# Ask a non-practicing Catholic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207 "2005-01-28T23:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/1 "2005-01-28T23:46:08Z")
Why not? šŸ˜ƒ Go on, ask me. ---
**Author:** ![sweetfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@sweetfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetfreak)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/2 "2005-01-28T23:49:16Z")
I donā€™t need to ask. As another non-practicing Catholic, I already know. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/3 "2005-01-28T23:55:48Z")
Did you start this thread because you were jealous? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/4 "2005-01-28T23:59:44Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Did you start this thread because you were jealous? Jealous of what? šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/5 "2005-01-29T00:02:17Z")
Howā€™re you going to learn if you donā€™t practice? ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/6 "2005-01-29T00:04:02Z")
Does anyone in the church really care what the Pope has to say? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/7 "2005-01-29T00:07:16Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Why not? šŸ˜ƒ > > Go on, ask me. Should I use canned ā€˜pizza sauceā€™ or some tomato and basil marinara for the pizza I am about to make? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/8 "2005-01-29T00:10:36Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Does anyone in the church really care what the Pope has to say? Being non-practicing, I donā€™t give two hoots what the pope says, except to mock their continued stance on condom use. I know some people, however, who treat everything the pope says like it was handed down from god. Go figure. šŸ˜ƒ > [@Brutus](#): > > Should I use canned ā€˜pizza sauceā€™ or some tomato and basil marinara for the pizza I am about to make? I didnā€™t mention that I am part Italian, but somehow you figured it out and have asked me about pizza sauce. Well, [heres how you make pizza sauce](http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1715,146188-255198,00.html) . ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/9 "2005-01-29T00:13:54Z")
How old were you when you stopped attending church? Did anything in particular precipitate this, or was it just a growing sense of ā€œThis is bullshitā€ combined with a shrinking sense of ā€œIā€™ll keep going to keep my parents happyā€? Would you consider Protestantism/some other religion, or did your disenchantment with Mother Church pretty much taint all organized religion? 'Cuz thatā€™s how it was with me. ---
**Author:** ![chinbender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@chinbender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinbender)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/10 "2005-01-29T01:16:04Z")
Why do you consider yourself a non-practicing catholic? What I mean is, why are you still identifying as catholic at all? Do you plan on a return someday, or are your reasons for not going to mass not strong enough to just call yourself a former catholic? If you found yourself at mass, maybe Christmas, Easter, or a wedding, would you take communion? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/11 "2005-01-29T01:25:40Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Should I use canned ā€˜pizza sauceā€™ or some tomato and basil marinara for the pizza I am about to make? As a Catholic and being of Sicilian ancestry, I assure you that any canned sauce is heresy and you will burn for it šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/12 "2005-01-29T01:38:39Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > How old were you when you stopped attending church? I never did the ā€œChurch on Sundayā€ thing. Sometimes (every few years) my family would go to a Christmas mass. > [@](#): > > Did anything in particular precipitate this, or was it just a growing sense of ā€œThis is bullshitā€ combined with a shrinking sense of ā€œIā€™ll keep going to keep my parents happyā€? Actually, for awhile I was kind of a born-again evangelical for about a year. Still didnā€™t go to church. Iā€™ve always found the biggest hypocrites and unpleasant people are the most ā€œchurch-goingā€ in my area. I donā€™t like them. My parents were/are divorced, I lived with my mother for the most part, and she is also not practicing. > [@chinbender](#): > > Why do you consider yourself a non-practicing catholic? Because I was baptized Catholic, and I donā€™t go to church. I donā€™t follow the Churchā€™s teachings (no I donā€™t run around murdering and adultering (Is that a verb?)). I use condoms, which is a big no-no (not to mention extra-marital sex to begin with). And my faith in god is questionable. > [@](#): > > If you found yourself at mass, maybe Christmas, Easter, or a wedding, would you take communion? 1. It is very unlkely I would find myself and any of those places. 2. No. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/13 "2005-01-29T01:39:40Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > As a Catholic and being of Sicilian ancestry, I assure you that any canned sauce is heresy and you will burn for it šŸ˜ƒ The Italian part of me is Genoan, but canned is still heresy. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/14 "2005-01-29T01:42:53Z")
