I was on the radio this morning.

Our church broadcasts the 9:30 mass out on the radio.  Sometimes choir sings at 9:30, but I'm always just part of the choir crowd then.  11:30 mass is when I cantor. 

For reasons completely unknown to me, I got scheduled to be the cantor for this mass.  Not only did I have all the usual stuff, it was Pentecost, so I had to sing the sequence, and then the piece we did for gifts had this lovely little cantor solo bit.  So I had to sing all this extra stuff, for radio broadcast, while half asleep.  And just for fun -- the choir director decided to add a verse of the solo thing that on Wednesday was not part of the reportoire and hence not practiced.  Yeah, let's screw me up when I'm sleepwalking.

And yes, you better believe I was thinking about that radio audience every time I messed up.  Never know who might be listening.  Like my friends -- who I don't sing in front of. 

Then I came home and crashed on the couch for the rest of the day.  8 am is really too early to be awake.

Life is really in a state of flux here.  But all should be settle shortly.

Now for a little rant.  Anyone who knows me knows that my religion is very important to me.  Being Catholic is part of who I am.  I don't apologize for that (nor should I), but I also don't think that everyone should share my views. 

I know there are a lot of people who dislike religion because of the way it shapes behavior, that people hate on other people because of religion.  That is true, of course, and something I've seen a lot of over the past week.

During the Pope's visit to the U.S., I read blogs written by non-Catholics that ripped Catholicism to shreds, telling us how we should believe, what we should believe, and that priests are nothing but pedophiles and if they were allowed to marry, the abuse would come to a stop.  Those posts are insulting in more ways than I can count.

Then comes the great irony, one of those bloggers who ripped on Catholics just days ago (and said she had the right to do so, free speech and all) has posted a scathing blog against someone who dared to make negative comments on her religion and is essentially demanding others boycott the offender's blog.  As I'm reading that blog, an email from the husband comes through with a note from his mother, talking about how they are renting their condo to a Muslim family and that the neighbors are up in arms about having someone from THAT religion living there. 

This bothers me, this idea that it is okay to form and speak opinions on someone else's religious beliefs but they can't do the same about yours.  I'm not talking about bringing up these ideas for discussion -- I encourage that actually.  No, it is the automatic assumption that if someone disagrees with your religion that person is stupid, ignorant, uninformed, plotting against you, a terrorist, a child molestor, etc.  Instead of helping people learn and grow, these assumptions and posts just generate more hate, more stereotypes. 

I guess it has become a knee-jerk reaction.  You read a post where someone questions a religious practice opposite of your beliefs and the comments tend to follow the "this is why I hate organized religion."  It doesn't add to the dialogue.  It doesn't allow for the opportunity for someone to explain the reasons behind a practice. 

Rather than hate on each other because what we write doesn't fit into your belief system, why don't we ask questions and get a conversation going.

I read an article today in the Philadelphia Inquirer that Comcast is trolling blogs and the like, looking for complaints about its company.

Oh Comcast . . . come here . . .

Okay, there is one thing I do like about Comcast in my town.  It comes with CSN Philadelphia and CN8.  It means I can overdose on Phillies baseball.  The first 19 years of our lives in State College, Phillies baseball on TV was just a dream or something happened with the Phils played on FOX on Saturdays or ESPN on Sundays or played the Pirates, Braves, or Mets.  Maybe.  I thank you for that Comcast.  The husband, eh, not so much.

Here's what I don't like about Comcast.  We have a HD box for our digital cable.  Just HD.  No DVR.  Never did.  Weren't planning on it.  We're not so addicted to TV that we can't bear to miss something.  We had the HD box for almost 18 months. 

But suddenly we are getting charged more.  In fact, we're being charged for a DVR box.  On the phone, Comcast tells us we're lying and phone rep number one hangs up on the husband.  Rep number two on the call back says we were under a special offer that changed and now we're being charged for our DVR, and then tried to give us all kinds of reasons why we're getting these extra charges.  But she will take it off the bill.  The husband checks back a few days later.  It is still on the bill.

Another call, more excuses.  The husband tries to explain that we don't have a DVR box, if we did we could record, right.  Yes, he was told.  He tried.  He could no record.  Woman told him he was doing something wrong.  He told her they were screwy.  She finally said either he had to take his box to the local office or we pay for a service rep to come out and check the situation.  He opts to take the box to the local office, canceling plans to meet me for a friend's happy hour celebration.

He gets to the Comcast office, and the woman rolls her eyes.  "There is nothing wrong with your box," she says.  "It's HD, not DVR."  Apparently, Comcast is adding this extra charge to lots of customers.  Either the company is corrupt, trying to scam people into paying for something they aren't getting, or there are employees who are into some fishy behaviors. 

As it is, we plan to report this scam to our local government officials.  After reading today's Inqy article, the Comcast hoo-hahs should know, too. 

The husband says any more issues like this from Comcast, and he's going with DirectTV and its more HD channels (really, we can't understand why our Comcast doesn't offer more, like the local CBS station).  Do you know how painful it would be for me to lose my Phillies?  So Comcast, stop screwing up.