Author Topic: Having to Live in the World and Deal with Sin (Read 1263 times)

MrsZ · « **on:** May 19, 2011, 02:04:36 PM »

In other thread asking what posters did for work, s2srea stated the following:

"I used to be a firefighter. Did 6 years in the USAF, then worked for LAFD, then a smaller department (Santa Anna-where i also learned to become devoted to St. Anne) for about a year. I was injured- but I believe it was good for me spiritually not to be there anymore. The firefighters here in LA are not the 'image' of what firefighters are typically portrayed as. Women @ the stations at night and other fleshiness tendencies were common. I lost a lot of my innocence in that time unfortunately- and many sins haunt me to this day. I guess all I can do is reparation..."

My son is a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He has been volunteering since his mid-teens. I have always been concerned about his friends (and my daughter's friends as well) and when he wanted to go into the military the moral aspect worried me as well ... knowing somewhat about things like locker-room talk and of course all the immorality going on in the world in general. We homeschooled our children and have maintained family prayers all their lives and gone to Mass every week. We've done everything we could to shelter and protect them.

My daughter is actually more isolated than our son because she hasn't had an outside job and hasn't been to public school. But at some point she's likely to encounter more examples of crass, worldly behavior even if it occurs in an office setting or store for a part time job.

I wish our kids didn't have to deal with this, but don't know any other way. Even if our son ultimately were to become a parish priest, he'd still have deal with teh world through his parishioners for better and worse. There is no perfect place.

My question has to do with s2srea's statement that he'd "lost his innocence" working as a firefighter. But isn't that the case no matter what line of work or schooling a person chooses?There's just so much we can do to avoid that type of thing. It's often worse amongst males I believe because of the tendency to talk in vulgar ways as a matter of course ... but that has been true in the military, firefighting, sports teams ... etc. Nowadays, even with young women, many are very harsh and vulgar in their language (I've experienced this first hand at a relatives house with the young women there) ..

s2srea · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2011, 07:20:11 PM »

Mrs Z-

First- to answer your question (But isn't that the case no matter what line of work or schooling a person chooses?):

Yes. My understanding is that here on the west coast, especially in greater Los Angeles, being a fireman (oops- we can't say that anymore can we- I mean firefighter) is far different from that of working in the East and Mid-West. Here, firefighters are glorified and paid far too much. I was making close to 100k a year my first year as a rookie. Those with only 3 or 4 years on the job were making well into 150k+/ year. Having no God or religion, most of my comrades would essentially blow most of their money on:
1,women,
2, partying (liquor)
3, cars and other toys(boats etc)
4,more women (prostitutes included).

Essentially- with or without the money, young men especially, are exposed to this. The military was no different... dare I say worse. I know some of those who've posted here have mentioned that they too were in the military. I'm relatively young, but I cant imagine if those who posted were older, that their experience was much different. Its funny- I remember bringing my missal to basic and when all the NO's went off to church on sunday's, I knelt in the showers to pray my mass ha ha ha... as soon as basic was over though, it was like a race for these young lads to get together with the local university girls and 'hook up' as often as possible. I was still strong then. But it was a beating.

Pornography EVERYWHERE. And some of the most vile vicious stuff imaginable- mulitples, animals -yes it wasn't a typo unfortunately- you name it.

The FD was not much different, being para-military, but was more "mature" and refined in its vileness. And I meant it when I said it: many sins haunt me to this day. Sometimes I don't know how Christ could ever give me the beatific vision :cry: I know I can only Hope and try my best now as I have been given the responsibility of my children's souls- I can only pray my experiences can help me know what to protect them from and I can lead them to Christ.

PartyIsOver221 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 19, 2011, 08:49:33 PM »

That was really moving s2srea. God bless you for posting that.

ServusSpiritusSancti · « **Reply #3 on:** May 19, 2011, 08:51:33 PM »

Yes, nice post s2srea. And nice to see you again, PartyIsOver.

s2srea · « **Reply #4 on:** May 19, 2011, 11:25:28 PM »

Thank you gents ..

