It's like checking out your family tree.

The War Department and I have had some discussions regarding religion. She was Methodist and I'm Catholic. The was part comes in because to better answer my questions about areas of her faith that she was light in she began reading the official documents.

Turns out the UMC is solidly pro-choice, no ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. That doesn't sit right with either of us so she's hit the highway and is now looking for a new church home. I won't push Catholicism on her, it's too much like trying to date a freshly widowed woman. I have my standards, they're low but I have them.

Thinking about it, this isn't something uncommon. I know every time I start looking deeper into Catholicsim I get surprised, often unpleasantly. It's also axiomatic for one other faith that if you want reasons to leave you only have to study it's history. I won't mention that religion by name, too many folks like slamming it. I've found the majority of people in it to be really decent.

The title of this post comes from a conversation I once had with a man in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club. This was at the time geneology was REALLY popular. Seems this guy's dad started tracing out the family tree and found a few generations back a direct ancestor had been as black as the ace of spades. That might not have meant much except that "dear old dad" was as bigoted as David Duke. He gave up that hobby shortly afterwards. Go figure.

I guess the moral of the story is to be prepared for any kind of surprise when you start digging into things. Life isn't always what it appears to be.