Which of the following should still be considered Catholic?

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

A: Male from the Northeast. Is from a mostly Irish and entirely Catholic extended family. Attended Catholic schools until graduating high school and went to a Catholic university though transferred to and graduated from a secular school. Now is agnostic/atheist, never attends Mass except for weddings or funerals, and selected "None" under religion when filling out a survey. Votes Democratic.

B: Female from the Midwest. From a very mixed ethnic background but has some German Catholic ancestry. Born to a Catholic mother and Protestant father, was raised Catholic, baptized and confirmed but went to public schools his whole life. Fell out in high school, does not identify as Catholic anymore, very rarely attends church but if she ever does it's usually a mainline Protestant one. Democratic but not always frequent voter.

C: Hispanic female in the Southwest. Was from a very Catholic extended family and was quite devout herself for awhile, but in college got involved with some evangelical groups. Was rebaptized and attends a charismatic church now. Despite voting Republican in a few elections has drifted back to voting Democratic due to the Republicans' increasing xenophobia and increasing economic extremism.

D: Male from the Pacific Northwest. Was born to Catholic families and baptized Catholic, but before he was confirmed his parents divorced. He ended up staying with his mother, who no longer wished to go to a Catholic church due to shunning over her divorce and became an Episcopalian, which is where he was confirmed. Does not attend church frequently but goes to Episcopalian when he does (usually when visiting his mother.) Independent voter.

E: Male from the Upper South. Was born to a Catholic family and raised as such, and went to Catholic schools before graduating from high school, but went to a public university. Met his now wife there who was Protestant, was married in a Protestant ceremony, and only attends Protestant churches together. Both are Republicans.

F: Female from the Mountain West. Was raised by a casually Catholic father and far more devout mother, but went to public schools. In college drifted away from the faith and was completely non-practicing when she graduated, but suffered a few crises afterwards and found a renewal of faith after this, which resulted in her being involved in an emergent church. Was rebaptized and has a rather evangelical flair now, despite still being a staunch Democratic voter.

I say none of them obviously. None identify as such or practice, so they are not Catholic or even "culturally Catholic". What they were raised is irrelevant. Labeling any such actually I think would be quite rude.

[Free Speech Enjoyer]

I wish I understood the point of this thread.

[Stranger in a strange land]

None self-identify as Catholic, so therefore none of them are Catholic. Maybe some of them would still be considered Catholic in Northern Ireland, but not in America.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

I wish I understood the point of this thread.

I'm not fond of the mindset anyone raised Catholic should alwats be considered Catholuc some here adhere to. These are all quite plausible examples to discuss in regards to that.

[TDAS04]

None, if none claim to be Catholic. 

[© tweed]

only A.

[Wiggle Your Yummy Moist Preggers Cake Ben Shapiro]

I wish I understood the point of this thread.

I'm not fond of the mindset anyone raised Catholic should alwats be considered Catholuc some here adhere to. These are all quite plausible examples to discuss in regards to that.

Why make this about Catholics and not Jews, who are even bigger offenders?

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

There's an actual Jewish ethnicity though so it's not really the same.

[H. Ross Peron]

None unless the person in E still retains Catholic beliefs on a personal level.

[Miles]

Option A sounds like my dad.

[Fascism Must Be Defeated]

All of them, obviously.

[7,052,770]

I wish I understood the point of this thread.

I'm not fond of the mindset anyone raised Catholic should alwats be considered Catholuc some here adhere to. These are all quite plausible examples to discuss in regards to that.

No one thinks that.  Just because your mother had a very rare experience with family members believing this nonsense doesn't mean that it's remotely common.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

According to oakvale just about everyone in Ireland thinks that way.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I voted NOTA, but unless they've told the RCC they've quit, then the church probably considers them to still be Catholic.

[Reginald]

Voted E, but my rationale is admittedly anecdotal: the description is pretty much exactly my father, and he still identifies as Catholic. I'm not exactly sure why he hasn't just converted to LCMS already, but there's evidently enough of a tie to Catholicism there to warrant never taking communion with my mom.

[Oakvale]

According to oakvale just about everyone in Ireland thinks that way.

Please feel free to continuing misrepresenting what I said at every opportunity.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

According to oakvale just about everyone in Ireland thinks that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_identity

People. They're different. In different parts of the world. Imagine that.

[minionofmidas]

All or possibly most of these are semisorta 'culturally Catholic' in ways that will be relevant in some contexts but obviously won't be in many others. They would take mild offence to this thread's banal 'point' , for a random example. They are also likely to have much more informed opinions on the direction of the Catholic church than you (and different ones than the college of cardinals)

(Oh, and yes, as Ernest points out if any of them hasn't quit the Catholic church they evidently either are Catholics or really ought to quit asap.)

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

I don't think B, D or F would have too strong or informed opinions on the church or care about it that much.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Many of the cultural/cafeteria Catholics don't quit the RCC because they feel some sort of vague connection, whether it be via force of habit/family tradition, or just because they grew up in it and its what they are familiar with. Also, Catholicism isn't exactly favorable to schisms, so it's not like Protestants who just start a new church if they disagree on a major issue.

