(January 6, 2015 at 10:30 am)NuclearJaguar Wrote: I was raised Catholic and no Catholic was "born" it. We go through the baptism to be initiated into it. My parents were never strict Catholics, I was just baptised out of pressure from my Maltese and Irish grandparents, who were far more into it. Unless by "born" it, you mean baptised as a baby before one has a choice?
Anyway, I've never been excommunicated but I still no longer call myself "Catholic". If I've stopped believing in the religion, then I don't see a need to keep calling myself it. My lack of belief in it means I've already left, it invalidates the legitimacy of my identity as "Catholic". I'm struggling to word it clearly but I hope you get my meaning. You can just call yourself "atheist", there's no need for an initiation thing into it like there is with some religions, in fact I'd find it kinda paradoxical if there was.
Yes apologies NJ I think you're right. You're born to it, in that your family choose it for you. It's a tradition/ cultural thing more than a conscious decision. Lots of non believing self professed Catholics have made no conscious decision or even thought about it much yet identify as believers. I guess that's as vague a definition of belief as it gets. I'd agree to call them Christians from your definition. Even trinitarian, to differentiate them from Mormons, for example.
Catholics have the initiation but it seems totally meaningless to me. My church don't have baptism at all. They have dedication ceremonies for kids. Parents/ whoever commit to care for the kids spiritual development. A clear attempt to more accurately reflect the original intention of the practice. Probably derived from parallel and/ or primitive precedence.
