# Cecil's Religion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 14, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737 "2006-09-14T19:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/1 "2006-09-14T19:30:43Z")
Here, [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_223.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_223.html), Cecil quips that there is “one known occurance” of human parthenogenesis. I feel like I’ve seen similar such quips and references in the past, though. Like this one, it seems to me, they have had a sort of “he’s joking, but maybe he’s half-serious?” character. I can’t think of any specific examples though. Can anyone else? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Agonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@Agonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agonist)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/2 "2006-09-14T20:00:45Z")
I don’t understand the question. Are you trying to determine if Cecil is Christian? I assume you’re not asking who the “one example” is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/3 "2006-09-14T20:15:03Z")
I always thought Cecil was Catholic, or at least raised Catholic, but I can’t find anything to prove that. He has said he attended parochial school, but that doesn’t really prove anything. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/4 "2006-09-14T20:42:59Z")
[QUOTE=Agonist] I don’t understand the question. Are you trying to determine if Cecil is Christian? I assume you’re not asking who the “one example” is supposed to be. [/QUOTE] I’m asking whether anyone can recall examples in which Cecil makes a reference to religious belief, which could be taken as being at least an ambiguous endorsement of the religion thereinto referred. I am pointing to the “aphids” article as containing one example of the kind of thing I am looking for. Does that help explain the question to you? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/5 "2006-09-14T21:18:09Z")
I’ve been reading Cecil’s books and columns for a long time. My guess is that he’s Catholic. I don’t have airtight proof of this, but he’s mentioned a Catholic upbringing and education and has never written anything indicating apostasy. He writes sympathetically about Christianity and Catholicism. Again, it’s not a case I’d want to present in court, but I’d wager a very small sum that he is still a practicing Catholic, at least a “C&E” Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/6 "2006-09-14T23:17:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Again, it’s not a case I’d want to present in court, but I’d wager a very small sum that he is still a practicing Catholic, at least a “C&E” Catholic. Everyone always refers to the Christmas and Easter Catholics, but in my experience, there are even more yet A&P Catholics: Ash and Palm. Folks go to church when they get something. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/7 "2006-09-14T23:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Everyone always refers to the Christmas and Easter Catholics, but in my experience, there are even more yet A&P Catholics: Ash and Palm. Folks go to church when they get something. [/QUOTE] And don’t forget the BWFs – Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals In any case, my impression is Cecil was at the least raised in a Catholic or perhaps some other traditional-big-mainstream-Christianity environment and that he feels no discomfort in acknowledging a pervasive “culturally Christian” frame of reference. ---
**Author:** ![Mandarax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/8 "2006-09-15T00:02:10Z")
Perhaps you’re thinking of [this one](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_001a.html): > [@](#): > > Virtually all mammals, including apes and lions, have umbilical cords and hence navels, the principal exceptions reportedly being our distinguished forebears Adam and Eve, for reasons that a moment’s thought will make obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Mandarax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/9 "2006-09-15T00:05:37Z")
…and [one more](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_034b.html): [QUOTE=Cecil Adams] History records no observation of Christmas before 354, and by that time there was no one around who remembered exactly when Jesus was born. Today, historians have all but given up trying to figure it out. They give his birth date as 6-8 BC (good trick, but **this was no ordinary dude** ) and leave it at that. [emphasis added] [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/10 "2006-09-15T00:41:24Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Everyone always refers to the Christmas and Easter Catholics, but in my experience, there are even more yet A&P Catholics: Ash and Palm. Folks go to church when they get something. [/QUOTE] Very true. The other day when they seem to turn up in droves is All Souls’ Day. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/11 "2006-09-15T02:33:31Z")
We’ve secretly replaced Cecil’s usual religious/theistic/moral views and ideals with a militant form of Scientology and crushed glass. Let’s see what happens … ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/12 "2006-09-15T02:49:01Z")
Cece is _lapsed_ Catholic. Lapsed Chicago Irish Catholic, than which there is no Catholic more lapsed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/13 "2006-09-15T03:03:36Z")
And [here’s a cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_083.html) for his Catholic schooling. I haven’t found one yet for Catholic upbringing, though, and while the students of Catholic schools do tend to be Catholic, not all are. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/14 "2006-09-15T04:36:39Z")
So what’s Ed Zotti’s religion? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/15 "2006-09-15T04:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] So what’s Ed Zotti’s religion? 😃 [/QUOTE] That’s what we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/16 "2006-09-15T11:57:31Z")
I don’t quite understand how one gets from the fact that Cecil knows about Christianity, and the role it plays in people’s lives (so he doesn’t outright deride the faith - I don’t think he has derided other faiths, either) to the assumption that therefore, Cecil is Christian. Dito for going to Christian school. And why is it important, anyway? Isn’t religion a private matter of one’s opwn belief? Cecil obviously has humanist ethics, and of course is intelligent and can think. Whether he’s an atheist or sacrifices goat to Satan in private, is his own business. As long as he continues to write snarky, witty, informative columns, he can be a Muslim or fire-eater, I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/17 "2006-09-15T12:41:03Z")
I can’t help thinking that it must feel rather odd to see a bunch of stranger on the internet discuss which religion you practice. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/18 "2006-09-15T16:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=JRDelirious] And don’t forget the BWFs – Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals [/QUOTE] Or, as the newspaper folks say, Hatched, Matched, and Dispatched. That’s the three times everyone can expect to be in the paper. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/19 "2006-09-15T22:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=The Weird One] I can’t help thinking that it must feel rather odd to see a bunch of stranger on the internet discuss which religion you practice. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s the price (or downside?) to being famous: strangers/ fans/ groupies are interested in your personal life… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737/20 "2006-09-16T05:46:35Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Or, as the newspaper folks say, Hatched, Matched, and Dispatched. That’s the three times everyone can expect to be in the paper. [/QUOTE] Aw, shit! If he pays half as much attention to HIS message board as he should he knows everybody in this thread as much as they wish to be known. Hey Boss! Luv ya! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-religion/372737.md?page=2)