# "Converting" from non-practicing Catholic to Atheism **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285 "2008-12-15T20:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rayray5884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rayray5884](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayray5884)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/1 "2008-12-15T20:32:24Z")
After waiting several intervals of 300 seconds and scrolling through pages of results I feel as if this questions hasn’t been directly asked. A few weeks ago the discussion about me being an atheist came up in front of my family. Now keep in mind just about everyone on my moms side of the family could be classified as a non-practicing Catholic. Aside from being baptized in a Catholic church, attending church on a handful of Easters, and having to go to Sunday school for some time in order to make Communion, religion really isn’t part of our lives. Even though I had no choice in any of those matters, I was too young and didn’t have a say in whether or not I was baptized or made Communion, my parents and sister argue that I can’t be an atheist, I will always be a non-practicing Catholic. How does one “convert” for lack of a better word from a religion forced upon them as a child to a belief that their is no god? It seems to me this would be more a matter of renouncing my religion and not so much converting per say, but how would that work? Is there an official way of undoing something I had no say in in the first place? Has anyone gone this extra step? What are your thoughts? John ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/2 "2008-12-15T20:35:50Z")
If you want to make it official, I think the phrases you’re looking for are “I am an atheist” and “I am no longer Catholic”. Getting your family to accept it is a far harder problem. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/3 "2008-12-15T20:37:07Z")
According to TPM, [no](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1164/how-do-i-go-about-getting-excommunicated): > [@](#): > > Strictly speaking, excommunication doesn’t render you a non-Catholic. It merely means you’re a Catholic who’s been damned to hell. I’d assume the same rules pertain to renouncing one’s religion entirely as pertains to being excommunicated, w/r/t the viewpoint from within the Church. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/4 "2008-12-15T20:38:41Z")
Catholics believe that baptism and confirmation stamp an indelible imprint on the soul, such that the most you can be short of excommunication is a “lapsed Catholic”, but that only excommunication can make you an ex-Catholic. Frankly, as a fellow “lapsed Catholic”, I say don’t sweat it. Even if you did go and do something that you could be excommunicated for, your family is still going to consider you a lapsed Catholic because, really, that’s what they’re going to do. All the arguing and brandishing of official papal communiques informing you of your excommunicatedness will be for nothing, because if your family is anything like mine, they’re going to believe what they want to believe, damn the torpedos. So just roll with it. Does it really matter what your family thinks you are, religiously? Does their opinion somehow outvote your personal opinion of what you are, religiously? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/5 "2008-12-15T20:39:02Z")
You could look into ways to be excommunicated if you really want it to be “official.” (Pissing in the holy water during mass might work, but it wouldn’t be cool if you actually did it. It just made me laugh when I thought of it.) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/6 "2008-12-15T20:43:29Z")
Have you or they been through Catholic Confirmation as an adult? I don’t think they can really consider themselves catholic (non-practicing or otherwise) if they were never confirmed as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/7 "2008-12-15T20:50:37Z")
> [@rayray5884](#): > > Is there an official way of undoing something I had no say in in the first place? Why bother? If you’re really an atheist then all that business of being baptized and confirmed is meaningless anyway. “Undoing” a ritual implies that you think the original ritual “did” something. Say “I don’t believe in God.” There. Now you’re an atheist. That’s all it takes. ---
**Author:** ![rayray5884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rayray5884](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayray5884)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/8 "2008-12-15T20:51:22Z")
**Ludovic, garygnu** Excommunication, as far as I can tell, seems to be more of an action that is taken upon higher ups and not so much people like myself. Also it seems as if it’s just a way to start the process of correcting your actions, which I would have no intent of doing. **Hampshire** After Catholic Communion I have not returned to the church in any meaningful way. I’ve been for weddings and funerals but have never taken part in Communion. Of course this means that I’ve never been through Catholic Confirmation either. I’ve also heard that confirmation is sort of the final word on the matter but it seems that it couldn’t possibly be that easy. ---
**Author:** ![rayray5884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rayray5884](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayray5884)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/9 "2008-12-15T20:56:32Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > “Undoing” a ritual implies that you think the original ritual “did” something. > > Say “I don’t believe in God.” There. Now you’re an atheist. That’s all it takes. Makes perfect sense to me. As **ultrafilter** said it would probably be more difficult to convince my family to accept this than myself. I guess what I really want in all of this is to not be counted in the total number of Catholics in the world. Even though I haven’t showed up to church in years I’m sure I’m still counted as a member of their team. If I call up the church I was baptized at will they remove my name from their records? John ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/10 "2008-12-15T21:00:34Z")
The whole question confuses me. There are thousands of gods you have already rejected without ceremony. You just have the one left to do. Every practicing Christian is already 99.9% of the way towards atheism. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/11 "2008-12-15T21:00:46Z")
