Jennifer Fulwiler’s article "A Sexual Revolution" has received dozens of comments and at 19,000 hits and counting is the by far the most-read article on America’s new Web site. This afternoon and tomorrow, Jennifer will be answering questions posed by readers. To ask a question of your own, post a comment below.
The first question is from Joseph Puglielli: "How did your pro-choice friends react to your first decision to forsake that ideology and how did they react when you converted to Catholicism?"
Jennifer: "To be honest, the issue of abortion rarely comes up in social settings. I do know quite a few people who are involved in pro-choice activism, and I’m still discerning what the best way is to start a dialogue with them about the issue. Since I spent most of my life with their views, I know exactly how the pro-life position sounds to them, and I realize that it’s not a conversation that can be carelessly jumped into if there’s any hope of a real exchange of ideas happening.
As for the conversion to Catholicism, we’ve gotten a pretty big reaction on that one. Our longtime friends know that we did not used to be religious people, to say the least (to give you just one example: we got married in a theater, wrote our own vows, and I wore a dark purple dress). The subject of our conversion comes up fairly frequently, usually as an extension of questions about the fact that we’ve had three children in three years. There is one reaction we get far more than any other: curiosity.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that our dramatic conversions to Catholicism almost always spark honest, thought-provoking conversation. Frankly, in these conversations at social events I think we’re all just relieved to have something interesting to talk about instead of the usual chitchat about the weather. At one recent party we attended, for example, we were there for six hours and spent approximately 80% of our time just fielding questions about Catholic teaching from friends who were shocked and perplexed that our lives and belief systems did such a 180-degree turn around."
