question for atheist/agnostics raised christian/catholic

[icicle weapon]

Background:
I have this friend. She was raised Catholic, but now claims to be agnostic in a sense that, "religion is irrelevant. as long as you are good person, it doesn't matter" s**t like that.
Anyway, but despite her claiming to be agnostic, she still carries her rosary around with her claiming she feels weird without it.

So I wanna know if this is normal and if any of the other atheist/agnostic raised christian/catholic do this as well.

[stealthmongoose]

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

[Xiam]

stealthmongoose

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

I never said "God bless you" even in my Christian-raised childhood, it was always "Bless you," or "blesshoo" if I was being lazy. Which is still most of the time.

I still say "goddamn." Partially because I know it pisses them off. emotion_awesome

[Pretend Gheppetto]

Christianity is and will likely continue to be a symbol of power given it's long history and influence. There have been all sorts of wonderful stories that have come out of the basic lore. I've enjoyed episodes of Supernatural, and i've enjoyed anime like D.grayman despite my sour feelings when i originally left. Now i don't really associate them with whatever faith i had anyway.

It's different for everyone, how they handle it afterward but i doubt that's very helpful to the discussion. It all comes down to how one views their relationship to their previous faith. You can lose faith but still love the church.

[TANRailgun]

Xiam

stealthmongoose

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

I never said "God bless you" even in my Christian-raised childhood, it was always "Bless you," or "blesshoo" if I was being lazy. Which is still most of the time.

I still say "goddamn." Partially because I know it pisses them off. emotion_awesome

I was never Christian, but I have always used that kind of religious speech, mostly in times of exasperation.

"Goddamn it" "Thank God" and "God help me" are the most common, "Jesus H. ******** Christ" is a personal favorite...It's the language I grew up around, and I see no reason to change it.

[Sad or high or both]

icicle weapon

Background:
I have this friend. She was raised Catholic, but now claims to be agnostic in a sense that, "religion is irrelevant. as long as you are good person, it doesn't matter" s**t like that.
Anyway, but despite her claiming to be agnostic, she still carries her rosary around with her claiming she feels weird without it.

So I wanna know if this is normal and if any of the other atheist/agnostic raised christian/catholic do this as well.

I don't see why she would, but I wouldn't judge her for it. I'm an atheist, but I do sometimes catch myself making references to a god I don't believe in. (I was raised Christian.)

[icicle weapon]

TANRailgun

Xiam

stealthmongoose

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

I never said "God bless you" even in my Christian-raised childhood, it was always "Bless you," or "blesshoo" if I was being lazy. Which is still most of the time.

I still say "goddamn." Partially because I know it pisses them off. emotion_awesome

I was never Christian, but I have always used that kind of religious speech, mostly in times of exasperation.

"Goddamn it" "Thank God" and "God help me" are the most common, "Jesus H. ******** Christ" is a personal favorite...It's the language I grew up around, and I see no reason to change it.

My friend says "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" a lot, although she didn't start saying this until she watched Madea. . .so I'm not sure

[Mrtyu-Mara]

TANRailgun

Xiam

stealthmongoose

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

I never said "God bless you" even in my Christian-raised childhood, it was always "Bless you," or "blesshoo" if I was being lazy. Which is still most of the time.

I still say "goddamn." Partially because I know it pisses them off. emotion_awesome

I was never Christian, but I have always used that kind of religious speech, mostly in times of exasperation.

"Goddamn it" "Thank God" and "God help me" are the most common, "Jesus H. ******** Christ" is a personal favorite...It's the language I grew up around, and I see no reason to change it.

"Holy zombie Jesus" or "Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ" are two of my personal favorites.

[Xiam]

TANRailgun

Xiam

stealthmongoose

Strikes me somewhat like how I felt saying "God bless you" and "Jesus Christ" for most of my transitional period. It's probably a little more personal to her, having a bit of Jewelry that came from her religion. It may have been a family gift, heirloom, or just a reflexive safety blanket sort of deal.

I changed my language since I got bored with saying those things all the time, though I still wear crosses on my clothing and Celtic weaves in similar shapes from time to time. I do it because I like to think that although crosses are associated with Christianity, they can be secularized and appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Maybe she feels the same about rosaries.

