a friend of mine was getting confirmed, she told me that she was having second thoughts about her confirmation because there is so much she disagrees with.  I told her that the only way to change something is to engage it.  Walking away from the Church doesn’t help it change.  It needs to change from within.

According to the Dictionary program on my computer, catholic is an adjective that means “including a wide variety of things, all-embracing.”  The Thesaurus lists Universal, Diverse, Broad, Comprehensive, Liberal, All-encompassing and All-inclusive as it’s synonyms.

So am I still a practicing catholic?  Of course.  I practice open-mindedness,  I honor pluralism and diversity.  I just wish that other Catholics realized that that’s the foundation of our faith.

F.O.B. vs E.O.P.

This year was the first Christmas in America for one of my cousins.  She’s a nurse (go figure) and moved from the PI to Minneapolis in November.  Tough break, kid.  I don’t think she’s taken her winter coat off since she got here.

We’ve been around each other for the usual family holiday get-togethers and our conversations usually go like this:

“Hi Manang Noemi!  How are you?”

“Good.”

“What have you been up to lately?”

[shrugs shoulders]

“It’s, um, pretty cold here… how are you adjusting?”

“yeah, it’s cold.”

It didn’t hit me until Christmas eve, when my parents told me that she is really intimidated by my sister and me because she feels insecure about her English.  She could speak to us in Tagalog and we’d understand, but more likely than not we’d respond in English.  Ya see, we’re E.O.P.  [English Only Pilipinos].  That would be the technical term since we’re not fluent.  We grew up here and our parents didn’t want us to have accents or a language barrier so they didn’t instill in us a strong sense of speaking Tagalog.  We’re around it enough to understand it conversationally, but I never really developed a facility for speaking it.  Most of the time, I can’t tell the difference between when my family is speaking English or Tagalog, but I always respond in English either way.

Apparently, Manang Noemi has been avoiding me.

Filipinos like to tease each other.  That can make it hard to learn anything new.  But it’s a sign of endearment.  We tease because we love.  So yesterday at a restaurant, this happened:

Server: And what can I get for you?

Manang Noemi: I’ll have the chicken sandwich.

Server: Fries?

Manang Noemi: Oo*

*And now for the Wily Filipino Tagalog lesson for the day: “Oo” means yes (it’s pronounced like “oh-oh”).

The whole table erupted in laughter and when she realized what she did she laughed, too.  She’s getting the hang of it.  Her English is much better than my Tagalog (As it turns out, people tell me I sound like a drunk white guy when I speak Tagalog so she’s in good company).  But sooner or later, she’s gonna be thrust into situations where she’ll be forced to bust out the English skills and I’m sure she’ll do great.  A couple of my other cousins had the whole Minestrone fiasco when they first moved here, not to mention needing to ask me the correct pronunciation of “Bowl” (Bow-el means something entirely different, especially when you’re a nurse talking to a patient).  So it’s the little things.

It’s easier, language-wise, to be a FOB in the States versus an EOP in the Philippines.  The last time I was there, I had told some people that I really wanted to get comfortable speaking Tagalog, and they said, “Why?  you won’t use it unless you’re speaking to another Filipino.  It’s better that you speak English.”  Yeah, they didn’t quite get what I was going for, but that’s culture for ya.

On the other hand, several of my cousins have married white folks.  My cousin Pop married Debbie a couple years ago.  When they showed up at Thanksgiving, my mom noticed that she would just stand off by herself.  I guess I just took it for granted, but when my cousins get together everybody is speaking either Tagalog or one of their hometown dialects.  My mom took it upon herself to give Debbie a little nudge, saying, “Just sit down with them.  They’ll switch to English.”  My mom explained that when you’ve been here for a while you get used to switching back and forth, especially in the presence of an “American,” it becomes second nature.

So I guess Manang Noemi just needs to find where that line is.  And maybe I’ll get one of those Rosetta Stone language tapes and really freak my family out in a few months.  Either way, I bet Manang Noemi will still be wearing her winter coat.