A priest and an atheist sit down to Thanksgiving Dinner

[irishrosem]

This isn't a set up for a joke. My mother, ever ready to pick up any stray for a holiday meal, invited a Roman Catholic priest visiting from Uganda to Thanksgiving. Just thought some people on this forum would enjoy that piece of info. If you have any questions for a Ugandan priest, pass them on. My mom says he's eager to ask and answer any questions.

[Chris OConnor]

Is he looking for questions that challenge his faith? The last thing I'd want to do is ask questions or initiate a debate on a day that should probably focus on the things in life for which we are thankful. And I've engaged plenty of priests in debate and not a single one has ever introduced a new concept in the faith vs. reason arena. I've heard it all before and I don't handle irrational explanations very well.If I were there my interest would be in hearing all about Uganda. What is it like? What brings him to the US? He probably has tons of stories and experiences to share, so I'd personally avoid discussions about his faith and focus on learning about his culture.By the way you mom sounds like a cool person. Inviting him to dinner was a kind gesture and I just want to give her a hug and I'm not even the one invited.

[irishrosem]

Quote:Is he looking for questions that challenge his faith? The last thing I'd want to do is ask questions or initiate a debate on a day that should probably focus on the things in life for which we are thankful.Oh no, that's not my intention at all. My mom and I do not talk about religion or American politics. With regard to religion she can't respect my views, with regard to politics I can't respect hers. I truly believe there are certain people in your life where it is better to just avoid specific topics to promote a healthy relationship. My mother is one such person in my life.There is one question with regard to his religion that I am curious about, but I don't think I would ask it. I often wonder how people rationalize (and I use this term loosely when speaking of religion) adopting the faith of an occupier. Christianity/Catholicism formed a lot of the ground work for imperialism in Africa. I often think about African American Christians in the same way. Is there any resentment to how their country/continent/culture first adopted their religion? I know many religions have similar imperial roots to their current religions. But with Africa it seems so recent, I imagine they could still touch that resentment. Quote:If I were there my interest would be in hearing all about Uganda. What is it like? What brings him to the US? He probably has tons of stories and experiences to share, so I'd personally avoid discussions about his faith and focus on learning about his culture.This is more what I had in mind. I want to know what the political climate has been since Uganda has reversed the limit of two terms for the president. Are their citizens as annoyed about it as say the international community is? Do they like the current president (I forget his name--I should look that up before Thursday) or do they think he is becoming too powerful? I'd also be curious what his perceptions are on the international issues involving U.S. and Europe with regard to the Middle East. Is that hornet's nest even significant to their own political dialogue? Quote:By the way you mom sounds like a cool person. Inviting him to dinner was a kind gesture and I just want to give her a hug and I'm not even the one invited.My mom is pretty neat. She never minds having extra people at her dinner table, the more the merrier in her mind. (Growing up, we had such a big family that a couple extra here and there was never a big deal.) She invited him early last week, hoping to beat others to the punch. What a kook... I'll give her a hug for you Chris. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

[Loricat]

Ask him practical questions about religion. I'm especially interested in the 'flavour' of RC in Uganda. Synchrotism, the merging of different religions, is something I'm fascinated with. What are the effects, if he can think of any, of the local indigenous religious practices on the practice of Catholism there. He may not be able to answer, and you wouldn't want to ask it so baldly as that, but if he's been in the USA long enough to attend a Mass or two, he may have noticed some subtle differences. Draw those out, and see where it goes.I lived in Korea for 3 years, and I really noticed how Korean Christians (of whatever denomination) were different. More into talismans, more apt to take a Western "Catholic name". More apt to prosletize, even in the normally discreet denominations.A sample (real) exchange:"Oh, for my English name please use my Catholic name, 'Genebepa'" "Pardon me?""It's English, Genebepa.""Uh, that's not an English name..."...We finally realized, when I asked her to spell it, that she was using the Korean pronunciation of the French name: Genevieve.Ah well.Anyway -- it's a topic that allows your guest to expound on his two specialties, Religion and Uganda, while you can learn about religion in the cultural sense and Uganda.And I'm curious! "All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds." Loricat's Book NookCelebrating the Absurd

[Chris OConnor]

Quote:I'd also be curious what his perceptions are on the international issues involving U.S. and Europe with regard to the Middle East. Is that hornet's nest even significant to their own political dialogue?I like it. I'm always interested in hearing how different people view the United States and Westerners in general. Thanksgiving is only a few days away so I'm looking forward to hearing how the day goes for you.

