Roughly half of Americans raised in Catholic households have left the church at some point -- and most of them have stayed away for good, according to a recent report by Pew Research Center.
These "former Catholics" make up 15 percent of the U.S. population, according to another recent survey by Public Religion Research Institute. These Americans are largely abandoning religion altogether after leaving the Catholic Church, while others find new homes in Protestant denominations and non-Christians faiths.
And the good news just keeps right on coming.
One by one, people are coming to asking themselves, "What was I thinking?"
ReplyDeleteUnlike the dangerous fundagelicals and other extremist Protestant sects, a lot of Catholics see the church as just something you go to (or not) as a cultural thing, but doesn't set all the rules for your life or make you parrot hateful things. Therefore, it's not a big deal to walk away because they don't brain-wash you into being a little Stepford bot.
ReplyDeleteAlso the Church (but not necessarily its priests) encourage thinking for yourself. I remember a parish bulletin not too long ago encouraging "ask why?". The Church also supports science (even has its on observatory) so I hope those leaving for other faiths aren't like my brother- who became a rabid fundy when Rome got too liberal for his taste.
DeleteI went to Catholic school for 12 years (and Episcopal for 1). My experience was very positive. I had some mean nun teachers and I had some great nun teachers, much like you'd get at a public school, I suspect. I even had years of 'sex education' where they showed us baby fetuses. I really don't remember what it was about, but it obviously had no effect because I'm 100% pro-choice now. I had religion class every day for all those years, but am no particularly religious now. My mother is. I'm a very lapsed Catholic, identify with it culturally, but until there is a religion that doesn't promote humans as being superior--and therefore giving permission to abuse and torture animals for food, fashion and entertainment, then I'm out. But the Catholicism portrayed in the media is NOT real. All the Catholics that I knew in 4 Catholics schools were not led by the Pope. IT's quite an apathetic religion in some ways--not a holy roller Evangelical approach at all. HOWEVER, I did notice, once Bush got into office and Fox News flourished, all of my old Catholic school grade school and high school friends became more rabidly religious. Suddenly started wearing crosses when they never did before, thanking the troops all the time (when no one in my circles EVER had people that were in the military.) Fox News brainwashed all those folks.
DeleteJusr fuck the kids minds up & rape them until a month of Sundays...
DeleteI can identify with 6:13 AM. Twelve years of Catholic Schools. Reunion page on Facebook brought forth a number of former classmates (we went to an all-girls school) who are now fundy-conservative-Fox News Watching-bobble heads. I often wonder if there is any hope for us Baby Boomers when I see what these people believe without question.
DeleteSo, 7:17, are you saying the Duggars are Catholic? What about Gothard and the ATI freaks? There's plenty of sexual abuse going on in Protestant churches, too.
DeleteMy catholic rducation was excellent for scirnce math, english. I was well prepated for college. I could have done wothout the indoctrination. My high svhool did have a comparative religions class , which I thought was cool and forward thinking... Until i took it and it was propaganda about how "ours" is the only correct one ". Also i did not kearn' diversity" tol college . I had no interactions wiyh anyone eho wasn 't lilly white , catholic or European in ancestry. I thought the black and jewish girls in my freshman dorm may have had cooties lol.
DeleteThe damage done to Western civilization by that self-serving, vile institution is incalculable, and it can't disappear fast enough. The excitement surrounding Pope Francis and his radical thinking demonstrate just how unaccustomed people are to associating reasonable ideas with the Catholic church. Seeing former Catholics joining Evangelical churches is not surprising. After centuries of killing off people who did their own thinking, it stands to reason there is a significant percentage of the population that requires an authority to tell them what to think. After all, in a religion-dominated culture, they represent the culturally-favored mutation, and a perversion of the natural principle of survival of the fittest. If the church ever dies out, it will still be long out-lived by the perverse thinking it has engendered for centuries.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is not an accurate depiction of Catholicism in the US. Catholics do their own thing in my long experience at Catholics schools all my life. They do all the things that supposedly the Pope says not to do--including abortion as teens. And no one is racked with guilt about it. The media--and people who are not Catholic--like to portray a false picture like you have just now of how Catholics think. I'm a lapsed one, but not for the reasons you suggest. Merely, that I'm anti-all religions because they promote the ego of man and that's causing the destruction of our animals and the Earth.
