And People Wonder...
This morning I read a newspaper article that almost made me sick. I consider myself religious, I believe in God, I go to church when I can, especially for all major holidays. I am a good person, I know the Bible. I eat wheat. So I qualify to be Catholic.

You sense a little sarcasm... yeah just a little. You are thinking... what does wheat have anything to do with it? Well, according to that article, it has a lot to do with it. I never knew! Once again, good thing I can eat wheat.

The article: There is a young girl in Eugene with a rare condition in which she can't eat wheat. It could kill her. She wants to be catholic. She finished her classes to be able to take communion. And guess what? Communion bread is made of wheat. She requested to be able to use a rice bread instead, and was denied.

The church said that the communion bread must have unleavened wheat in it, like the last super. It also explained that wine must be fermented, and that catholics do not allow non-alcoholic substitutions (not even for recovering alcoholics, they just get a reduced alcohol wine). The church suggested a low-wheat content wafer. Wow, how nice of the church! I mean, that won't kill her, just make her really sick and potential cause intestinal cancer.

I find this appalling. The article mentioned a similar case in Massachusetts. That family left the catholic church because a rice cake substitute for their daughter was not allowed. Wow. I here thought the Bible said all you had to do was believe in Jesus and you would be saved (John 3:16 is a good example). I had no clue that in fine print below it read, "And you must be able to eat wheat." For a church with big problems, like over 200 million dollars in law suits over priests raping little boys which has caused all the bishops to have to sell their million dollar estates and priceless art to cover those expenses... I bet those bishops can eat wheat though.

Let me say once again that I believe in God. I am talking about organized religion... how can a faith that for years turned the other way to the crimes of priests, but won't let a girl eat a rice cake... be right? How can that be what God wanted?

I am sure if Jesus knew one of his disciples could not eat wheat, for the last super he would of bought some rice cakes.