Re: ADD and religion

[Anonymous]

js-cart –

I was born and raised in the Montreal area (St.Lambert), and i know exactly what you’re talking about. I lived through that whole period, from Jean Lesage and La Révolution Tranquille, through Pierre Trudeau, René Levesque and Le Parti Québecois, all the way up to 1984 when I moved to the USA. The Catholic Church was all-powerful up until the early to mid 60s, then as people started to get more enlightened, it lost much of its power and influence. Yes, influence! The Catholic Church was politically very well-connected in the Quebec Government, especially during the time of Maurice Duplessis, constantly “advising” him on government policy. No separation of Church and State in Quebec back then! The “Holy Trinity” back then was Le Frère André, Maurice Duplessis, and Maurice “Rocket” Richard!

I remember the big battle my father and I had when I turned 18, back in 1972, when I told him that I was done with going to church on Sunday. Youthful rebellion on my part, and I’m sure i didn’t think it out, but my Dad, I thought he was going to have a heart attack! He was convinced I was going straight to hell for not attending Mass! I’ll always remember him saying, “Can’t you even devote one short hour to God?”. Now at the time I knew nothing about ADD, but I knew I couldn’t even devote five minutes to God without getting all fidgety and squirmy! So to make a long story short, that was the beginning of my love-hate relationship with the Catholic Church, which has continued to this day. I don’t know when or how it will resolve itself, but I do know this – it will be on my terms, and no one else’s.

Know what was the best thing about living in Montreal back then? Cheering for Les Canadiens as they would win one Stanley Cup after another, and watching my favorite player, Guy Lafleur, flying up the ice and scoring one goal after another!

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