DeleteYeah, the slaves-to-authoritarian-thinking is more a Protestant thing, where they all march in lockstep to the tune of their pastor.
DeleteI play sports with several Catholic women. To a person, they all used birth control, they are all pro-choice, and they are all very liberal in their beliefs and see no reason why women cannot be priests. And they all go to Mass every week and support their church financially. The only Catholics who promote anti-abortion and anti-contraception are those dang bishops -- all men.
DeleteLook up the word "meek" followers off the cliff..do not think for oneself.
DeleteAmen to that brother!
ReplyDeleteIt must stop now :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/13/kansas-secretary-state-fired-state-employee-attending-church.html
It must stop now :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/13/kansas-secretary-state-fired-state-employee-attending-church.html
They must not get control..
See? Evangelical church, mandatory bible study. That's not a Catholic thing.
DeleteI haven't watched Miss America in years, since they basically took away the talent portion, and relegated it to some random cable channel. But last night I did watch. There are still some problems with format, but what struck me were the answers to current event questions given by Southern women. They thought Kim Davis should do her job. Planned Parenthood should be funded. Trump should get out. I'm sure some of the answers had old Tara Kyle cringing. Yes, she was a 'celebrity judge.'
ReplyDeleteBut overall, it was an interesting night.
Get out if the GOP now and FOREVER
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/2015/09/14/the_raging_sins_of_the_persecution_industry_unpacking_the_hypocrisy_at_the_heart_of_the_religious_right/
Count me in the unaffiliated since I was 9, sure I had to two the line and spew out the garbage I was told to but I never believed a word of it after I grew up. Even as a grade school child I knew it was a pile of bull shit.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. I mentally walked away at First Communion, but couldn't physically walk away until I left home at 18. Free at last.
DeleteMust not have got raped as many Have been thru out history if not killed. Luck you.
DeleteYeppers.
DeleteI knew it was wrong to go into a box and confess sins at 7 years old. Stooopid .
I'm sure there is a big, juicy story why the Heath Klan (soc) abandoned Catholicism. Was little Chucky fondled by a priest? Did the nuns want to put Sarah in the slow learner class?
ReplyDeleteGood is damn right. The sooner we can offload the entire spectrum of religious mythology and superstition, the sooner we as a nation can begin to solve our real problems.
ReplyDeleteTil then, we have about 50% of our Congress who base their life and belief systems on mythological characters no more real than Tinker Belle or Santa Claus.
And they use that belief system every day to write laws, attack scientific facts, and belittle anyone who isn't a Christian evangelical.
That sounds about right. When my parents sprung me from Catholic school to public after 6th grade, I was 12. From age 14 forward, I don't remember ever being in a confessional again. After age 21, any church attendance was only during visits with my in-laws for appearances, and to duck needling and unwanted questions.
ReplyDeleteWith silent observation, I couldn't help getting the impression where my mother-in-law was concerned, that church going was as much or more opportunity for dressing up in finery and being seen as any possible 'spiritual uplift.' Perhaps that's the primary usefulness it holds once folks get past the age and stamina of nightclubbing.
It's a tribe, like all other tribes--be they religious or not. Be they punk rockers, hippies, yuppies, runners, wine drinkers, etc. Everyone wants to be a part of a community and also somewhat to feel superior to others.
DeleteHigh Mass at noon served a double purpose. You got to sleep late and you got to show off your newest hat.
DeleteDid the survey address all us who left the Southern Baptist church and never looked back?
ReplyDeleteBack in the '60s, Jacqueline Kennedy was quoted as saying "I don't know why everyone's so upset that Jack's (sic) a Catholic - he isn't a very good one."
