# What is Cecil's religion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 17, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956 "2010-11-17T06:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/1 "2010-11-17T06:37:22Z")
In the recent [classic column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/409/if-you-pour-salt-on-garden-slugs-do-they-shrivel-up-and-scream), Cecil says: - However, the slugs don’t scream, for the simple reason that they don’t have any vocal apparatus. No doubt what you hear is your own guilty conscience, which is tormenting you for destroying God’s creatures.\* I’d long thought Cecil was an atheist, as are many Dopers, but this quote suggests otherwise. Thus the question in the title. Also tempted to submit “Does God exist?” as a topic for a future column, just to see what he’d say… ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/2 "2010-11-17T07:57:35Z")
I think that quote is irrelevant to his belief in God because I get the vibe he’s using the term “God’s creatures” jokingly, much as I would. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/3 "2010-11-17T08:18:28Z")
I always assumed he was Jewish. I’m not sure I can articulate why. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/4 "2010-11-17T08:23:47Z")
Have you seen Cecil and God in the same place? That’s what I thought… ---
**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:** [November 17, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/5 "2010-11-17T16:52:26Z")
I’ve always thought that Ed was Catholic, which means that Cecil is Catholic. Definitely not Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/6 "2010-11-17T16:56:29Z")
I can’t see how someone could “fight ignorance” and be religious at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/7 "2010-11-17T17:12:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I can’t see how someone could “fight ignorance” and be religious at the same time. As opposed to your perfect understanding of all things? A perfect understanding of All is Cecil’s schtick, not yours or mine. Cecil is wise: > [@](#): > > The tao that can be told > is not the eternal Tao. > The name that can be named > is not the eternal Name. > > The unnameable is the eternally real. > Naming is the origin > of all particular things. > > +++ > > Darkness within darkness. > The gateway to all understanding. The Perfect Master speaks in metaphor, and espouses no -ism. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/8 "2010-11-17T17:14:52Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I think that quote is irrelevant to his belief in God because I get the vibe he’s using the term “God’s creatures” jokingly, much as I would. Or, he’s using the term metaphorically, but basically in sincerity. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/9 "2010-11-17T17:18:31Z")
There’s one column where Cecil mentions a Catholic school education, although you can get one of those without being Catholic. I think that’s all he’s ever written about the subject. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/10 "2010-11-17T17:21:19Z")
I get the feeling he’s a lapsed Catholic. I understand they are great in number, especially among the intelligentsia. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/11 "2010-11-17T17:22:18Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/12 "2010-11-17T17:56:29Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > The Perfect Master speaks in metaphor, and espouses no -ism. As Cecil would tell you, wisdom comes from both understanding everything and understanding the folly of understanding. Ergo, Cecil is a Bodhisattva. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/13 "2010-11-17T18:32:18Z")
Many, many years ago, Cecil told a story about his (presumeably Catholic) mother talking about a saint who was beheaded for expressing her faith, and how her body then picked up her decapitated head and kissed it, I suppose thereby proving her Holy Nature… The precocious young Cecil then questioned his mom, asking her “How could a headless body kiss it’s own head?!?” Anyone else remember this one? (from that old column I have always assumed that Cecil is a lapsed Catholic, which must really make him stand out in Chicago) ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/14 "2010-11-17T18:38:08Z")
Yep, I remember the column where he told that story about his Mom, but not sure of the date. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/15 "2010-11-17T18:43:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There’s one column where Cecil mentions a Catholic school education, although you can get one of those without being Catholic. I think that’s all he’s ever written about the subject. He’s mentioned it on several occasions, possibly more than that. A search through the column archives for the term “Catholic” returns ~70 hits, but I haven’t been through every one to see if Cecil’s made a reference to his Catholicism. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/16 "2010-11-17T19:27:28Z")
I’ve always assumed Cecil is a skeptical liberal Catholic, along the lines of Stephen Colbert. He talks of a catholic education, and gives no evidence of having left the faith. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/17 "2010-11-17T20:06:32Z")
I note with some amusement that this thread has a views/posts ratio comparable to some of the sex threads… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/18 "2010-11-17T20:13:42Z")
I think there was a reference to Cecil having been an altar boy. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/19 "2010-11-17T20:32:10Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Many, many years ago, Cecil told a story about his (presumeably Catholic) mother talking about a saint who was beheaded for expressing her faith, and how her body then picked up her decapitated head and kissed it, I suppose thereby proving her Holy Nature… > > The precocious young Cecil then questioned his mom, asking her “How could a headless body kiss it’s own head?!?” > > Anyone else remember this one? Here’s the column for that one: > **[Do decapitated heads briefly remain conscious?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341383/do-decapitated-heads-briefly-remain-conscious)** And a mention of going to a Catholic school: “I’m reminded of Catholic veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus–and I don’t mean metaphorical heart. I mean one with Sacred Atriums and Sacred Ventricles, and I could swear as a kid in parochial school I saw one with a Sacred Aorta.” > **[Why is the heart considered the center of love and affection?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342323/why-is-the-heart-considered-the-center-of-love-and-affection)** ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956/20 "2010-11-17T22:03:13Z")
I know I’ve read something that indicates Cecil at least has a Catholic background. A little searching reveals the line “Could be just my Catholic background talking” in [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2539/whats-up-with-homeopathy). And in [url=[Did Jesus have siblings? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1338/did-jesus-have-siblings)], Cecil says “Sure, maybe they took away our Latin Mass and fish on Friday. But we’ve still got the virgin birth.” (And later, “I know, you secular humanists think the whole thing’s for the birds, but work with me on this.”) It’s not clear to me, though, whether Cecil is here speaking as a Catholic himself, or speaking for the Catholics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-cecils-religion/560956.md?page=2)