pedanterrific comments on Find yourself a Worthy Opponent: a Chavruta - Less Wrong

33 Post author: Raw_Power 06 July 2011 10:59AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (74)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: pedanterrific 09 October 2011 02:57:45AM 2 points [-]

I wouldn't be so weirded out if that were the case, I can understand that. The problem is that it isn't being used as a cultural signifier - he never goes to Mass, none of his friends are Catholic and he didn't raise me to be Catholic. (It occurs to me to mention at this point that the person in question is my father.)

My 'atheist coming-out' was a deeply strange conversation, not least because I wasn't aware I had been in a closet.

Comment author: Michelle_Z 25 November 2011 09:29:30PM *  1 point [-]

Reminds me a bit of my father. My dad has basically said that he doesn't think there is anything after death, and that what you do in life does not matter- so long as you do not 'get caught.' While I cringe at his lack of morals, I do question why he considers himself Catholic. He does not go to church, does not pray, and holds the church in contempt.

I can see that it is not a cultural signifier, so my idea is that he fears creating any problems within the family. Other people in the family might outright ostracize him for openly stating his beliefs without the mandatory "but I'm a Catholic!" added in at the end. Perhaps it is a similar situation? I can't actually say, since I do not know your father. It's simply a stab in the dark.