Ten dinner party conversation openers.....

.....or closers.

Ah.....but where do you place the Catholic?

How often have we as Catholics kept our mouths shut when, in a group discussion, someone holds forth on the unfairness of a judicial system that penalises doctors who "help" their patients into an early grave.

Or, when the "abortion" word is mentioned, how often have we mentally turned away and ignored all that is being said in order that we do not cause offence.

There are times, admittedly, when to enter an argument when all present are charged up on Vino Collapso, is not a wise thing to do.
Arguing with raised voices over a dinner table is not Christ like.
It may even be a cause for scandal, depending on how charged up the party is; you are then right to 'keep mum'.

And then there are the times when you await your moment; the split second where you may enter the debate and deliver your one liner in defence of Catholic values without causing jackets to be removed.

But, how often do we open the batting with a question on morality or ethics?

With Christmas rapidly advancing I thought it might be helpful to have a number of openers to call upon, you may wish to contribute some of your favourites:-

1. "Does anyone know what happens to the bodies of babies after they have been aborted?"

2. "Of course, just thinking about homosexual acts conjures up feelings of revulsion doesn't it?"

3. I think the same sex issue is so funny; imagine, two women walking down the aisle arm in arm...what a hoot!"

4. "Sex education in schools should be re-named sex training, after all it is so explicit"

5. "I just don't know why schools insist on putting on Christmas plays that are totally secular in content"

6. "Anyone who gives or receives a gift at Christmas, or takes time off work, is taking part in the celebration of Christ's birth"

7. "Leaving children to make up their own minds over religion is so ridiculous, it's like saying that they can find their own way of crossing the road"

8. "The Catholic Church will never ordain women as priests because, you see, Christ took the male gender and, anyway, God has given us the Blessed Virgin Mary, His own Mother, to watch over and guide us"

9. "We don't participate in joint services with other faiths as it can give the false impression that they are right"

10. "Of course, real Catholics receive the Body and Blood of Christ kneeling and on the tongue precisely because it is the actual and real Body and Blood of Christ"