non-practicing "insert religion here"

[HarryKeogh]

At dinner with 5 casual friends and they began discussing what they gave up for lent and the usual suspects came up (chocolate, cigarettes, booze, cursing etc). So I asked one of the ladies present why they gave it up. She replied that it’s just a little sacrifice to make during the lent season. I then asked if she was a catholic. She replied yes. So then I asked her when was the last time she went to church. She couldn’t remember. So I asked her if she really was a Catholic. “Of course I am” she replied. So I said but doesn’t your religion clearly state that you are to keep holy the Sabbath day? I mean, it’s right there in the ten commandments. So I went into a little rant (but friendly, I wanted to have an intelligent discussion not a screaming match) on how I thought it was funny to pick and choose which rules you’ll follow. In my opinion there’s no such thing as a non-practicing catholic. If you really believed in your religion you’d follow it to the letter because to not do so would result in eternal damnation (according to their belief system). I then said how I thought it was funny when Jews make fun of orthodox Jews. Even though I don’t believe in any of their beliefs at least they put their money where their mouth is. They follow the rules! She then asked me my religion. I said “I’m an atheist”

She then said “I don’t want to have this conversation with you. End of discussion”

I have to learn to shut up! But seriously, religion came up as a topic so i think it was okay to ask a legitimate question.

What do you guys make of the “non-practicing" notion? At what point do you cease to be catholic, muslim or whatever?

[c4ts]

Originally posted by HarryKeogh
At dinner with 5 casual friends and they began discussing what they gave up for lent and the usual suspects came up (chocolate, cigarettes, booze, cursing etc). So I asked one of the ladies present why they gave it up. She replied that it’s just a little sacrifice to make during the lent season. I then asked if she was a catholic. She replied yes. So then I asked her when was the last time she went to church. She couldn’t remember. So I asked her if she really was a Catholic. “Of course I am” she replied. So I said but doesn’t your religion clearly state that you are to keep holy the Sabbath day? I mean, it’s right there in the ten commandments. So I went into a little rant (but friendly, I wanted to have an intelligent discussion not a screaming match) on how I thought it was funny to pick and choose which rules you’ll follow. In my opinion there’s no such thing as a non-practicing catholic. If you really believed in your religion you’d follow it to the letter because to not do so would result in eternal damnation (according to their belief system). I then said how I thought it was funny when Jews make fun of orthodox Jews. Even though I don’t believe in any of their beliefs at least they put their money where their mouth is. They follow the rules! She then asked me my religion. I said “I’m an atheist”

She then said “I don’t want to have this conversation with you. End of discussion”

I have to learn to shut up! But seriously, religion came up as a topic so i think it was okay to ask a legitimate question.

What do you guys make of the “non-practicing" notion? At what point do you cease to be catholic, muslim or whatever?

Next time someone asks you that question, say it's whatever he or she wants it to be.

The point at which you stop being religious anything is when you realize it's full of sh*t and you don't laugh and go on practicing it.

[Underemployed]

I usually call myself a non-practising Buddhist when asked.

If you seriously call yourself a "non-practising" ANYTHING then you clearly have no idea what it means to belong to a religion.

Or you have abandoned the religion you were brought up with but are too much of a wuss to admit you don't believe it anymore.

Why not mention this to your friend next time? I bet she'll put out.

[Checkmite]

Perhaps she is following her religion to the letter. There is a commandment that one must "Keep the Sabbath", of course, but it doesn't specify how.

[fidiot]

To me, if someone says that they're "non-practicing" christians or whatever other religion, usually means that they don't know much about the religion that they're supposedly a part of. Therefore it is hard to take them seriously when they try to defend their faith during discussions. You won't hear a lot of strong arguments from those people, trust me.

[Kiri]

Originally posted by HarryKeogh

What do you guys make of the “non-practicing" notion? At what point do you cease to be catholic, muslim or whatever?

Interesting. I thought "non-practicing" meant that while you BELIEVE, you don't do all (or any) of the ritual. I see your point about practice being integral to that belief, though; maybe this varies from one faith to another. Paganism is so loose on this point that I could "practice" without actually believing a word of it.