> [@rayray5884](#): > > I guess what I really want in all of this is to not be counted in the total number of Catholics in the world. Even though I haven’t showed up to church in years I’m sure I’m still counted as a member of their team. If I call up the church I was baptized at will they remove my name from their records? > > John Do you currently belong to a parish, or to some Catholic organization? If yes, then you’re on the rolls somewhere, and you can withdraw. If not, I wouldn’t sweat it. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/12 "2008-12-15T21:12:45Z")
To leave the Catholic Church, you need to make a “formal act of defection”. This can be achieved for example by writing a letter to the bishop of the diocese in which you were baptised. The exact form of the formal act of defection is not specified in Canon Law, merely that it be conscious, of your own free will, etc. But to be on the safe side you may wish to ask the bishop in your letter if there is any further action you need to take. If the bishop accepts the formal act, he will mark your baptism record accordingly. You will still be baptised, and can rejoin the church in future. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/13 "2008-12-15T21:15:23Z")
In my book if you become an Atheist it is stupid to allow yourself to be clasified by a system which you are now outside of. I’m not an employee of Coka-Cola so I have no title under the Coka-Cola staff structure. So why should an Atheist be a ‘Non Practicing Catholic’ just because some water got thrown on his or her head when he or she was a baby?? ETA: I used to be employed by Safeway. I am not known as a ‘Non employee of Safeway’ ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/14 "2008-12-15T21:19:05Z")
Next time lent rolls around? Give up the faith. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rayray5884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rayray5884](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayray5884)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/15 "2008-12-15T21:28:55Z")
> [@chacoguy420](#): > > Next time lent rolls around? > > Give up the faith. 😉 Giving up said religion by utilizing and recognizing a tradition created by said religion? I’m not sure that would work very well. Plus that only last for 40 days anyway! 😉 John ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/16 "2008-12-15T21:31:03Z")
As a pragmatic matter, if what the RCC wants to classify you as has no bearing on your daily life, why bother? In fact, it’s probably better if they consider you to be “non-practicing”, but still Catholic. It keeps an option open which may become useful for some reason in the future, at little cost to you. For instance, you may want to run for political office someday, and “long time catholic” will play better than “atheist”. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/17 "2008-12-15T21:39:15Z")
From the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: > [@](#): > > Excommunication, however, is clearly distinguished from these penalties in that it is the privation of all rights resulting from the social status of the Christian as such. **The excommunicated person, it is true, does not cease to be a Christian, since his baptism can never be effaced** ; he can, however, be considered as an exile from Christian society and as non-existent, for a time at least, in the sight of ecclesiastical authority. But such exile can have an end (and the Church desires it), as soon as the offender has given suitable satisfaction. (Bolding mine) The two points to take from this are that excommunication doesn’t make you a non-Catholic, it just makes you a Catholic in big trouble and that nothing removes Catholic baptism. In the eyes of the Church, once baptised, always baptised. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/18 "2008-12-15T21:40:02Z")
Yeah, I _thought_ [those numbers](http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html) looked off! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![New\_Beginning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@New\_Beginning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Beginning)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/19 "2008-12-15T21:50:35Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > In my book if you become an Atheist it is stupid to allow yourself to be clasified by a system which you are now outside of. I’m not an employee of Coka-Cola so I have no title under the Coka-Cola staff structure. So why should an Atheist be a ‘Non Practicing Catholic’ just because some water got thrown on his or her head when he or she was a baby?? Agree, _except_ that religious intolerance is still a huge issue in this world and atheism is looked down on by most people. I don’t think it’s useless to go out of your way to make it known that you are “unconverting” from some religion. The more people who know, the more exposure atheists get, and the faster we will find tolerance and one day acceptance. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285/20 "2008-12-15T21:51:19Z")
Since the OP is asking for opinions, this is better suited for IMHO than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-from-non-practicing-catholic-to-atheism/477285.md?page=2)