I was over at Pharyngula and PZ Meyers posted a link to this hilarious blog posting about this girl and her experience at a Christian Pentecostal church. Basically, as a child, her and all the rest of the children at the church loved going to service because as soon as the “holy ghost” had a hold of the adults, the kids would laugh their asses off at the adults making idiots of themselves. Adults who would start dancing in circles and screeching incomprehensible words. Even one particular woman who would regularly fall onto the floor with her dress over her head, revealing what farm animal panties she was wearing that week. It’s hilarious. Read it here.

It reminds me of one of the influential tipping points in my life.  I went to this huge religious conference that was being held at the University of Arizona when I was serving time in Catholic High School.  It was a conference designed to teach young high-schoolers how to spread the word of god to those who were lost.  Workshops, communal praying, the whole bit.

The tipping point for me was when we were in the university’s auditorium, and the priest revealed the “body of christ” in the monstrance while walking up and down the rows of the auditorium.  We were all on our knees, bearing the pain of the cement floor, me, looking forward to him getting back on stage so I could sit back down.  He came up our row and the girl in front of me immediately slammed her body back in her chair, back arched, hands gnarled and starting breathing heavily.  I don’t remember if she was “speaking in tongues” but I do remember thinking, “this is a bit dramatic.”

Ever since then I always wondered if she was being a drama queen, or if possibly she was so excited or anxious it threw her into some sort of grand mal seizure.  This girl could have been having a legitimate health issue and we chalked it up to god.

It was just one of many nails in the coffin for religion in my life.