Believe it or not, most people don't spend much time thinking about their belief systems, religious or political or whatever.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

Many of the cultural/cafeteria Catholics don't quit the RCC because they feel some sort of vague connection, whether it be via force of habit/family tradition, or just because they grew up in it and its what they are familiar with. Also, Catholicism isn't exactly favorable to schisms, so it's not like Protestants who just start a new church if they disagree on a major issue.

Believe it or not, most people don't spend much time thinking about their belief systems, religious or political or whatever.

So what about the people in the scenarios? Who are all quite plausible scenarios. I don't get the whole idea some promote that basically every single person raised Catholic ALWAYS ALWAYS feels these cultural connections because for tons of people that'd not true yeah they really don't give a sh!t. 1/3 of people in the US raised Catholic does not identify as such anymore. not "doesn't attend Mass anymore" doesn't IDENTIFY as being Catholic on ANY level. Its not an insignificant number.

Also I don't give the "Catholicism isn't friendly to schisms" point. It may be true but why would someone who doesn't actually believe in Catholicism care?

[Fascism Must Be Defeated]

Many of the cultural/cafeteria Catholics don't quit the RCC because they feel some sort of vague connection, whether it be via force of habit/family tradition, or just because they grew up in it and its what they are familiar with. Also, Catholicism isn't exactly favorable to schisms, so it's not like Protestants who just start a new church if they disagree on a major issue.

Believe it or not, most people don't spend much time thinking about their belief systems, religious or political or whatever.

So what about the people in the scenarios? Who are all quite plausible scenarios. I don't get the whole idea some promote that basically every single person raised Catholic ALWAYS ALWAYS feels these cultural connections because for tons of people that'd not true yeah they really don't give a sh!t. 1/3 of people in the US raised Catholic does not identify as such anymore. not "doesn't attend Mass anymore" doesn't IDENTIFY as being Catholic on ANY level. Its not an insignificant number.

Also I don't give the "Catholicism isn't friendly to schisms" point. It may be true but why would someone who doesn't actually believe in Catholicism care?

The thing is this, BRTD: Most people who were raised Catholic will still have fairly strong connections to the Church. My dad is pretty much an atheist, but he still feels very tied to Catholicism- he does the Sign of the Cross when he hears sirens, and follows Church affairs fairly closely.

It should also be noted that converting away from your religion, in most places, is equivalent to completely abandoning your culture.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

Many of the cultural/cafeteria Catholics don't quit the RCC because they feel some sort of vague connection, whether it be via force of habit/family tradition, or just because they grew up in it and its what they are familiar with. Also, Catholicism isn't exactly favorable to schisms, so it's not like Protestants who just start a new church if they disagree on a major issue.

Believe it or not, most people don't spend much time thinking about their belief systems, religious or political or whatever.

So what about the people in the scenarios? Who are all quite plausible scenarios. I don't get the whole idea some promote that basically every single person raised Catholic ALWAYS ALWAYS feels these cultural connections because for tons of people that'd not true yeah they really don't give a sh!t. 1/3 of people in the US raised Catholic does not identify as such anymore. not "doesn't attend Mass anymore" doesn't IDENTIFY as being Catholic on ANY level. Its not an insignificant number.

Also I don't give the "Catholicism isn't friendly to schisms" point. It may be true but why would someone who doesn't actually believe in Catholicism care?

The thing is this, BRTD: Most people who were raised Catholic will still have fairly strong connections to the Church. My dad is pretty much an atheist, but he still feels very tied to Catholicism- he does the Sign of the Cross when he hears sirens, and follows Church affairs fairly closely.

Even if true of your dad, it's clearly not true of 1/3 of people in the US raised Catholic or most people I know who were. If it this is as universal as some people claim then it would also be at least the rule amongst most people I know raised Catholic, I'll admit my sample might be disproportionate in terms of those who left, but just about everyone who left no longer identifies as Catholic in any way. But once again statistics back up here, 1/3 of Americans raised Catholic are the same. And all the examples I give are likely people who would feel that way as well.

It should also be noted that converting away from your religion, in most places, is equivalent to completely abandoning your culture.

COMPLETELY abandoning your culture, seriously? What if you're from a mixed marriage? Then either way you need to compromise at least part of it. And what are the major culture differences between Midwestern German Catholics and German Protestants? Living here my whole life I've never noticed any…or even amongst non-Germans in fact. The Midwest is pretty assimilated to the point where the culture is the same no matter what your ethnic background is (well as long as you're white), regardless of your religion/denomination, or lack thereof. And again would that apply to the examples listed?

[Fascism Must Be Defeated]

It should also be noted that converting away from your religion, in most places, is equivalent to completely abandoning your culture.

COMPLETELY abandoning your culture, seriously? What if you're from a mixed marriage? Then either way you need to compromise at least part of it. And what are the major culture differences between Midwestern German Catholics and German Protestants? Living here my whole life I've never noticed any…or even amongst non-Germans in fact. The Midwest is pretty assimilated to the point where the culture is the same no matter what your ethnic background is (well as long as you're white), regardless of your religion/denomination, or lack thereof. And again would that apply to the examples listed?

I'm not really talking about the midwest, though.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

So the Midwest is just some unique reason where people don't feel that way but everywhere else is different?