Is there a name for what I am?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call myself a religious but non-theistic Presbyterian. I do go to church maybe every third or fourth Sunday. It's a liberal church that is definitely accepting of other beliefs and lack of belief. If they were dogmatic, I think that would bother me too much. But it's contemplative and a place to join like-minded people in serving our community and one another. What's not to like?

But I clarify for people, and for my kids, that I do not believe these stories literally, that I believe that religion is a framework for celebrating our humanity and our place in the world. It creates community and ritual, important parts of being human.

In my teens I got sucked into Young Life and a dogmatic, us vs. them view of the world. In my 20s I rejected that and it was very painful. I didn't even want to say "under God" during the pledge of allegiance. In my 30s I wondered, "Could I have the best of both worlds . . . a church community without the dogma?" And I've found a wonderful one. There's something comforting just in the way an old church building smells IMO.

I'm not an expert on Catholicism, but I don't think there are really "non-theistic" or "practically Unitarian" Catholic churches out there. I think a person like me would probably be trying out an Episcopalian church if wanting to find a place of comfort without all the other trappings.

Episcopalians and Catholics are very closely aligned in beliefs.

Not true really except for the Nicene Creed that many other Protestant churches accept as well. Episcopalians do have saints as well but not always the same and do not have a canonization process.

They are similar superficially in their liturgies and rituals. This is an important part of tradition and shared histories until the Anglican Church broke away from the Catholic Church many hundreds of years ago in order to allow Henry VIII to divorce and remarry repeatedly.

Episcopalians believe in individual reason and allowing members freedom to interpret Bible studies for themselves and usually in very non literal ways. There are no cyclicals issued determining the positions that Members are supposed to take on different issues, such as homosexuality or abortion. It is GbLTQ affirming and allows gays and women to be ordained and serve at the highest levels of the church. It has a democratic structure from the bottom and not just among bishops . Vestries are elected and can fire priests if they are perceived to be acting against the collective will of the church membership.

I love when Catholics tell other people what they believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I call myself a religious but non-theistic Presbyterian. I do go to church maybe every third or fourth Sunday. It's a liberal church that is definitely accepting of other beliefs and lack of belief. If they were dogmatic, I think that would bother me too much. But it's contemplative and a place to join like-minded people in serving our community and one another. What's not to like?

But I clarify for people, and for my kids, that I do not believe these stories literally, that I believe that religion is a framework for celebrating our humanity and our place in the world. It creates community and ritual, important parts of being human.

In my teens I got sucked into Young Life and a dogmatic, us vs. them view of the world. In my 20s I rejected that and it was very painful. I didn't even want to say "under God" during the pledge of allegiance. In my 30s I wondered, "Could I have the best of both worlds . . . a church community without the dogma?" And I've found a wonderful one. There's something comforting just in the way an old church building smells IMO.

I'm not an expert on Catholicism, but I don't think there are really "non-theistic" or "practically Unitarian" Catholic churches out there. I think a person like me would probably be trying out an Episcopalian church if wanting to find a place of comfort without all the other trappings.

Episcopalians and Catholics are very closely aligned in beliefs.

Not true really except for the Nicene Creed that many other Protestant churches accept as well. Episcopalians do have saints as well but not always the same and do not have a canonization process.

They are similar superficially in their liturgies and rituals. This is an important part of tradition and shared histories until the Anglican Church broke away from the Catholic Church many hundreds of years ago in order to allow Henry VIII to divorce and remarry repeatedly.

Episcopalians believe in individual reason and allowing members freedom to interpret Bible studies for themselves and usually in very non literal ways. There are no cyclicals issued determining the positions that Members are supposed to take on different issues, such as homosexuality or abortion. It is GbLTQ affirming and allows gays and women to be ordained and serve at the highest levels of the church. It has a democratic structure from the bottom and not just among bishops . Vestries are elected and can fire priests if they are perceived to be acting against the collective will of the church membership.

I love when Catholics tell other people what they believe.

??? I am not Catholic. However, I was raised Catholic but converted to Episcopalian faith tradition decades ago.

They are much more closely aligned in liturgies rather than beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

[Anonymous]

You're an atheist, OP. Embrace it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

For sure. The happiest years of my Catholicism were spent in a college town where the Catholic church had an open, robust LGBTQ population.

