Speaking and Silence Regarding Religion

One of the most interesting relationships regarding speaking and silence in my opinion is that between parent and child, especially concerning religion. In my own family, my mother is a very faithful Catholic, while my father is a very quiet atheist. I did not learn about my father's atheism until perhaps my senior year of high school, so fairly recently. We never, ever talk about religion as a family. My mom requires that we go to Mass with her every Sunday. When I'm home I go with her,  as does my 15 year old sister, but never say anything about my own personal religious beliefs. My dad says nothing about religion whatsoever.

The only person brave enough to speak up about religion in my family is my 19 year old brother. At first, I thought he only didn't want to go to Mass because he hates waking up early and "dressing up," but since this past summer, I can see it's more than that. One of our former priests was convicted of possessing child pornography, his own pornography, photos which he had taken of children in Guatemala on a church service trip. It was disgusting. I never trusted that priest (in 7th grade I refused to shake his hand; finally, after his last Mass I did, and he said "I thought you were too good to shake my hand." Evidently, I was.)

Anyway, my brother refuses to go to Mass at our parish any more because of the way that our current pastor handled the situation. He went  one time last summer and it was a disaster. The pastor made a joke, in very very poor taste, about how the whole situation with the former priest was overblown or irrelevant or something, and my brother sarcastically slapped his knee and said "That's hilarious," and left in the middle of the homily. Personally, this reminds me of the relationship between Joe and his Mormon mother in Angels in America. She says, "I raised you better than this!" which is something I think many parents say to their children, especially when that child steps out of line regarding religion. I think the topic of speaking and silence regarding religion is fascinating, and I think that it is absolutely necessary to speak about religion at home. If religion is ignored, I think violent consequences will ensue.