tpot-spills-taboo-blog

[tpot-spills-taboo-blog]

#2: Boomer v. Generation Y Debate: Religion Edition

Which one thinks going to church on a weekly basis guarantees salvation, and which one doesn't think going that often accurately reflects how devout one is?

I think the answer to the question above is obvious, but I’ll continue anyway.

When you’re young and don’t know about anything bad/wrong in the world, you learn from your family—parent(s), sibling(s), friend(s), neighbors, whoever you interact with on a regular basis. You don’t have an opinion about anything; you are taught what is right and what is wrong.

As per my first post, I grew up in a Filipino-Catholic household. Growing up in such household meant: we went to church every Sunday at 11:30am (when you’re Filipino, it actually starts for you 15-20 mins later) and my brothers and I also went to CCD/PREP/something along those lines once a week (where we learned more about the Bible and go through some of the Sacraments) because our parents (more so our dad, but more of that later) wanted us to be well-rounded, religious individuals.

Recently, my mom admitted to me that she isn’t as religious as she used to be. Which, yes, sort of took me by some surprise, because they are both part of the Boomer Generation and grew up in the same country and around the same time. However, my parents had very different childhood environments: my mom lived on a family-owned farm with her parents, seven older sisters, and two older brothers, and they were self-sufficient; my dad grew up in the city with his parents, two brothers, and two sisters, had maids who did everything for them, went to private school, and learned Mandarin. Dad was also raised in a very “Chinese” way, thanks to his father/my grandfather and his strict parenting; if he or his siblings went against what he told them to do, they would never hear the end of it.

Unfortunately for my brothers and I, but more so me, our dad emulates his father/our grandfather more and more every day, and it’s become more apparent as we get older. When I switched to working the opening shift at my weekend job, I stopped going to church on Sundays and only went when I “had to” (Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, you get the idea). My rationale for not going to church was because the mass that we would go to altogether started at 11, which was in the middle of my 6-2 shift.

My dearest dad would always butt heads with me and insist, “You could go on Friday nights or Saturday nights, too, you know.” *insert my eternal eye roll here*

Of course, saying anything in reply is very much so frowned upon, so I just go with the usual, “Uh huh, Dad, I know” and roll my eyes to my phone screen as if he can see me through the front camera lens.

I still genuflect and grasp the rosary hanging on my rearview mirror when I leave the house and drive past a church. Occasionally, when life feels like it’s really shitty, I lay in bed and stare at my ceiling and talk to Him. I still go to church as “one of those Catholics” now; AKA the ones who only go on big holidays like Ash Wednesday and Easter and sometimes Christmas. But, hey, I still fucking go. And I prefer it being that way, because going every Sunday and hearing the same old shit sermons from the same old annoying priest and saying the same old prayers and not really believing in what I’m reciting does not make me religious or make me believe in Him more.

Then again, Dad doesn’t care about that.

Newsflash to anyone who believes going to your house of worship on a regular basis guarantees you eternal salvation: You do not have to do so in order to be religious.

I can say it louder for the people who show up late and sit in the back:

You. Do. Not. Have. To. Do. So. In. Order. To. Be. Religious.

[tpot-spills-taboo-blog]

#1: A Semi-Formal, Semi-Informal Introduction

Hi there, Reader!

I’d like to start off by saying welcome to my blog, and I thank you and appreciate you for finding it however you found it. If this is the first post you’re reading, then welcome! If it isn’t, then, well…I hope that you're looking through my posts and can relate to one or some or a lot of them, or know someone who can.

Here’s some tidbits about me (so you get an idea of where I’m coming from with my content):

I was born and raised on the east coast of the U.S. 

I was raised by Eastern Asian boomer generation parents who were not born or raised in the U.S., who are Roman Catholic, and come from (what is considered today to be) large families.

I have one older brother and one younger brother.

Even though I am the middle child, I was never as coddled/sheltered/spoiled/etc. as my brothers were (and, most of the time, still are). *insert lifelong eye roll here*

I identify myself as a she/her. 

My Zodiac sign is Cancer, and my Chinese Zodiac sign is the Ox.

I make lists...a lot.

Here’s what my blog is (intended to be) about:

Everything I can think of that is deemed “taboo” in my childhood household and how I deal (or don’t deal) with it.

I’ve been on Earth for 20+ years now, and have, somehow, accrued and bottled up so much passive aggression because of lifestyle choices that my parents and I couldn’t agree on that I came up with creating this Tumblr to pour everything out into the Internet. I’m aiming to put these feelings into words to make sense of them and, perhaps, come up with a way to deal with them as I go. I also aim to post once a week, on Tuesdays (because “TPOT Tuesdays” …I try to be funny, not too sure if it’s working, but I’ll keep trying anyway). Hopefully, you get something out of this, too. If you have anything you’d like for me to address, shoot me a submission! Any questions you have, whatever it may be about, don’t be afraid to ask! I’ll do my best to help you out. If I can’t, I apologize in advance. I don’t know how to really end anything, so…bye for now! Happy blogging and reading and writing!