ReplyDeleteShe said that because one's religion was a private, personal matter and she was appalled that religion had become a political football.
I arrived in parochial school age 9 after 3 years of public school. In my first week, I learned that it was possible to get a failing grade for "religion". My parents forced me thru 5 years of parochial school, a "confirmation" and 3 years of "released time" classes. But from that very first "F" I had ceased to be Catholic.
ReplyDeleteI lied cheerfully and without guilt from age 9 until I escaped at age 17. Occasionally I still have to attended family weddings in Catholic churches where I am creeped out by the feeling that some nun might whack me on the back of the head. But other than that, I don't think my Catholic years damaged me too badly.
Of course, I wasn't pretty enough to attract the pedophiles.
Looks maybe, my bet? hey knew you knew it is a currupt basterds club..BIG FUCKED UP SCAM.
DeleteO/T but not really...
ReplyDeleteKim Davis Says She Won't Authorize Licenses For Gay Couples Issued By Deputies
***Article***
It was Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' first day back in the office after a stint in jail for five days for defying a federal judge. Reading a hand-written statement outside the courthouse upon her return, Davis said gay marriage licenses issued by her office would be "unauthorized."
"I want the whole world to know ... If any [deputy clerk] feels that they must issue an unauthorized license to avoid being thrown in jail, I understand their tough choice, and I will take no action against them," she said. "However, any unauthorized license that they issue will not have my name, my title or my authority on it. Instead, the license will state that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order."
Davis said that she's being forced to disobey God since her name is on the gay marriage certificates issued by her office, whether or not she actually signs them.
"I don't want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don't want to be a whipping post," Davis added. "I am no hero. I'm just a person that's been transformed by the grace of God, who wants to work, be with my family. I just want to serve my neighbors quietly without violating my conscience."
+++
Does she not understand that she has been completely removed from the marriage license process all together. Once she went to jail, all licenses issued without her consent or signature were valid from that point on.
So, technically,
1) it's no longer her job,
2) the county does not issue "unauthorized licenses" (for those who didn't catch that nuance), and
3). she just admitted defeat and told the world that she is going to go in her corner and officially pout about all of this while she keeps her $80k/yr salary.
15 minutes of fame now officially over
And scene
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kim-davis-gay-marriage-licenses_55f6b8c9e4b063ecbfa4c222
Most of the catholics I know are intelligent, open minded and liberal. That's probably why they're leaving the church. In a perfect world the rattlesnake handling, strychnine drinking, tongue speaking christian fundies would follow suit.
ReplyDeleteYup. You don't see Catholics having 19 Kids and Counting and getting a tv show and using their fame to try to deny other people the right to live their lives. You don't see Catholics pulling down $80k/year and refusing to issue marriage certificates.
DeleteHard to believe more people don't leave.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/new-york-bishop-suggests-teen-was-an-accomplice-when-priest-molested-him-the-boy-is-culpable/
"“Well, I mean, without knowing the circumstances completely, did the boy encourage (or) go along with (it) in any way?” Cunningham said.
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The attorney asked Cunningham to describe circumstances under which a 14- or 15-year-old boy could be culpable for his own sex abuse by a priest.
“I would not – obviously, what the priest did was wrong,” Cunningham said. “You’re asking me if the young man had any culpability, and I can’t judge that.”
Attorney Raymond Schlather then asked the bishop, if the boy reported the sex abuse during confession, whether or not he would tell the teen he had committed a sin in the eyes of the church.
“I do not know whether I would say that,” Cunningham said."
Which is an important point because the rapist priest allegedly instructed the victim to "confess" for the act, and to "confess" the perpetrator.
Delete"Neary told the boy to confess after he had molested him, and Cunningham said it was wrong for the priest to take the boy’s confession as an “accomplice” in the sin.
