Notes:

WARNING: This chapter, and perhaps the next couple, will deal with serious religious discussions and themes as well as some thoughts on Christianity. For anyone uninterested in my portrayal of Star's introduction to religion as we know it, feel free to skip this chapter.

This particular arc will not last forever, as I don't intend to weave religion deeply into the story, but it IS a big part of America and so something Star would have been introduced to eventually.

Chapter 19

We all bustle inside and settle down at our usual spot, a pew about four rows back from the front. Star is looking around with curious eyes and I find myself matching her. One thing I really like about being around Star for the past few days is that she looks at my boring world and finds it amazing. Being around her helps me appreciate it for what it is and see a bit of wonder where I had thought it all already gone.

Echo Creek Non-denominational is a huge building on the inside, most of it dedicated to the church area proper. Three lines of pews stretch out in front of the stage, each having around 15 rows. Most of them end up being pretty full. We don't exactly have the most religious town, but a good number of them are attracted to the main event-an onstage band that plays Christian music loud and good enough to feel like an amazing concert every Sunday.

I of course sit next to Star, my father on her other side. As we're settling in I give her a quick expectation of the schedule of events-when it's okay to talk, when it's not, how we'd be sitting here for about an hour or so. She nods along obediently, thankfully not seeming too bothered by it all. I doubt it'll last-most hyperactive kids start getting fidgety when the actual preaching starts…

Our preacher, Reverend Skeeves, steps up to the podium on the stage. He's Principal Skeeves younger brother and looks nearly identical to him, except stretched up. Rather than being short and portly, the Reverend is tall and thin. Same glasses and same ridiculously shiny hair, though. He introduces himself, welcomes everyone in, and then steps back and lets the band start playing.

Star of course loves this. Honestly, I do as well. Christian music might not be for everyone, but when it's thrumming in your chest with every beat of the drum it's hard to not be excited. We go through a number of songs that Star begins to sing along with, but eventually she stops and frowns a little bit. Still swaying to the music as if only barely preventing herself from breaking out into dance, but clearly thoughtful and definitely not singing along anymore.

She remains in that odd mood for the next twenty minutes or so that the band plays. You might think that a full third of our time in church being dedicated to music is a bit odd, but I honestly understand. Faith is declining in everybody these days, but music speaks directly to your soul. I have my own issues with religion but I still never feel as close to god as I do when singing out in church along with a hundred others.

Unfortunately it does finally end. Passion stoked, the Reverend asks us all to take our seats. Star whispers to me "We need to talk about that later."

I suppose she's correct-we already planned to give her 'the talk' about religion and her boyfriend, so covering our music and whatever is bothering her shouldn't be too hard. Reverend Skeeves finally begins speaking and his sermon is a picture perfect example of why my feelings on religion are complex. He begins with a really provocative story about this particular prophet or that particular unfortunate soul going through a deadly trial, making mistakes, and learning important lessons about how to be a good person through it all. That's amazing! We should try our best to learn the lessons the bible has to give, as that kind of wisdom never really fades.

Even Star seemed engrossed in the story. I wonder if I didn't give her enough credit for being able to sit still for very long? I imagine entertainment in a medieval setting probably involves a lot of sitting still and listening to someone tell a story, much less princess training for formality. The problem began in the Reverend's last twenty minutes of speaking. He shifted from the previous lesson he was teaching us to focus on a wife's proper place in the home.

If you've never heard a preacher talk about that particular topic, then I'll summarize: A wife serves, stands behind, and is submissive to the husband. She does what he needs and he leads the family. No exceptions. Which, while admirable in a way, doesn't fly very well with the modern values of feminism and equality. Religion hasn't really changed much in the last few hundred years, and it is struggling to keep up with our enlightened understanding of gender roles in the modern day.

Not to say our culture is perfect or anything, but we're definitely a few steps ahead of the 'your wife is your property' ideal. Our Reverend knows it's an unpopular idea of course. Hell, he makes a few jokes about his own wife having a thing or two to say about this particular sermon. But he still preaches it, which is part of a wider problem. Religion has some important things to teach us, and considering what I've recently learned about the existence of magic and Hell it's probably even more important than the average joe things, but it's aged.

Christianity is thousands of years old. While some lessons never change, we no longer need others. People have trouble understanding that a good part of the holy book was written by men, not God, and they praise the bible (it itself an adaption made for the needs of men a couple hundred years ago) as untouchable. Anyway, I think that basically explains the problems I have with church, but they won't stop me from seeking a deeper relationship with God.

Back to where we were, Star only makes it through ten minutes of the later part of the sermon before she has her wand up and glowing. I escort her out before she can blast the Reverend with something rather indecent, to the mild horror of my father. He seems to at least realize that stopping us would only cause a bigger scene, so allows me to drag Star away.

Once we're outside, Star explodes, finally letting her thoughts out. I'm actually rather impressed she had enough self control to wait until we were in the parking lot. "What was that, Marco!? The first bits were cool, but 'Men must always lead the household'? 'Women must know their place is behind the Man?' My mother is literally the Queen of our entire kingdom! I don't even know if my dad does anything to help with governing at all!"

I reach up to rub the back of my head, wishing I had my familiar hoodie to help get through this awkward conversation. "Look, Star, most people don't really think like that. We get it, and this is pretty much the feminist capital of the whole world anyway. But Christianity, our religion, is from a time when women were treated...as property. Some of the teachings from that time are still talked about, but it's a bit rare. It was unlucky you ran into it day one. Most of the rest of the stuff we learn is really helpful in trying to be a good, moral person."

Come to think of it, I wonder why Star feels so strongly about all this? Medieval times were still pretty harsh on women. Oh… magic is the great equalizer, I guess. Not to mention that her wand is passed down to princesses only, or so she said. There probably aren't very many anti-woman movements because their figurehead, the most powerful person in their nation, is pretty constantly female.

"And what was with those songs?! Like, sure, they sounded amazing, but the lyrics! 'We serve and obey'? 'We embrace our lord's will'? On Mewni, we don't serve our gods, we work with them! What kind of relationship do you have with this Jesus guy that you blindly obey?" Wait, they work with their gods? Interesting, but not as interesting as the bit of hypocrisy that Star is spewing.

"Star. You are literally a princess. Your kingdom is a monarchy. You might have the freedom of choice to make your own decisions, but your people 'serve and obey' -you-." She seems to deflate at that, not having really considered that perhaps she was just not used to being the blind follower.

"Ugh. I guess. But we really need to have a chat with this Jesus guy about what he's having these churches teach." Star smacks her wand into her empty palm menacingly, which happily finally breaks the tension for me at least. I burst out laughing at the sheer gumption my new friend has, reading to hunt down and beat up God for disagreeing with him. "What? What's so funny?" Bright blue eyes squint suspiciously at me.

I manage to stifle my giggles enough to explain to her, "We don't have magic here. We don't have a way to see different dimensions, and we don't know for sure anything supernatural exists-including God. Jesus was a human who lived two thousand years ago, and our God's face has never really been seen in about the same amount of time. So, yeah, considering we don't know if he even exists we can't exactly hunt him down and give him a piece of our mind."

More than anything so far today, that seems to shock Star into silence. I suppose she's finally coming to terms with the idea that our society really doesn't have magic and all that actually means for us.