I never said "God bless you" even in my Christian-raised childhood, it was always "Bless you," or "blesshoo" if I was being lazy. Which is still most of the time.

I still say "goddamn." Partially because I know it pisses them off. emotion_awesome

I was never Christian, but I have always used that kind of religious speech, mostly in times of exasperation.

"Goddamn it" "Thank God" and "God help me" are the most common, "Jesus H. ******** Christ" is a personal favorite...It's the language I grew up around, and I see no reason to change it.

Yeah, no point, it's like learning to speak only in a different language because English is the official language of the Anglican Church or something.

[I AM R U]

icicle weapon

Background:
I have this friend. She was raised Catholic, but now claims to be agnostic in a sense that, "religion is irrelevant. as long as you are good person, it doesn't matter" s**t like that.
Anyway, but despite her claiming to be agnostic, she still carries her rosary around with her claiming she feels weird without it.

So I wanna know if this is normal and if any of the other atheist/agnostic raised christian/catholic do this as well.

I still wear my crucifix and saints' medallions, even though I haven't really considered myself Catholic for years now... I always have, they have sentimental value and/or gifts, and I like them.

[Legato of the Night]

Being raised Catholic but now atheist, I would only keep those things for their sentimental value.

As for language, I say 'goddamn,' 'oh my god,' 'jesus christ,' etc., because it's a habit. Also now that I think about it, I usually say those words when something bad has happened. I'm associating those terms with a bad thing, as though I blame those things, or I ridicule them. If not that, they're just meaningless expletives to replace the word '********.'

[Brothern]

icicle weapon

Quote:

So I wanna know if this is normal and if any of the other atheist/agnostic raised christian/catholic do this as well.

My friend says "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" a lot, although she didn't start saying this until she watched Madea. . .so I'm not sure

Tyler Perry, really? rolleyes

Anyway it's completely normal. Religion is a sense of comfort for many people. It keeps them grounded. Think of it, within some forms of Christianity, there's this idea that an all powerful, but personal deity cares about your every need and looks out for you throughout your life. That's very powerful and keeps a lot of people going.

For Catholicism, things like rosaries are used during prayer or the Christian equivalent of "meditation." You go through a repetitive devotion of counting and praying to each bead; usually without much thought, mostly when you feel the need (i.e. you feel less than happy) to pray. After awhile that creates a sense of comfort and give sentimental value to the rosary regardless if you actually believe in Christianity or not.

It is actually pretty common that former Catholics keep a hold of their rosaries.

[Pulp Non-Fiction]

I'm part of a very strict, Catholic family. My sister is agnostic (about to graduate, but she still has to attend Mass), and she fulls no pull to any religious items, or appreciates anything she learned from Catholicism. (She does, however, admit our current Pope is wonderful). I do have a few friends that will do the same, however. Even when I was briefly questioning being a Catholic, I never took off my cross. Sometimes items like that are sentimental, and a part of you. It doesn't have to be the religious aspect, rather, the sentiment. It could be something similar to a security blanket, which isn't bad at all.

[icicle weapon]

Empress Umbreon

I'm part of a very strict, Catholic family. My sister is agnostic (about to graduate, but she still has to attend Mass), and she fulls no pull to any religious items, or appreciates anything she learned from Catholicism. (She does, however, admit our current Pope is wonderful). I do have a few friends that will do the same, however. Even when I was briefly questioning being a Catholic, I never took off my cross. Sometimes items like that are sentimental, and a part of you. It doesn't have to be the religious aspect, rather, the sentiment. It could be something similar to a security blanket, which isn't bad at all.

Our current Pope is indeed wonderful smile
I almost bought his calendar.

[Slutty_Eddie]

icicle weapon

So I wanna know if this is normal and if any of the other atheist/agnostic raised christian/catholic do this as well.

This is fairly common. There is a reason that some atheist identify as "culturally Catholic" or "culturally Protestant", because we were raised within the culture when our ideas of how the world works were being formed and we have been influenced by them, even if we don't believe in God anymore.

I'll still argue that the "correct" form of Christianity can trace their founding back to Jesus, because if Jesus was the Messiah, then he wouldn't have created a Church that doesn't teach in his name. (He is, you know, all knowing) Even if I don't particularly believe Jesus WAS the Messiah, depending on the day.