Hello,

I was baptised and Received my first communion, as a child I always questioned the existence of god and religion in general, while growing up I personally came to a conclusion that all that I learned was a hunk of b.s.

Last year, we had a discussion in class about religion and the subject of quitting your religion came up. The teacher said that a guy mailed a certain church guy to ask him to remove his name from the church documents and that he did not want to be associated with any church or religion. Apparently, It took this guy a while (like a year or two) to finally be able to say that he had no religion whatsoever, because the letter passed between many heads of church and he receive letters asking him if he was really sure if he wanted to do this.

Now I would like to do the same thing, not just for shits and giggles, but while thinking about the purpose of this I said to myself that i do not want to be part of any religion for personal reasons. I'm sure that everyone has their personal opinions, but I do not want to be affiliated with anyone in any way shape or form who thinks their religion is superior to others, who discriminates gay/lesbians/bisexuals, that oblige young kids to believe in god against their will, and that prevent science courses that provide other views than the one found in religion.

People might try to make me change my mind and say that my arguments are not valid just to be certain that everyone is on the same wave length as me I will tell you this anecdote; I once worked for a survey company and had to do a survey on religion, while calling people and asking them questions I realized that many of these people that believed in the religion that I was "assigned" had a totally different opinion and a way of life than me and this is why I believe that i do not want to be associated with them.I am a strong believer that a person should be able to choose their beliefs after looking at every possibilities.

The only problem in this is that I do not know how I could word a letter or even to who I would send this letter to.

any help or personal opinion would be appreciated.
thanks.
Tap-

Are you a member of the church where you had your first communion? If you're not a member, you probably aren't on any lists stating your religion...

I never went to church. i went maybe 5 times since my first communion

Stop calling yourself a <insert appropriate religion here>.

Posted by KublaKhan Stop calling yourself a <insert appropriate religion here>.

Thats how I did it.

I may be off here, but I think it works like this...

if you want to follow a religion, do.
if you do not want to follow a religion, do not.

Unless you were in some sort of position in your faith, all you should have to do to quit is, well quit.

Okay, I've had this thread marked as a favorite since the original post, and I wanted to say something but never did.

As for leaving your church or religion, I really don't know what could be gained by going through any formal process. It wouldn't change anything. It's just symbolic and completely meaningless to have your name removed from anything.

If you don't want to be affiliated with that religion anymore, then you aren't. It's not like they're going to be boasting to everyone, saying, "Hey ya'll! lookie here! TaP is one of us! He believes all of the bullshit that we believe!"


Here's what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to solve all of your problems. I am going to occasionally find a nice place to write "TaP is Catholic" and there is not one god dammed thing you can do about it. And every bathroom wall or piece of paper or dusty windshield that I write it on will be as meaningful as the church's records, because not a single one of them affects you, or what you believe, in any way.




And HERE is why I didn't post for so long. I didn't want to sound like all of the people that have tried to tell you that you're wrong.

But, if you feel like spirituality is still important to you in some, maybe unknown way, or maybe you just desire a community of people who wonder, then I suggest that you check out a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Lots of UU's don't believe in a god. I personally think organized religion is one of the worst evils to have ever befallen mankind, and I teach Sunday School in a UU church, so, eh, go figure.

Posted by MutantMandias Here's what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to solve all of your problems. I am going to occasionally find a nice place to write "TaP is Catholic" and there is not one god dammed thing you can do about it.

This literally made me blow snot out of my nose.

I believe that 'ties' to a religion can have detrimental repercussions to a person. What if someone in a world power position began committing genocide based on religious preference (never seen that before ) and got a hold of church or religion registries, if you were ever part of that religion (say your parents had you baptized as a catholic while you were a baby) then you may be killed based on beliefs you don't even agree with.

If there was a legal way to remove my name from the registries of the catholic church, I would have no hesitation in asking for my name to be stricken.

I want no part of any religion, and it pisses me off to know that my name exists on some stupid church and school documents, I am labelled as a catholic, that is the worst insult that can be applied to me. My parents choose that religion, I didn't, and now I'm stuck with my name on record.

