3/25

Now tell me...is it the church that smells like Catholics, or is it the Catholics who smell like church?

'Cause all y'all muthfuckahs smell the same, especially the old ones (who, incidentally, would have been going to church the longest and, hence, sopped the church smell best...hmmmmmm).

I don't reallt know what a Catholic smells like, but I can tell you that every Catholic church I have ever been to smell IDENTICAL. It's odd.

Perhaps we get the smell from the church, but who knows. It's like the chicken/egg dilemma!

Uzi, you are a funny guy.

Never thought about it since I basically 'grew up' being familiar with that particular scent (sounds better than 'smell'); but you've got a point!!

I think it's the constantly lit votive candles that contribut alot to this.

Apple

I've never been to a Catholic church. I'm Penecostal. But Penecostal churches always have a weird smell too. Even in different states it always smells the same. I don't know what causes it. It always seems to have a musty basement smell or something. When we were little kids my brother and I teased each other about smelling like church.

Well, I'm Catholic but I don't think we smeel special. Unless you mean the Churches, which all smell the same, since there's incense(sp?) every Sunday.

I agree with HH: you're a very funny guy Uz

Giorgio Luigi Gambino

All the catholics I know smell like alcohol..including my family.
Hey,LisaBella...do you do the whole 'can't wear pants & jewelry' thing? My cousin is a Pentecostal and she can't wear pants,shorts etc.No jewelry,Television.No other music besides Christian.NO makeup.Those are some pretty harsh rules,but hey,it isn't my religion so I'm not gonna bash.

And, if I recall correctly (I used to work with one, a very nice lady), the women are not allowed to shave their legs.

I think the idea behind these restrictions is the supression of any expression of vanity.

Apple
(who of course is not vain at all...just perfect)

No offense to any Pentecostals but I think the rules of that religion are ridiculous.I think the males enjoy telling the women how to live their lives.The men can do WHATEVER they want.Oh,btw,the women can't wear bathing suits or go swimming in public.Even if you have your own pool you have to wear a long skirt and shirt.

I am Catholic and proud, but I am a little confused by what you mean Uzto, if you mean the acual smell, then the Church smells like a library, you know that age old smell that carpets give off but are not that bad? I smell good, I use Axe, and BTW, the commercials don't lie about what women do to axe smelled people.

Um,okay,let's not go there Vercetti.My boyfriend wears AXE and I don't even wanna think about what other hoes do to him when they get a whiff.

I think as with many other religions, there are different "factions" to the Pentecostal church.

When I was younger, I was engaged to a man who's family were devout Pentecostal. I had been brought up Catholic all my life so meeting his family was an eye opener to say the least.

The women in his family did not wear pants or cut their hair. Ever. As Apple stated this was a suppression of the expression of vanity as was wearing makeup or jewelery. I respected and loved his family, but even after I was later baptized in the Pentecostal church, I did not conform to their ideals. For every entry they would show me in the Old Testament to justify their ways, I came up with one in the New Testament to show that their ideals were from the "old" ways and all old ways were allowed to be passed away in the New Testament. I could not bring myself to go snowmobling in a dress if only just for practicality reasons. Their views on premarital sex were very strict and my boyfriend proved many times he had SOME STRONG WILL for a 21 year old! He couldn't tell his family that I had had prior boyfriends, that probably would have stopped our marriage plans right then and there - no comparison of course to his sister that had become pregnant from a "carnie" passing through town. She kept the baby and I remember her being pretty much shunned in the eyes of the church.

But I will say these people I met in that church were probably the nicest, most genuine and caring people I had ever met in my life.

I later went on to be baptized in a Christian Church in a part of Heritage USA, North Carolina courtesy of Jim Bakker.

What kind of religion does that make me now, baptized 3 times? Agnostic?

It makes you Christian or Non-Denominal.Do you believe in God?Do you believe that Jesus died on the Cross for your sins?Do you accept him as your Savior?If you do,then you are merely a Christian and God says all you have to do is Believe and accept him and you will go to heaven.Also,you must at least TRY to follow in his steps.The Bible doesn't say you are going to hell because you cut your hair or wear pants. One of my friends is a Pentecostal and she is always telling me about the 'conviction of pants'. I guess I am a major sinner...OOPS.

Are you Catholic SCake? Sometimes it seems you arent, eh, i am getting confused.

Yes.If you categorize me in a religion then I am Catholic.Born & Raised.But I don't like people to say "You're Catholic" like it's a label.I am Malisse(Shortcake,Whatever) and I am a chick.Ya know what I mean?

ya know,Vercetti.It is kinda funny,but everytime you address me as 'SCake' I mis-read it as 'skank' and I have to do a double take.

