Reviewing some old programming

    Second Vatican Council formally concluded December 8, 1965, so I was one of the first wave of kids going through Catholic school from the start while the parishes were variously embracing and (the older members) often struggling with the implementation of the various changes to both the mass and doctrine, or at least what was to be emphasized and de-emphasized in said doctrine.

It was all new to us, so we couldn't appreciate from personal experience how unsettling various aspects of it were for older generations who'd been raised in a comfortably compartmentalized structure of worship. The moves to modernize and humanize the experience, and to involve and engage the parishioners, were an affront to those who felt betrayed by a sudden, intrusive change in their contract with the God. They'd been raised to believe that their task was to follow the rules (some stricter than others, I've only ever known a sort of buffet style Catholicism to be in actual practice), show up on the appointed dates, say the designated words in the call and response, take the sacraments, and leave it to the priest to talk to God on their behalf - in Latin with his back to them while he did it.

     They'd been raised as ideal factory workers (honestly, much as 20th century schools in general were structured), and were appalled that the Holy Father (the one who started it even having been Called Home before it was finished, a fact some, I'm sure, embraced as a vote of no confidence from The Almighty) and a bunch of out of touch academics had so drastically changed their job descriptions as parishioners.

     This Tom Lehrer song is one of several in my massive, general playlist, and as it bubbled up this time it was once again bringing to mind the conditioned reflexes that persist as a part of having been raised Roman Catholic. It's all academic to me, as I've been an atheist (a complex, personal perspective not to be casually defined by anyone but me, unless one's willfully intending to misunderstand) since my teens. Still, decades later, after so many years of seldom being in a church - then mostly for funerals of the odd wedding - the words and the reflexes are still deeply ingrained, raising a chuckle at the thought that I'm still a weird, semi-conscious, Vatican sleeper agent. "And also with you."
     If nothing else, it's still a snappy, fun little song.
     Blogger's being suddenly hostile to me, not allowing me to post an embedded video (telling me I don't have permission to be here), so for the moment I can only offer a link to the song that kicked this off today (It pops out to make its own page): Tom Lehrer - The Vatican Rag