Posted by Nvr2loud I believe that 'ties' to a religion can have detrimental repercussions to a person. What if someone in a world power position began committing genocide based on religious preference (never seen that before ) and got a hold of church or religion registries, if you were ever part of that religion (say your parents had you baptized as a catholic while you were a baby) then you may be killed based on beliefs you don't even agree with.

In that world, all of us (UERs) would be tortured and killed long before they got to executing people named on lists in church basements.

The differnce is that my name is on a religious record, my name isn't on UER.

Posted by Nvr2loud I want no part of any religion, and it pisses me off to know that my name exists on some stupid church and school documents, I am labelled as a catholic, that is the worst insult that can be applied to me. My parents choose that religion, I didn't, and now I'm stuck with my name on record.

I fully understand how that freaky cult can screw people up, but really, this is all your own issues, completely in your own head. Being pissed off that your name is written somewhere is not rational. Being concerned that a fascist government will take over and ever get around to killing people on a dusty list, or even getting around to reading dusty lists, is kind of insane. They have plenty of people to kill and torture without digging up yellowing papers from old cardboard boxes.

And my point is, you, and the choices that you make, and the life that you lead will make you a target for that government long before they get around to doing anything to the Catholic church.





edit: By the way, TaP is Catholic

I'm not actually paranoid, I'm just saying that I have the right to declare myself non-catholic and that the church records should reflect that. They feel it neccessary to keep records of members, but they won't alter or destroy those records if a member, or self-proclaimed non-member leaves the church.

I just feel that if my information is kept on file, it should reflect the truth of my choices, there is currently no avenue to change the records: my experiene is only with the catholic church, I have no knowledge of other instituitions.

My parents, after years of me saying to them "there is no god, I don't believe in god, I am not a catholic" respond with the following....

"You will believe again one day, you will have faith, that is why you will always be a catholic, so you can go back to your faith once you've found your way" That is the attitude I hate.... what do I have to do to escape. I suppose you are correct, it is only my problem in my head, but try to convince a psycotic cathoholic family that you are no longer a catholic. I broke my baptizimal candle in half, they replaced it with a new blessed one. I cut the strings on all the rosaries I've ever had, they bought new ones from the church. I burned my precious bible, my mom freaked out and went to church to pray for me, so it may be my problem in my head, but it affects everything I do. If I could legally seperate from the catholic church, perhaps my family would finally see that I am seriously an atheist.

The local priest, who I served as an alter boy long ago refused to remove my name from the church registry. I never put my name there, my parents did that for me 29 years ago. He claims I am baptized as a catholic and the only way to become a non-catholic is to be baptized by a different faith, they I'll go to hell anyway. Why do I continue to receive donation envelopes and newsletters from this church? I have no recourse or choice in this matter, maybe if you were in the same situation, you would have a better understanding of how intrusive the church can be.

One other small factor, religious populations / statistics are based on church records... if the church dosen't allow members to change or leave, then the number of members of each religion are highly exaggerated. Some of these religions (christianity) claim they are the 'true religion' because they have the mose people, therefore they must be right, they are 'making-up' the numbers and it is wrong. I want to be counted towards NO-FAITH and that isn't paranoid, that is just my right to support my faith.

Posted by Nvr2loud I'm not actually paranoid, I'm just saying that I have the right to declare myself non-catholic and that the church records should reflect that.

If you have a sex change operation, should your birth certificate be changed? If you stop working at a company, should any record of your having worked there be purged?

Posted by Nvr2loud My parents, after years of me saying to them "there is no god, I don't believe in god, I am not a catholic" respond with the following.... <craziness>

Yeah, that's what they believe all right. Works for them, which is nice I guess, but kind of turns you into collateral damage. You can't change them, and they will always think that way. The best you can do is let go and try to let it roll off your back. Wabi-sabi, baby.

Posted by Nvr2loud If I could legally seperate from the catholic church, perhaps my family would finally see that I am seriously an atheist.

Step One: Realize that this is a fantasy.
Step Two: Realize that you still haven't really achieved Step One.

