Also, I have resolved to start being rude when people tell their children to give me a hug. It pissed me off when I was the child being told to hug random adults, and it pisses me off even more now. And if I explicitly told you that I find it creepy, why would you keep doing it?

I also hate it when people want their children to perform like trick ponies. “sing ‘old mcdonald’” “count to 10” whatever. ugh.

bon, it varies parish to parish -- I know mine pretty much frowns on it, and mine is definitely both pretty enough to get requests and poor enough that it'd be totally reasonable to say yes. But it really, really varies.

yeah, you gotta find the slacker priest. I would suggest finding a priest who does interfaith ceremonies, they tend to be a little more open minded.

I end up in the more neutral corner because, although I do not have a belief in god, I figure it doesn't really matter. A belief in god will not change my behavior now, so if I find out later I'm wrong, well, I still wouldn't have done anything different because of god.

Yeah, me too, though I have to addened that I firmly don't believe in a diety. It'd be interesting, I find so many mythologies and such utterly fascinating and engaging, but I don't. It's irrelevent to me. Just... it doesn't matter. At all. I'm me. Take it or leave it, with no real confrontation or challenge in that statement. I'm not denying anyone else. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's not about me.

I do make my nieces and nephews hug me whether they like it or not because I miss them! I don't think they're too scarred by it.

Code monkey vid made of awesome, beth.

Just with the people who say choice of priest is critical. The late Art Buchwald (Jewish) was married by a priest who ... well no point in details that was another continent and another century. A college friend of mine who is Catholic married another friend who is Jewish. They had both a priest and a rabbi jointly do the ceremony; it took some searching but they managed. A priest who will marry the two of you without conditions you object to ought to findable. He just may not be the first one you ask.

Code Monkey video made of much, much awesome.

I want a Code Monkey dancer of my very own.

I firmly don't believe in a diety. It'd be interesting, I find so many mythologies and such utterly fascinating and engaging, but I don't. It's irrelevent to me. Just... it doesn't matter. At all. I'm me. Take it or leave it, with no real confrontation or challenge in that statement. I'm not denying anyone else. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's not about me.

That is really where I am - I call my self an agnostic when pushed, because the definition that I read somewhere at sometime was that to an agnostic the question of the exsitance fo god - was a question that didn't really matter. It tends to confuse a lot of people.

Someone once told me I am meta-agnostic because I believe it's not possible to know one way or the other whether a higher power exists. When pushed I usually say I'm an atheist.

Plei, you could be a Code Monkey dancer -

ok I gotta go to bed. Too much wine, too much Sperm are from men... followed by Serenity ( which fits with the book) and seeing someone echo how I feel about things. It is rare. and nice.

I believe it's not possible to know one way or the other whether a higher power exists.

I think that's the very definition of agnosticism, isn't it?