Iā€™m a recovering Catholic myself (also of the Italian variety (well, half-Italian)), so Iā€™ll be keeping an eye on this thread and helping answer questions as well. > [@Krokodil](#): > > How old were you when you stopped attending church? Did anything in particular precipitate this, or was it just a growing sense of ā€œThis is bullshitā€ combined with a shrinking sense of ā€œIā€™ll keep going to keep my parents happyā€? I stopped going to church pretty much as soon as I got away from home. I went to college in Wheeling, WV (a Catholic college, no less), and just stopped attending. I think I was only attending before that point because it was easier than going through my (Italian) motherā€™s drama if I simply flat-out said I wasnā€™t going. Iā€™d been disenchanted for longer than that, though. Simply put, I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever actually _felt_ anything that could be described as a religious experience in my entire life of attending church. It was just something we had to do on Sunday morning (and various feast days and first Fridays in Catholic school). So when doing so no longer entailed a very, very long and very, very loud altercation with my parents, I stopped attending. I think I set foot in the chapel on our campus three times, and two of those were for choral practice and a concert. > [@chinbender](#): > > Why do you consider yourself a non-practicing catholic? What I mean is, why are you still identifying as catholic at all? Do you plan on a return someday, or are your reasons for not going to mass not strong enough to just call yourself a former catholic? > > If you found yourself at mass, maybe Christmas, Easter, or a wedding, would you take communion? To quote my mother, there is no such thing as a ā€œformer Catholicā€. Catholicism is as much a culture as it is a religion. Or rather, Catholicism is so imbedded in certain ethnic cultures that itā€™s almost impossible to _be_ Italian without considering yourself Catholic, whether thatā€™s practicing, non-practicing, lapsed or recovering. I have a soft spot for the rituals and the trappings of Catholicism, and I try to explain the whole thing on here when it comes up. I donā€™t plan to return. Iā€™m an agnostic. I simply canā€™t see myself believing strongly enough to actually begin practicing again. I have been to masses since I stopped attending church, mostly for weddings and funerals. I do not receive the Eucharist (not even at my fatherā€™s funeral). I may not believe that it matters, but the people around me do, and the Catholic position is that if the communicant isnā€™t in unity of belief with the Church, they may not receive the body of Christ. Since I respect that belief (even if I donā€™t believe that the Host is the body of Christ and therefore render the problem moot), I donā€™t take communion. ---
**Author:** ![Iridium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@Iridium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iridium)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/15 "2005-01-29T01:49:37Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I have a soft spot for the rituals and the trappings of Catholicism. Likewise, for Islam. No real feeling for it, but still interesting. Iā€™d ask a question but my bf is an agnostic Roman Catholic with plenty of answers šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/16 "2005-01-29T01:59:41Z")
If you strip away the propaganda and the outer trappings, I bet you would find that deep down, Catholicism and Islam agree on the really important things. Life is a gift to be valued, your life and the lives of others. Be kind and generous. Do the right thing, even if it is difficult. Nope, not that much difference really. ---
**Author:** ![chinbender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@chinbender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinbender)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/17 "2005-01-29T02:03:29Z")
Thanks for the answers all. I too, like many, many others on these boards Im sure, was raised catholic but am ā€˜not practicing.ā€™ I feel the same about the Eucharist, however I do consider myself a \*\*former \*\* catholic. Im not saying it isnā€™t part of who I am. I do think that by estranging myself from that culture I can label myself whatever I want to. And I choose [trumpet blasts]Former Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/18 "2005-01-29T04:20:35Z")
> [@chinbender](#): > > Why do you consider yourself a non-practicing catholic? What I mean is, why are you still identifying as catholic at all? Do you plan on a return someday, or are your reasons for not going to mass not strong enough to just call yourself a former catholic? > > If you found yourself at mass, maybe Christmas, Easter, or a wedding, would you take communion? To put it another way, ā€œYou can take the girl out of the Catholic church, but you canā€™t take the Catholic church out of the girl.ā€ šŸ˜‰ With me, I just stopped attending Mass (and I was only going because my father gave me such grief when I didnā€™t) because it began to feel like I wasnā€™t getting anything-I would sit there, going through the motions, doing everything by rote-but I never paid attention, never really bothered thinking about it, etc. And I felt that was disrespectful. I was in early twenties, and I felt, hey, Iā€™m a grown woman, I should be able to decide if I want to go to Mass or not. (Oh, my father STILL bitches about it!) Basically, I donā€™t know what I believe, although Iā€™ve always had kind of a ā€œall religions have some element of truth and God doesnā€™t send people to hellā€ upbringing from my folks (NOT from Catholic schooling!). And then I realized that I didnā€™t really KNOW if I believed in the Christian religion (I still donā€™t know what to believe about Christ or not), so I figured Iā€™d be lying if I called myself a Catholic, rather than a lapsed or non-practicing. (Oh, and Iā€™m of the Irish-Polish variety. All that guilt and the angry persecution complex too!) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/19 "2005-01-29T04:22:33Z")
Attributed to Martin Sheen while he was in a less-religious time of his life- ā€œIā€™m a fallen-away Catholic. Iā€™m not sure there is a God. but I still believe Mary was His Mother.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207/20 "2005-01-29T14:56:47Z")
good morning friends, the end of a discussion on the legal ramifications with regards to obstruction of justice, withholding evidence and being an accessory after the fact to a felony with the priest at the catholic church i attended came when he suggested that ā€œmaybe it would be better for you to worship elsewhereā€ while not formally an excommunication, he made it pretty plain that i was no longer welcome lh, the epicopalian [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-non-practicing-catholic/287207.md?page=2)