Posted by Nvr2loud Why do I continue to receive donation envelopes and newsletters from this church? I have no recourse or choice in this matter, maybe if you were in the same situation, you would have a better understanding of how intrusive the church can be.

I get annoyed when churches and politicians that I have zero relationship with contact me just because of where I live, so I bet I would go fucking insane if I was getting essentially stalked and harassed like that, but hey, if you want to feel better, fill them with garbage and send them back. They might eventually take you off their mailing list at least.

Posted by Nvr2loud One other small factor, religious populations / statistics are based on church records...

Not reputable ones. Honest stats come from poling.

Posted by Nvr2loud Some of these religions (christianity) claim they are the 'true religion' because they have the mose people, therefore they must be right, they are 'making-up' the numbers and it is wrong.

I've never heard an actual claim about truth based on numbers, but I guess it can come across that way sometimes. But only to people who already have their opinion.

Posted by Nvr2loud I want to be counted towards NO-FAITH and that isn't paranoid, that is just my right to support my faith.

Well, like I said, that could come from poling results. If not there, where exactly would you keep that list?

If a doctor feels that a boy has become a girl, then yes, the birth certificate should be changed.

If I worked somewhere, and then left, my record should remain because the company must provide all proof of payroll, also, the company dosen't exaggerate it's employee numbers by keeping all past employees listed as "current employees"

Now, back on topic...


My parents listen absolutely to the church / priest. They won't recognize a divorce until the church deems it to be complete, they won't recognize a marriage until the church deems it to be complete (they don't consider me married because it didn't happen in the catholic church, they would accept my marriage if I had a priest bless it yeah right!) and I'm sure that if the church allows me to be un-baptized in a sense, then they would at least know that I AM NOT their little catholic sheep. They will not like it, but if a priest decides I am no longer catholic, then that is good enough for them.

Good idea about mailing them garbage back, I may send some atheist reading material or newspaper clippings of abused altar boys to the church, they may take me off their list... or worse - double their efforts

Finally, I don't actually propose a list of atheists be kept, just that for every time I speak as an atheist, my name is still on the list of parishoners for our local catholic church.

Like I said before, if the church has the right to keep records of anyone it decides is catholic, then I have the right to remove my name from that list, even if the list is actually harmless (which we all basically know it is anyway) If they wish to keep my name as a past member, that was true, so I don't have any right to take that away from them, but I am not a current member and I don't want my local politicians to have my name as one more person standing for a cause the church is fighting for or against. If my local church goes to our member of parliament and says...

"we believe in blah, blah, blah and we are 5000 members strong in a town of 8000 people" then my name has just been used without my authority. Elections have been won or lost by a single vote, my name and opinions count as much as someone who activily participates in the church's views.

Uh... Not that this shit isn't just interesting as FUCK, but...

Have you actually tried going to the church and asking?

Posted by White Rabbit Uh... Not that this shit isn't just interesting as FUCK, but... Have you actually tried going to the church and asking?

So. Awesome.

Posted by Nvr2loud I just feel that if my information is kept on file, it should reflect the truth of my choices, there is currently no avenue to change the records: my experiene is only with the catholic church, I have no knowledge of other instituitions.

Actually, you can get the file to reflect that. You can be ex-communicated from the church, just like my family was in the 1600s.

There is one unforgiveable sin: Denying the Holy Spirit.

“Truly I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter: but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin: because they say, ‘He has an unclean spirit’.” (Book of Mark 3:28-29)

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Book of Matthew 12:30-32)

You could, say, be a priest and f@#$ little boys - and god will forgive you if you confess and ask for forgiveness, just as long as you don't deny the holy spirit.

Just go to mass and walk up to the altar and point out to the priest that there is no proof whatsoever that his god did anything at all and you believe that he does not, in fact, exist (nor jesus) and may I please be ex-communicated now, thank-you.

I'll go with you if you if you need a ride.

Posted by tekriter There is one unforgiveable sin: Denying the Holy Spirit. .... I'll go with you if you if you need a ride.

You can just do this on the internet. There is a whole youtube movement of people doing this, but I'm too lazy to find the link for you right now.