So I have been listening to the specific episode from The Meat Improv episode with Ellie Kovara and Brennan Lee Mulligan when I'm driving recently and I just wanted to talk about it because I'm currently in a reflective mood, and maybe people will like it.
As a person who went to a tiny village school in the countryside of England with the vicar visiting every other Wednesday to read a passage and then listen attentively to tiny children ramble on about their day, a religion class focused on showing us that other religions and belief structure outside of the one our school practised, with people coming into speak on their own traditions, school walks to the tiny church down the road to sing old hymns and Christmas chorales at the end of the year, passing horses and fields in line of two, where my parents let my siblings and I chose to be christened when we were older than five, and the whole school coming to watch and celebrate. My granny whispering tales and warnings of Sìth and Tylwyth Teg as walked along the shore, whilst also being an ardent member of her tiny village's church choir.
Then I moved to another country, to a massive, very strict, militant catholic school, with a required chapel service every Friday, school-wide mass every month, and hour-long sermons from teachers and priests. Religion class was dedicated to memorizing each and every book, verse, and word, each lesson having to begin with a prayer to a god that some did not believe in.
And all the while I was slowly weeding out through online media my relationship with faith and struggling with my sexuality and gender not fitting into the worlds that many around me let their life be dictated by.
I think about this specific podcast episode a lot.
Because I experienced both this loving, homely god as a kid and then this militant, omnipotent, uncaring god. The dichotomy of all these practices and the process of discovering my identity kinda just propelled me into atheism. But I still have this love of the traditions, of the community. and on top of the hilarious improv, Brennan and Ellie just kinda hit the nail on the head with how i feel towards the faith is was raised in.
I def recommend a listen.