QotD: Italy

Here in Italy, my Catholic friends think impure thoughts, use birth control and don't truck much with confession. While an American might seek out Our Lady of So What — a church to match his morals — Italians don't see it as a matter as religious choice, but one of identity. Sure, the Pope might be a loonbag, but he's our loonbag.

Plus, he supplies rules, much beloved in this country where you need a permit to paint a house or mow a lawn. Regulations permeate Italian life like smoke in a bar — passers-by see the cloud, but insiders are too acclimated to notice. Not that anyone follows rules, personally. Laws are necessary for other people.

Jennifer "Chotzi" Rosen, "A Law is to Break" corkjester.com (note: link is to main website), 2006-11-04