(February 9, 2020 at 1:35 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(February 9, 2020 at 9:55 am)brewer Wrote: Hello. I see that you have stated that your not religious but claim to be a member of a church. Hmm.......
To be fair, I’m still a member of the Catholic Church (you have to be excommunicated to lose your membership) and I don’t think my atheism is in serious doubt.
Boru
Not true. My sister formally resigned from the RCC within their rules. Anyone can do so. It is enshrined in canon law. If you wish to do so you can. no excommunication required.
However, there is a dirty little secret involved. The RCC clergy will intentionally make it as difficult as they can. Why? Do they want to keep you in? Not at all. They care not a damn whether you lapse or not, only that you continue to be counted as a catholic. Keeps the plausible numbers up and all that.
Personally, I have not bothered. I care not if the cross dressing pedos classify me as a Jedi Knight.
However, my atheist sister lives in Germany and there something like 4% of your salary is taken at source for the church. No choice, it just happens. It is the default. It is an opt out system. Newly arrived brand spanking and shiny, she thought that was merely the tax regime of the country.
So, of course, she had that "Wait just a fucking minute" moment.
Right, I'm an atheist so I need not be paying this extra crap, how do I stop it? She thought. Little did she know what was ahead. Of course, little did the clergy know what was ahead of them either. It takes a lot to rile my sister, but when she gets a head of steam up, watch out. A steamroller happens.
The point is that excommunication is not required, but boy do those bastards make you jump through pointless hoops.
