What to do with unapologetic "Cafeteria Catholics?"

[Montanaman]

I'm flabbergasted. I just don't get it. I have no problem with people disagreeing with the Church or struggling with this-or-that doctrine, but WHY do people call themselves Catholic if they have no intention of, you know, BEING Catholic. I hate these conversations because there's no way around sounding like the arrogant, narrow-minded, bigoted enforcer-of-doctrine. I'm not! I'm a fallible hypocrite, too, but the difference is I believe that words have meanings. I can SAY I'm Emporer of the Universe, but does that make me one?​

I become completely unglued in these conversations because, let's face it, it's like discovering a traitor in the White House. How would you all deal with someone who has no intention of living as a Catholic, but remains Catholic?

(Incidentally, way back in college, I came across a girl who said she was going to become a religious education director so she could "change the Church from the inside." Back then I was even less prepared. Where in the world do these supremely arrogant CINOs come from?)

 

[NDIrish]

How would you all deal with someone who has no intention of living as a Catholic, but remains Catholic?

1. Pray for them.
   
2. Offer mortifications for the conversion of their soul.
   
3. Pray for them.
   
4. Give them a good example by leading an authentically Catholic life.

 

[faerieevaH]

These are people with their own path to take. About ten to fifteen years ago, I was one of them. Pray for them. We all come to orthodoxy at our own pace and in our own way, and it's hard for us to know what has driven someone away from those church teachings.
If someone had said to me those fifteen years ago that I wasn't a catholic or shouldn't call myself a catholic because I didn't believe in all the churches teachings, I would never have become the catholic I am today.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

Also, don't be so scandalised. It doesn't help, and if this kinda of thing still really surprises you, then I, for one, am surprised.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

These are people with their own path to take. About ten to fifteen years ago, I was one of them. Pray for them. We all come to orthodoxy at our own pace and in our own way, and it's hard for us to know what has driven someone away from those church teachings.
If someone had said to me those fifteen years ago that I wasn't a catholic or shouldn't call myself a catholic because I didn't believe in all the churches teachings, I would never have become the catholic I am today.

Preach it sister!

 

[Montanaman]

Also, don't be so scandalised. It doesn't help, and if this kinda of thing still really surprises you, then I, for one, am surprised.

I'm surprised too--but I think it comes from somebody telling me that a circle is really a triangle. What? Huh? You mean? What the? AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

I'm surprised too--but I think it comes from somebody telling me that a circle is really a triangle. What? Huh? You mean? What the? AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

What on earth are you talking about?

 

[Montanaman]

What on earth are you talking about?

You know--"I don't believe in the teaching authority of the Church. I believe in artificial birth control, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. I don't believe in transubstantiation. But hey--I'm still Catholic!"

Perhaps technically, yes, but not in any meaningful way. Likewise, you can call a circle a triangle all day long, but that circle ain't gonna have three points...

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

What to do with unapologetic "Cafeteria Catholics?

What do you do with Cafetria Catholics ?
What do you do with Cafetria Catholics ?
What do you do with Cafetria Catholics earily in the morning ?

Shave there chest with a rusty razor
Shave there chest with a rusty razor
Shave there chest with a rusty razor early in the morning !


It just came to me, I could stop myself.

Sorry.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

You know--"I don't believe in the teaching authority of the Church. I believe in artificial birth control, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. I don't believe in transubstantiation. But hey--I'm still Catholic!"

Perhaps technically, yes, but not in any meaningful way. Likewise, you can call a circle a triangle all day long, but that circle ain't gonna have three points...

Yes, the problem is that Catholic doctrine is clearly layed out in a way that no other faith really has. People nowerdays simply aren't used to things being that way and can have a hard time adjusting, and are in fact often repelled by the idea of having their morals dictated to them like that, and in the world we live in now, that's entirly understandable.

They need prayer and Charity - just throwing dogma down their thrat isn't gonna achive much.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

What to do with unapologetic "Cafeteria Catholics?

What do you do with Cafetria Catholics ?
What do you do with Cafetria Catholics ?
What do you do with Cafetria Catholics earily in the morning ?

Shave there chest with a rusty razor
Shave there chest with a rusty razor
Shave there chest with a rusty razor early in the morning !


It just came to me, I could stop myself.

Sorry.

I was gonna go with "burn 'em" as the humorous response, but I think your one is much better.

 

[Montanaman]

Yes, the problem is that Catholic doctrine is clearly layed out in a way that no other faith really has. People nowerdays simply aren't used to things being that way and can have a hard time adjusting, and are in fact often repelled by the idea of having their morals dictated to them like that, and in the world we live in now, that's entirly understandable.

They need prayer and Charity - just throwing dogma down their thrat isn't gonna achive much.

I know. That's why I say "unapologetic" CC's. I'm not interested in handing their judgment to them, but I think it's important to point out intellectually inconsistent positions. Maybe I AM just an inflexible dogmatist, but I don't think pointing out inconsistencies in their thinking merits a "judgment" accusation.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

I know. That's why I say "unapologetic" CC's. I'm not interested in handing their judgment to them, but I think it's important to point out intellectually inconsistent positions. Maybe I AM just an inflexible dogmatist, but I don't think pointing out inconsistencies in their thinking merits a "judgment" accusation.

Yeah, sorry, to be honest I haven't actually read any of your responses to the poster so I can't really judge.

 

[Metanoia02]

Isn't that "What do you do with a Drunken Sailor?" Hey it works. 'ang em from the yardarm'!

 

[NiteClerk]

What NDIrish said.

 

[scraparcs]

Here I was just thinking I have the opposite problem -- I'm not Catholic, I just try to act like one.

 

[black_rain]

I'm not saying that thinking masturbation is okay is a good example to what I'm about to say, but isn't it true that if everyone agreed to 100% of all teaching, there would never have been any reform?

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

I'm not saying that thinking masturbation is okay is a good example to what I'm about to say, but isn't it true that if everyone agreed to 100% of all teaching, there would never have been any reform?

Maybe. Obviously the core of Catholic morals has essentially remained the same, but bursts of reform have often had to be prompted after mass exoduses from the Church. Though leaving the Church isn't the same as protesting the Chruch from within.

I see what you're saying. Sometimes the gnat can help the Church in funny ways.

 

[Tonks]

Eh, I used to wring my hands about the so-called "Cafeteria Catholics." Then I realized I had better things to do. Just when you think that you're the biggest slave to the Magisterium someone comes along and points out an error in your position. Oh well, there will always be a someone that is a "better" Catholic than I.

 

[Da_Funkey_Gibbon]

Eh, I used to wring my hands about the so-called "Cafeteria Catholics." Then I realized I had better things to do. Just when you think that you're the biggest slave to the Magisterium someone comes along and points out an error in your position. Oh well, there will always be a someone that is a "better" Catholic than I.

In an ideal world, we could leave the Magisterium to the theologians.