“Because the priest does not have the ability to absolve an accomplice in a sin such as this,” Cunningham said. “I’m saying that a priest does not have the power, the authority, to absolve anyone who cooperated with him in – was an accomplice to him in a sexual sin.”
He would not say whether he believed the boy was also an accomplice."
I've a friend who was raised Catholic. She does not go to any church regularly, but does go back to a catholic church to light candles for dying people. She claims not to have any died in the wool religious commitments. However when faced with someone talking about the bible as a document written by mostly illiterate stone age shepherds, she comes undone. And rants about that she is VERY religious and to shut the hell up... go figure. And refuses to look at the damage done to humanity by the Crusades and the Inquisition. I think a lot of people are confused like this.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the next generation will turn to science rather than religious fantasies.
I've also found that saying I follow no religion is not well accepted. I've learned to just say that I am a secular humanist, and don't explain what that means.
I'm one of those Catholics! Forced on me throughout my life - attend Mass or be restricted - Catholic schools, etc. As soon as I got out of the house after graduating from high school, never attended the church again (except for weddings of a couple of friends and family members!).
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm a total non believer today as a senior citizen! Questioned it so many times as an older child and teenager. Always noticed I was one of the few that did!
Former Catholic, total abandoner here! I do have one good thing to say about the Catholic Church, though. It taught me to be altruistic. It's just too damn bad about all the other stuff that wasn't so great.
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised Catholic. School. Church every day! When I didn't do something my mom wanted me to do as a teen, she ran off and told the priest about it. I knew I was gone then. Didn't get married in the church (eloped). Mom refused to come to my wedding anyway, so why bother. 43 years later, I am still married, no church in sight. Raised my kids to think for themselves. One is an atheist, the other a youth pastor. BY CHOICE! I am a humanist. No religion involved. No book to throw at people. No god. Just my fellow earthlings, including the fur ones,etc.
ReplyDeleteI laugh with my kids when we see or hear of people going to church" that's an hour of their life thry'll never get back".
ReplyDeleteI really want all those hours of my life back.
I'm an ex catholic and like the trend of leaving. There is no one that can convince me the folks in pews on sundays are not using condoms, IUD's, The Pill, etc etc or even getting abortions. Ginormous families were free labor when we were an agrarian society. Times changed but the church did not and won't.
ReplyDeleteHere's another "fallen away" Catholic. Only went to parochial school for grades 5 and 6; my brothers through grade 8. I did learn discipline and good study habits in that school along with the notion that one should question authority. (Not that this was part of the curriculum, but my observation of the ridiculous punishments meted out for offenses they hadn't seen, but accused kids of anyway).Then, I was forced to go to Catechism through 11th grade, when I finally was able to put my foot down and not go.
ReplyDeleteAt college, I was still in the church and even dabbled with Evangelism (much different than what it is today). I finally left the church after I got married. We did have our daughter baptized, but she did not go through Holy Communion or any other sacraments. From that point, we tried to raise her using Deist principles.
Today, I've evolved to being an agnostic; not sure about the existence of god, but absolutely sure that the Bible is all parables which might be used as examples of how to behave morally, but nothing there actually happened or is mandated.
Since then, I missed the community of being part of a church, especially when we moved out of state. We tried Lutheran, Methodist and Episcopal churches,as well as the local Catholic church, as a way of meeting new people, as long as the doctrine wasn't too offensive to ones intelligence and the pastor was not an idiot. None of those worked for us. Eventually we found the Unitarians, who fit the bill, but then we moved back home and there isn't a decent UU congregation in proximity.
When believers say that there is an atheist "religion" I always laugh and think - I wish there was, because there'd be people I could talk to. (Other than virtually at IM or dKos). Sorry for the long a personal history, but wanted to be fair since the church taught me some useful things, but not how to love one another. I'm not sorry I left.
4:24 A.J. Billings - you are SO right about Congress. We must stop the fruits of their delusions from becoming law and fight even harder in the state Legislatures. Since apathy is so embedded in much of the American psyche, I don't see that fight happening.