From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Tue May 18 2004 - 07:05:21 MDT
A dialog from the Skeptic newsletter, sent by a "Roman Catholic Atheist":
<begin quote>
I was at Whole Earth Day in Davis on Saturday. It was my birthday and my wife loves to go and buy hippie clothes. When I passed the Jews for Jesus table, I was asked to take a survey. I said, "Sure. Why not?"
Q: Do you belong a religious organization or consider yourself a member of a recognized faith.
A: Yes.
Q: What faith?
A: I'm a Roman Catholic.
Q: Do you believe that when you die, you'll go to heaven?
A: No.
Q: (some surprise expressed) Why?
A: I don't accept the concept of heaven.
Q: (silence and stares) Huh? Do you mean that you don't believe in heaven?
A: I think you could say that.
Q: Do you believe in God?
A: If you mean an anthropomorphicized spirit who created the universe by some magical deitic fiat, no.
Q: (eyes narrowing at this point) Do you believe the bible is the word of God?
A: Certainly not.
Q: (eyes very narrow at this point) Then, what do you believe the bible is?
A: A collection of writings written by men with a political agenda, compiled and edited by men with political agendas and used by people with political agendas.
Q: How can you consider yourself a Catholic, if you don't believe in God or the bible?
A: Culture. It's part of my ethnic identity. Besides, I enjoy going to mass and losing myself in the mystery of the moment. It's just that I'm willing to leave the my idealogy where it belongs: at the church's doorstep. It'll be there when I come back next week.
Q: Does your priest know this?
A: It's really none of his business.
--at this point, the "survey" ended. I was thanked and told by body language that the conversation had ended.
<end quote>
[rhinoceros]
This used to be very common in Greece. The Orthodox Church used to be intertwined with the state and had a grip on wedding, name certification, death and funeral and much more. The easiest way to avoid bureaucratic hassles and endless paperwork was just to write "Christian Orthodox" in your identification papers.
This started to change only 20 years ago, but the church has not given up yet. They are still lobbying to keep a "Religion" entry on the ID cards, they are still causing problems to atheists' families by controlling the graveyards (cremation is still under fire) and more. Since some things such as wedding in church are still considered a tradition by many, we have occasional embarassing situations when an atheist is to be a "best man" in a ceremony and they kick him out.
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