growing up, religion played a big role in our lives. my mother was a staunch catholic and she was raised that way. we said grace at the dinner table, we prayed the rosary every night, we went to church on sundays and on special occasions, too. we were raised as God-fearing children and whatever good thing that came our way, we thanked God for it.
but my father was a different lot. he, too, was raised by staunch catholic aunts, but i guess being without his own parents and having been left to fend on his own, life had hardened him. while he was respectful of my mother's religious beliefs, he was open to other religious teachings. he was a widely-read man and had a very good grasp of other religions. he used to listen to a paid radio program where a man lectured on the flaws of the bible, the torah, the qu'ran, why even the senate. living in a one-room house which was typical of poor families in the country at the time, it was difficult not to listen to that radio program. we children were not exactly dumb, in fact we had a good grasp of what the lectures were about. so we grew up, or at least i did, having an open mind about religion and a good understanding and respect for other people's religious beliefs as well. while my siblings have remained catholic, i have "modified" my religion to 'christian'.
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this is the "immaculate conception catholic church" in sutton, ontario, taken during our trip yesterday.
