Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Parish vs. County

Last night we watched "Runaway Jury" it's an older movie, (maybe 2003?) starring John Cusack, one of our fave actors. And although I have seen this movie before I never noticed that it was filmed in New Orleans! So as John was running down the streets we noticed places that we had been. Very cool! We also heard a term that bugged us for years not quite understanding what it meant. Whenever they talk about areas in New Orleans, they are always called parishes and not counties like seemingly everywhere else.

What the heck does that mean? We have the answer to that question, and you don't even have to do a poll! New Orleans is a very religious place, not just any religion, but Roman Catholicism. Hence, no cemetery tour on Good Friday when we visited :-(

The catholic relegion permeates New Orleans, yes, right down to how they name their geographical areas. Instead of calling it "Orleans County" they call it "Orleans Parish" referring to a county like a church. Churches are also known as parishes. When the seperation of church and state is a very important distinction everywhere today, it is quite amazing that to see this such a display of a church in state domain. But that's New Orleans - a very cool place - every single parish.

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