Rosa Mystica Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Hi all, This question is aimed primarily at the ex-Catholics here, but all are free to respond. My question is: has anyone requested an "official" excommunication from a bishop. And if you haven't, would you? What reasons would you give for your decision? In my case, I think it's dumb to get "officially" excommunicated. Why should I give my former church any more control? I don't need some nitwit bishop's official written statement to ensure that I'm *really* out. I know that apostasy makes you automatically excommunicated in Catholicism, but I've heard things that contradict this. Like, for example, that a person must get married in a Catholic Church unless their excommunication from it is in writing (can't remember where I heard this). Of course, none of this matters, b/c it really goes back to giving power to an institution that doesn't deserve it in the first place. Looking forward to the responses. Rosa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 This question is aimed primarily at the ex-Catholics here, but all are free to respond. My question is: has anyone requested an "official" excommunication from a bishop. And if you haven't, would you? What reasons would you give for your decision?I asked for an excommunication years ago. The pope never answered. How rude!In my case, I think it's dumb to get "officially" excommunicated. Why should I give my former church any more control?They had no control to begin with. The only reason was to let them know that some people are not stupid enough to fall for their BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa Mystica Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 I asked for an excommunication years ago. The pope never answered. How rude! What compelled you to do it, if I may ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Hi all, This question is aimed primarily at the ex-CatholicsRosa Well, I am an excatholic of over 40 years a believer. No, I wouldn't do it. I hated the fuckin lie of going to confession,vowing to be sorry, and comitting the same human shit over and over. Finally I said fuck it. I'll go to mass xmas,probably receive out of social constraint, and go back to my newfound godless life because thats the real me. Not what some institution tells me to be. I'll never confess again as far as I can tell. Yes, I struggle but end up saying fuck to all religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Hi all, This question is aimed primarily at the ex-CatholicsRosa Well, I am an excatholic of over 40 years a believer. No, I wouldn't do it. I hated the fuckin lie of going to confession,vowing to be sorry, and comitting the same human shit over and over. Finally I said fuck it. I'll go to mass xmas,probably receive out of social constraint, and go back to my newfound godless life because thats the real me. Not what some institution tells me to be. I'll never confess again as far as I can tell. Yes, I struggle but end up saying fuck to all religion. Oh! I guess by my actions I am a mortal sinner or excommunicated "unoffically!" My response is so what after a lifetime of unanswered prayers and feeling absolutely no devine intervention or god's presence. I receive in a state of mortal sin and forget it! Guess what? The kids still fight, I clean out the fuckin litter box and go to work like always without the baggage of guilt or pretending to be someone I am not. I've finally lived my repressed antireligious feelings and have finally been true to myself. Good luck Rose on your journey. I speak soley for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I don't know if I will or not in the future, but right now I have more important things to worry about. Big Momma Church never really had any power over me, so demanding an official excommunication would only have aesthetic and symbolic worth. I would only do it if it amused me enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulQ Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 For some people, getting ex-communicated from the church is their way of thumbing their nose at the church and saying, "Eff you." Therefore, I think ex-communication is more of a statement to the church than it is anything else for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearview Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I'd do it if they would issue me a cool certificate. It would be nice to have that certificate to show when various family members claim that I am going to heaven anyways, as I had my Confirmation as a teen. I could be like, "Nuh-uh, I'm going to hell, see??" and whip it out. I'd have it matted and framed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I asked for an excommunication years ago. The pope never answered. How rude!What compelled you to do it, if I may ask?Shock value. Fun. I didn't think that anything would come of it. Don't forget, if you were ever baptized in an RC church, you are counted, forever, as a catholic - unless you're excommunicated. That's how they get such a high membership number. Many that were baptized as babies and are no longer a member of any church are still counted on their rolls. I wanted to make that number one less. According to Wikipedia that was 1,098,366,000 in 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I requested a formal ex-communication from the Archbishop in my diocese last year. I received a letter from his assistant that I had been removed from the rolls of the church. (I posted that here, and you might be able to google it.) For me, it was a writ of manumission. It wasn't so much to flip off the church. For my recovery I needed tangible proof that my ties to Christianity were severed. I have not followed up and had my baptismal record expunged yet. I haven't had time, having gotten married this year. BTW, once excommunicated for the reason I requested, the only way back in is to receive absolution from the Pope. (*Shiver* Like I would ever go to the Vatican. I'd feel like I was walking into the heart of the Evil Empiretm.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 This question is aimed primarily at the ex-Catholics here, but all are free to respond. My question is: has anyone requested an "official" excommunication from a bishop. I turned as official as one can get as a German Lutheran - signed the document confirming that I'm effectively leaving the church. Cost me some 25 bucks if memory serves. On the other hand I pay 22 bucks / month less now (church tax, yeah you heard that right, church tax in a nation with official free choice of religion...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I have a different perspective from most of the replies: we have bullshit thrown at us all our lives. Massive, major league bullshit is constantly hurled at us, and that doesn't change just because we start to use our minds, identify the bullshit, and come to rational conclusions. We don't have control over what others, or the church does, only ourselves. So why lend credence to their bullshit by asking to be kicked out? Quit, leaving of your own accord (like Thurisaz could do from the German Lutheran church), yes, absolutely. But if you can only be fired and not quit, it seems like requesting an evaluation of whether you meet their criteria to remain in the church in a way relinquishes control back to them and shifts the "blame" from the church to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Well, the Lutheran church speaks of excommunication in their precious little Catechism written by their holy-as-fuck anti-Semitic founder. We were taught about it in confirmation class. You basically have to seriously fuck up and the congregation as a whole rejects you. Note that this is dependable on the exact specifics on any particular case. If, for example, you're a young college student that makes the grave mistake of announcing at church services that it is entirely possible that God could be a woman, and then refuse to renouce that position, you are excommunication material. If on the other hand, you're a high-up in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod body who owns millions in publishing and dogma-stating empires and you happen to get caught eating out a stripper, well, your church, knowing your inherent holiness and true piety, will boldly stand behind you, and denouce those 23 filthy liars and perverts, driven by Satan, who for evil intentions claimed to have witnessed the event firsthand (this includes the Satanic videocamera that caught the scene on tape). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 It would be nice to have that certificate to show when various family members claim that I am going to heaven anyways, as I had my Confirmation as a teen. I could be like, "Nuh-uh, I'm going to hell, see??" and whip it out. As a side note, I didn't get a "certificate", but did ge ta letter from the Archbishop's assistant informing me that my decision was honored and that I would have to make a separate request to have my baptismal record expunged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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