[irishrosem]

Well, my Thanksgiving was really nice. Father Steven was friendly and answered any question posed to him. He, however, rarely volunteered any information. After about a half hour of me drilling him with questions, I decided I should let the poor guy come up for air. I have to say, I was more curious than I perceived he wanted me to be. In that, I think it should have been obvious I would have loved to hear anything he had to say about his culture, yet he didn't give anything up unless I asked him a direct question. Culturally, I was somewhat aware that he might have perceived me as being rudely curious. Therefore, I wasn't able to interrogate as thoroughly as I would have liked, but I got some good stuff. Here it is, for any interested.The president (Museveni) is now in his 20th year in office. Their constitution initially limited presidents to two terms (five year terms); however, that was overturned towards the end of his second term. He was just recently reelected this year. This was all stuff I had heard before. I asked what the opinion was, and he said generally there is now some hesitation that perhaps it has been too long and it is time for a change. However, Museveni and his administration is responsible for much of Uganda's progress, implementation of public education, decrease in violence, some economic improvement, elections, free press, AIDS prevention/treatment, etc. So there are definitely different opinions on the matter. I'm pretty sure internationally this is now considered a problem.He claims Uganda has an absolutely free press. I've heard partial rumblings otherwise. I wonder if it is free, or if their citizens are told it is free.Much of the religious animosity in the country is between Anglican and Catholics, similar to the troubles in Ireland. Muslims and Christians don't really have problems.They have a primary education system (he called it universal education), which is free and largely connected with the local church. He said that Museveni declared that Uganda would have a public education system and the international community responded positively with large financial contributions. They are now looking to develop public schools (community schools) not associated with the churches. Museveni has also proposed to extend the universal education program into high school and through college for two members of each family. This has not yet been instituted. Without transportation, children make a lot of effort to attend school. There is a high value on education and if, for some reason, a child is kept from school, he/she will cry. A large portion of the country's income comes from tourism, most of the rest from business. The majority of the citizens are, however, working peasants. This generally meant they are non-landholding farmers.His congregation consist largely of peasants (he actually called them peasants). He is responsible for a main church and 32 smaller village chapels. He gets to each one every three months. He has a car to travel to these different chapels, his congregants do not. He celebrates mass in whatever language is spoken in the village (he speaks 9, I think, it could be 7, languages). It's also possible he could be moved to a new parish and have to learn that language in order to celebrate mass. It is a R.C. mass so it is the same that is celebrated worldwide, which is dictated by the Vatican (I assumed that would be so). My mother, however, did say he sometimes forgets the "Lamb of God" prayer when he celebrated here, so she thinks that may be different.The poor are very poor. There are no government service organizations. He says the poverty is staggering. (And this is considered a more developed African country.)As for U.S. politics, it is very much a part of their political dialogue. Uganda is popularly supportive of the U.S. He says that public opinion is that it is perhaps time for troop withdrawal in Iraq, but there is not much criticism directed towards the U.S. with regard to Iraq. When I questioned this, in comparison to other country's (even U.S. own citizens) criticisms he said (and I love this): "I think you would not be so critical of such a generous patron." Money is what makes the world go round. I think that's it. He liked the food (my mom's dinner was one of her best so that was good). He said they quite often eat turkey and don't wait for Thanksgiving. Otherwise, the potato dishes were part of his normal diet. He said he wouldn't normally eat broccoli and corn, they are available in the city, but not where he lives. I was so curious to know if he thought the Thanksgiving spread was decadent (perhaps overly decadent), but I didn't have the courage to ask. I thought this would put him on the spot as a guest. Hope everyone (those in the U.S.) had a nice Thanksgiving...it's my favorite holiday, hands down.

[Federika22]

Very good reporting, Irish! It sounds like you had a very informative and interesting Thanksgiving. I'm guessing not, but did it come up at any time that you are an atheist?

[tarav]

Thank you for sharing that! I read that with much interest. I am glad you had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was pretty good too.

[Loricat]

Wow, when you take on an 'assignment' -- you go for it wholeheartedly, don't you?Thanks for the information. "All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds." Loricat's Book NookCelebrating the Absurd