MaterDominici · « **Reply #5 on:** May 20, 2011, 12:07:01 AM »

While these things might be impossible to complete avoid, it's certainly true that some jobs/careers are going to encounter this more than others.

The examples here -- military and FT firefighter -- are both on the same end of the spectrum when it comes to encountering such vulgar lifestyles. Both are predominately young men and both involved "working" 24 hours a day. For a multitude of reasons, I can't say I'm surprised to hear what s2s has described.

If a young person wishes to persevere in their Faith, I'd certainly recommend choosing a different path. There are plenty of careers with "moderate" to "low" risk of "losing one's innocence" whereas I'd count these as "high risk" choices.

MrsZ · « **Reply #6 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:55:14 AM »

Quote from: s2srea

Mrs Z-

First- to answer your question (But isn't that the case no matter what line of work or schooling a person chooses?):

Yes. My understanding is that here on the west coast, especially in greater Los Angeles, being a fireman (oops- we can't say that anymore can we- I mean firefighter) is far different from that of working in the East and Mid-West. Here, firefighters are glorified and paid far too much. I was making close to 100k a year my first year as a rookie. Those with only 3 or 4 years on the job were making well into 150k+/ year. Having no God or religion, most of my comrades would essentially blow most of their money on:
1,women,
2, partying (liquor)
3, cars and other toys(boats etc)
4,more women (prostitutes included).

Essentially- with or without the money, young men especially, are exposed to this. The military was no different... dare I say worse. I know some of those who've posted here have mentioned that they too were in the military. I'm relatively young, but I cant imagine if those who posted were older, that their experience was much different. Its funny- I remember bringing my missal to basic and when all the NO's went off to church on sunday's, I knelt in the showers to pray my mass ha ha ha... as soon as basic was over though, it was like a race for these young lads to get together with the local university girls and 'hook up' as often as possible. I was still strong then. But it was a beating.

Pornography EVERYWHERE. And some of the most vile vicious stuff imaginable- mulitples, animals -yes it wasn't a typo unfortunately- you name it.

The FD was not much different, being para-military, but was more "mature" and refined in its vileness. And I meant it when I said it: many sins haunt me to this day. Sometimes I don't know how Christ could ever give me the beatific vision :cry: I know I can only Hope and try my best now as I have been given the responsibility of my children's souls- I can only pray my experiences can help me know what to protect them from and I can lead them to Christ.

Yes, thank you for posting this. I remember reading about a blog by a Protestant wife and mother. Her two oldest sons had joined the Marines. Originally, they'd planned on being missionaries, but for some reason they chose the military. One of them became a chaplain and the other holds Bible studies. They honestly told their mother that the military was like Sodom and Gomorrah. They, being good sons, didn't tell her the details. But they're holding onto their faith (such as it is, being heretics) and trying to do the right thing and trying to lead other's to Christ. But we need chaplains in the military. We need people who are strong enough to be in that environment and hold onto their faith to help others, don't we?

MrsZ · « **Reply #7 on:** May 20, 2011, 11:57:19 AM »

Quote from: MaterDominici

While these things might be impossible to complete avoid, it's certainly true that some jobs/careers are going to encounter this more than others.

The examples here -- military and FT firefighter -- are both on the same end of the spectrum when it comes to encountering such vulgar lifestyles. Both are predominately young men and both involved "working" 24 hours a day. For a multitude of reasons, I can't say I'm surprised to hear what s2s has described.

If a young person wishes to persevere in their Faith, I'd certainly recommend choosing a different path. There are plenty of careers with "moderate" to "low" risk of "losing one's innocence" whereas I'd count these as "high risk" choices.

