How did I end up being the person who gets into a political fight on Facebook with one of my best friend's MOTHERS? I've known this woman for 21 years, spent holidays at her house, and she just fucking defriended me on Facebook.

The Internet is so bizarre.

My sympathies, amyth. I am SO ready to defriend the lion's share of my face-to-face friends. They have no clue how to be internet friends and it's driving me nuts. Also, a number of them need to buy a sense of humor.

I believe that in some parishes at least, they will do a general confession/absolution during the service - which is frowned up by their higher-ups, and yet, they do it that way anyway. In those parishes, the priests will still make themselves available for those, usually older people, who prefer the old fashioned one-to-one confession. Of course, my knowledge of Catholic churches in America comes mostly from Andrew Greeley novels, so what do I know?

Well, it's that you used to have to go to Confession every week, prior to taking communion, or you couldn't take it (because you still had sin on you).

Now, it's actually called "Reconciliation", not "Confession", and it's built in to the mass, so that you aren't required to do it every week, unless you've done BAAAAAD things, you can still take communion. You ARE still supposed to do it (with the priest, and it used to be with the screen between you and now it's face to face, but some will still do the screen thing if you want) at least...er...once a year? Before major holidays? Mind is slipping on that one.

I really hate the whole worlds-colliding thing about facebook.

Oh I love that about Facebook! But I am unusually blessed with relatively sane family and friends (or at least we have similar political beliefs).

Yeah, it's me, and my worlds not fitting together all that great.

I also like it--due to having far-flung family and friends.

There are parts about it I like--I've gotten back in touch with folks I wouldn't have otherwise, but it's definitely awkward.

I don't mind jettisoning the occasional right-wing nutjob from elementary school. In fact, it feels freeing to defriend someone that I haven't seen face-to-face since 1985 and who feels the need to mansplain all over my wall why Nancy Pelosi is a Nazi bitch. But this one is awkward, because she's practically family, and we are going to continue to see one another.

Whatever, she'd just make me watch FoxNews anyway. It's probably for the best.

My BFF is Catholic, and the last time that she went to church with her parents, they had confession where you just sat in a room with two chairs and the priest. she couldn't handle it.

There are tons of f2f people I'm glad I found on facebook. It's just that there's a handful (and it's not all political stuff, either) of people about whom I should have known better and because they're f2f people, there's no gracious way to dump them.

Oh Connie, please forgive my bad timing.

No problem at all, that's the downside of the board, so many threads of lives with the attendant ups and downs not always gelling in an appropriately tonal manner. All appropriate ~ma in all directions.