Whats wrong with being an 'A La Carte' Catholic?

[michaelm]

If a non-catholic wants a registry office wedding, but having one would force catholic family members to choose between their church and attending the wedding, then I don't think the non-catholics can ignore the churches pronouncement.

daltonr: Surely life is all about choices. You are free to decide whether to marry or not and free to decide between a church or registry office wedding. It is not possible to micromanage everybody and every situation; you can only be responsible for your own actions, how others deal with it is up to them. If you decide to have a church wedding you don't really because of family concerns then you're either a pragmatist or manipulatable; take your pick. Life is not a walk across a field. If you stand up for what you believe in you'll always irk somebody or other. You can do things your own way but you shouldn't expect everyone to be smiling about it all the time. As I said before the church as an obligation to communicate it's teachings to the Catholic community; if that upsets a few people then so be it; the Catholic church is not a PC all-things-to-all-men organisation, nor should it try to be.

 

[PGD]

When I got married we met with the priest beforehand and I told him I didn't necessarily believe all aspects of the catholic faith and that I didn't want to receive communion at the wedding. He had no problem with this.

Having said that I attend mass on Sundays as I believe you can learn alot, and you also get to meet nice people.

I believe in the message and intention, but not the practice. I don't believe that communion is actually the body of Christ and I don't like performing rituals either. These are all human introduced "mannerisms" around the essential message.

So I guess I am a la carte. I think you will find that most priests under the age of 50 or 60 don't have an issue with this.

 

[ClubMan]

ClubMan: Surely you would concede that the Catholic hierarchy are entitled to their opinion on registry offices or whatever and are entitled to communicate that opinion to the Catholic community.

.

 

[daltonr]

Curiously enough I had many Catholics, a la carte as well as devout, criticise me and my beliefs and try to bring me around to their way of thinking whereas I am generally content to leave them to their own beliefs and certainly would not try to "convert" them to atheism.

That's because you know they're not going to hell, but they think you are.

-Rd

 

[rainyday]

Nobody is sacrificing virgins or worshiping satan at these weddings.

Apart from the father of the bride who is sacrificing his virginal daughter in her virginal white dress into the hotbed of marital sex.

When a critical mass of people opting out is reached, the pressure on others is reduced and there's a much less compelling case for favouring baptised children over unbaptised children.

Agreed in theory. In practice, I would find it very difficult to create a 'critical mass'. Indeed, I would risk alienating school authorities were I to create a public campaign on this matter to attempt to create a 'critical mass'. I'm not afraid to put my head on the block publically (and indeed I've done it successfully on two other matters). On this one, I reckon my chances of success are low, so I've made the tactical decision to go with flow and arrange a baptism in order to protect my daughter's future educational welfare.

And just in the interests of clarity, critical mass is not the same as critical Mass.

 

[MissRibena]

But where's the line ....

When is an a la carte Catholic too a la carte to be considered a Catholic? When are they just a non-denominational Christian (which is what I believe most a la carte Catholics are)? I don't understand how someone can not believe in something as fundamental to Catholicism as transubstantiation (for example) and still consider themselves a Catholic.

And what's wrong with just saying "I am a Christian"? A la carte Catholics rarely use any term other than plain old "Catholic", which seems a bit disingenous to me. Being a Catholic indicates you adhere to certain common beliefs and life practises/rules that rightfully deserve to be respected by non-Catholics, but if you don't believe them or practise them yourself (or only when it suits) why continue to call yourself a Catholic?

Personally, I wouldn't hold anybody's religious views against them - each to their own. Other people's hypocrisy is none of my business frankly. But I agree with posters seeking further separation of Church and State and I hate the idea of having to baptise a child for school enrollment but I think the time is coming quickly when this will change.

Rebecca

 

[ClubMan]

Personally, I wouldn't hold anybody's religious views against them - each to their own. Other people's hypocrisy is none of my business frankly.

I agree with that libertarian approach too - except, as I said, when it impinges on me (or others) such as in the example (real) scenarios that I mentioned earlier. I don't feel that this precludes me from expressing an opinion on the generic issue either though.

 

[daltonr]

What's wrong with christian?

Miss Ribena,

I agree with everything you said in your post. I think I can answer your question about wy people call themselves Catholic rather than Christian. It's because this isn't about Religion. If people actually sat down and thought about what they believed and looked for a religion that matched then many of them wouldn't be catholic, some wouldn't even be Christian.

This is about Habit, Guilt, Peer Pressure, and Apathy. The Habit of the religion you're in, the Guilt of having to confront the fact that you don't believe in it, The Peer Pressure to conform (thanks mainly to the Guilt and Habit of others) and an Apathy about changing, because if you aren't practicing the religion you're in, there's hardly an incentive to go to the trouble of finding a new one.

When is an a la carte Catholic too a la carte to be considered a Catholic?

I don't really worry too much about this. To each their own. Like Clubman I'm only concerned with the impact it has on me and others like me. Rainyday's scenario of going through with a baptism pretty much against his will (I think), simply because of the discrimination that is allowed in our schools.

I understand Rainyday's position. It's fine putting our own heads above the crowd, but when your kids education is at stake it's hard not to give in to the pressure. And so the church get's new "members" through extortion.

I hope when the time comes I have the opportunity and the guts to not give in to the emotional blackmail.

I really can't believe Europe doesn't have a problem with the situation though.

-Rd