I've also stepped away and I also miss some aspects of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cultural Catholic.

Came here to write this

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you're a seeker (which is good).

Disagree. The OP doesn't appear to be seeking anything, but is totally fine with being nonreligious. I would say Cultural Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

At the diocese level Arlington is considered very conservative. The diocese stretches out into rural Virginia down past Spotsylvania and out into Fauquier County although the diocesan office is in Arlington. Within the diocese parishes run the gamut from highly conservative to much more liberal, probably the same as most Catholics worldwide.

At its core, the Catholic Church is aligned in its fundamental tenets, which are pretty much what we say weekly as part of the Apostle's Creed. The rest of the teachings and/or interpretations have been argued about and battled over for years. From divorce to LGBTQ to the place of women in the church. Some Catholics are single-issue pro-life voters. Some are more focused on social justice and see birth control and sex ed as measures to achieve those pro-life objectives.

Justice Amy Barrett is Catholic, so is President Joe Biden. What they stand for and believe in is vastly different, although both are practicing Catholics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cultural Catholic but I gotta correct you on something. The Catholic Church fully believes in evolution. It’s complicated but basically gods idea of time is not our idea of time so god creating it all can line up just fine with evolution. . And Catholics absolutely do not take the Bible literally on creation or much else.

+1 it always surprises me how people raised Catholic know so little about what Catholicism actually believes. I think a lot of lapsed Catholics (not all, obviously) leave because they are mistaken about beliefs. OP, did you learn in Catholic school that the Big Bang theory was first articulated by a Catholic priest?

Can you clarify Church beliefs about abortion and gay marriage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

At the diocese level Arlington is considered very conservative. The diocese stretches out into rural Virginia down past Spotsylvania and out into Fauquier County although the diocesan office is in Arlington. Within the diocese parishes run the gamut from highly conservative to much more liberal, probably the same as most Catholics worldwide.

At its core, the Catholic Church is aligned in its fundamental tenets, which are pretty much what we say weekly as part of the Apostle's Creed. The rest of the teachings and/or interpretations have been argued about and battled over for years. From divorce to LGBTQ to the place of women in the church. Some Catholics are single-issue pro-life voters. Some are more focused on social justice and see birth control and sex ed as measures to achieve those pro-life objectives.

Justice Amy Barrett is Catholic, so is President Joe Biden. What they stand for and believe in is vastly different, although both are practicing Catholics.

I've yet to see a conservative politician denied communion. Liberal politicians are denied communion regularly. The Church is very clear about where it stands even of some members think it's a big tent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

Yes indeed.

But even beyond that: many "Cultural Catholics" never go to church other than for baptisms/ weddings/ funerals. Have you heard the expression "non-practicing Catholic"? It's very common in Lat Am and Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

At the diocese level Arlington is considered very conservative. The diocese stretches out into rural Virginia down past Spotsylvania and out into Fauquier County although the diocesan office is in Arlington. Within the diocese parishes run the gamut from highly conservative to much more liberal, probably the same as most Catholics worldwide.

At its core, the Catholic Church is aligned in its fundamental tenets, which are pretty much what we say weekly as part of the Apostle's Creed. The rest of the teachings and/or interpretations have been argued about and battled over for years. From divorce to LGBTQ to the place of women in the church. Some Catholics are single-issue pro-life voters. Some are more focused on social justice and see birth control and sex ed as measures to achieve those pro-life objectives.

Justice Amy Barrett is Catholic, so is President Joe Biden. What they stand for and believe in is vastly different, although both are practicing Catholics.

I've yet to see a conservative politician denied communion. Liberal politicians are denied communion regularly. The Church is very clear about where it stands even of some members think it's a big tent.

Where? Who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP. Cultural Catholic. I will never attend church again in the Arlington Diocese, but enjoy church very much when we're visiting relatives.

Is there something in particular that is off putting about the Arlington Diocese?

The Arlington diocese is VERY VERY conservative.

I’m not Catholic. I thought all Catholic Churches aligned in their beliefs. So some are more conservative than others?

Yes indeed.

But even beyond that: many "Cultural Catholics" never go to church other than for baptisms/ weddings/ funerals. Have you heard the expression "non-practicing Catholic"? It's very common in Lat Am and Europe.

CEO- Christmas and Easter Only