You guys have the Penecostal religion ALL wrong! We don't believe in wearing pants and cutting our hair, that's right. We ARE allowed to shave our legs (seriously that's ridiculous! We're not French!), wear jewelry (except piercings), we have televisions, listen to music, wear bathing suits with out a shirt & skirt over them. Make-up is okay if you don't overdo it. They don't like us looking like hookers! If you go to Penecostal churches in California though they have different standards. They're much more harsh but I'm from Indiana so we go by Indiana's standards. We usually just ignore the extra rules here. I do think a lot of Penecostal preacher's here have a problem with women. They give more rules to the women. Men they pretty much just say "Don't screw around before you're married" And the women if you show your elbows in church you're going to hell. California preachers are often compared to Dictators. Any way! It's a great religion and not as tough to live up to as what most people think it is! I hope this clears up my religion a little!

My friend Tiffani,the one that is Pentecostal,went to a convention in Tennessee not too long ago and she said that they made her go to the store a buy long sleeve shirts because the ones she had were 3/4 length.I thought that was retarded.We have arms,People.God made them.Why would we go to hell for showing them? Anyway,thanks for the insight on the way you do things,LisaBella. They seem to be VERY strict there as they are here in NY.

Yeah, the people here don't like it when you wear short sleeves to church. But I don't give a crap. I wear sleeveless in the summer time. In Indiana they always said if its only your arm we can see then that's fine. Just as long as your hooters weren't hanging out or whatever! lol

My friend's mom is really strict on her. She has to go along with all the crazy rules. And I've noticed her trying to rebel against her mom all the time. You can't blame her. But now she's hanging around all the young married men alone after church.... I hate to accuse her of anything but some things just didn't seem right around there last Sunday. Got any advice Shortcake?

Lisabella -

In my post, I deliberately wrote about different "factions" of different churches and only wrote of my OWN experiences with that faith. I meant no disrespect, nor did I have any desire to generalize the Pentecostal religion, only telling of my limited experience with one church which was indeed as I described it.

And herein lies MY problem with organized religion. If you ask me if I am a believer - yes, yes I am. If you ask me if I go to church - no I don't. My father is the Pastoral Administrator for one of the largest churches in Louisiana and organized religion has always been a tough topic for me to discuss.

Hey Uzi....I dont think Catholics absorb the smell....I've smelt it in church but not from people after they've been in a Catholic church.
Maybe I smell of it so I've become immune to it or something.
I know the smell in my church seems to be a combination of mostly inscence, flowers, old books, wood and the perfume of old ladies.
Anyway...what religion do you smell of?
What percentage of AMericans (roughly) are Catholic anyway?

LDV,

Yeah, what you said didn't bother me. I just wanted to clear up a few things... I didn't want every one out there to think we didn't shave our legs... I seen where someone said that. That's sick! lol

Vanity, thine name is Lady Schick! (or Gillette!).

I dont blame you. I'd rather enter heaven smooooooth as well!

Of all the sins Jesus Himself confronted, there were only two he really railed against: (1) The sin of rejecting Him as Messiah; and (2) self-righteousness, and specifically that practiced by the Pharisees and Sadducees. We definitely have the equivalent of the latter today, and they transcend denominations and factions. Oddly enough, He preferred the company of sinners: a harlot, a scheming tax-collector, or a cursing fisherman. Why? Because these kinds of people know their sinfulness and status before God (and ergo their need for a Savior); the self-righteous do not. I just wish people of all denominations woke up to the grace of God and would throw their stupid lists of "do's" and "don'ts" away.

As far as smells, I think a funeral home tops the list in the worst-smellin' department.

LisaBella,
You asked for advice.Well,let me tell you a few things. I know alot of Pentecostal people.And I know about 10 of them who have had kids young and out of wedlock.I am not saying anything about them for their mistakes because my mother was 16 and my dad was 2 yrs younger..they were gettin' down!But,I do know that since the religion tries to get them to follow these strange and,at times,ridiculous rules, they often rebel and a kid is their price.Another of my friends that use to be Pentecostal had a baby when she was 16.Now she is 18 and her kid means more to her than anything.Her so called best friends were the main ones condemning her for what she did.I think you should TRY and talk to your friend and tell her that she will make a bad name for herself at that church and at a Pentecostal church that is definately NOT what she wants.Tell her to be careful because she could and may very well get herself into trouble.

Ok, thanks for the advice. I worry about her a lot. For one thing she's only 14. Will, be 15 in June but is very immature for her age. The married guys she's hanging around are in their early to mid 20's. But I will try to talk to her about it. I mean it wouldn't be so bad if the guys weren't so much older. That's kind of what worries me. Any way! Thanks for your help.

I'm Methodist, but i went to catholic school, i think its all that inscense

No problem at all,LisaBella.Glad to be of help to you.

LDV you're possible looking for something you haven't yet found...or something that doesn't exist.