But we still need firefighters and soldiers and police officers. And most of these jobs are always going to be filled by young men. And in our ungodly society, most of these young men are going to be ungodly. There still has to be a light in the midst of darkness. If a young man feels called to a certain profession ... maybe just maybe God means for him to be there and to somehow rise above the filth and try to lead other's to Christ. IDK, JMO. :thinking:

stevusmagnus · « **Reply #8 on:** May 20, 2011, 12:33:11 PM »

I'm pretty sure the military and FD still had this reputation in the old days. Perhaps even moreso as ladies were not allowed in. Then again the depravity wasn't quite to the same level. I'm sure there was cursing, lewd stories & jokes, trips to the bar, and pin up girls in the 40's & 50's, but nothing like the insane smut & garbage bandied about today.

I'm no expert, but my best guess is that we need to try to prepare our kids as best as possible to face these difficult situations while not intentionally throwing them to the wolves in order to "learn by experience". In other words don't say, " Ok Johnny, you've been homeschooled and brought up in a pristine environment all of your life and are completely innocent. Good luck in the marines!"

I'm not sure the exact way to do this, but I suppose you'd want to raise kids who know right from wrong, who have courage in their convictions, but have enough social interaction to be able to communicate with other people and know how to handle dificult situations. I think if one can make it past the teen years without your kid becoming a total bum/ worldling in this day and age, you've done something.

MrsZ · « **Reply #9 on:** May 22, 2011, 02:52:04 PM »

Quote from: stevusmagnus

I'm not sure the exact way to do this, but I suppose you'd want to raise kids who know right from wrong, who have courage in their convictions, but have enough social interaction to be able to communicate with other people and know how to handle dificult situations. I think if one can make it past the teen years without your kid becoming a total bum/ worldling in this day and age, you've done something.

I agree. It's really a balancing act to be able to protect and prepare. We haven't completely shut out the world / media or interactions with fallen family members and friends all these years. But we've held very high standards and been completely open about the faith and what it takes to keep it. The thing is the pull of the world is so strong and sometimes I don't think people are really aware of what that struggle is going to feel like until they go through it. We all have to be tested. It's perseverence that matters in the end. I'm hoping our example and the relationship we've built with our children will help them to hold onto their faith and make their way through.

Zenith · « **Reply #10 on:** May 24, 2011, 02:27:02 AM »

Quote from: s2srea

Mrs Z-

First- to answer your question (But isn't that the case no matter what line of work or schooling a person chooses?):

Yes. My understanding is that here on the west coast, especially in greater Los Angeles, being a fireman (oops- we can't say that anymore can we- I mean firefighter) is far different from that of working in the East and Mid-West. Here, firefighters are glorified and paid far too much. I was making close to 100k a year my first year as a rookie. Those with only 3 or 4 years on the job were making well into 150k+/ year. Having no God or religion, most of my comrades would essentially blow most of their money on:
1,women,
2, partying (liquor)
3, cars and other toys(boats etc)
4,more women (prostitutes included).

Essentially- with or without the money, young men especially, are exposed to this. The military was no different... dare I say worse. I know some of those who've posted here have mentioned that they too were in the military. I'm relatively young, but I cant imagine if those who posted were older, that their experience was much different. Its funny- I remember bringing my missal to basic and when all the NO's went off to church on sunday's, I knelt in the showers to pray my mass ha ha ha... as soon as basic was over though, it was like a race for these young lads to get together with the local university girls and 'hook up' as often as possible. I was still strong then. But it was a beating.

Pornography EVERYWHERE. And some of the most vile vicious stuff imaginable- mulitples, animals -yes it wasn't a typo unfortunately- you name it.

The FD was not much different, being para-military, but was more "mature" and refined in its vileness. And I meant it when I said it: many sins haunt me to this day. Sometimes I don't know how Christ could ever give me the beatific vision :cry: I know I can only Hope and try my best now as I have been given the responsibility of my children's souls- I can only pray my experiences can help me know what to protect them from and I can lead them to Christ.

This pretty much sums up my personal experiences in the Australian navy down to the letter!