I also still firmly believe in the whole "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," "Judge not, lest ye be judged," thing, for better or worse.

*tumbleweed blows by*
/snark

Hey, P&C, I know from my MeFi reading that a lot of us come from religious backgrounds and that the legacy of that pops up in unexpected ways. I'm honestly curious about what people have to say on this subject.

I refer to it as being a "recovering Catholic." Take the good, leave the bad...especially the guilt.

Confession is a cleansing process that I miss, which is why I spill my guts so often to friends, on my blog, wherever.

especially the guilt.

Guilt. That's a big one. Back in college, I had a picture of my baby sister on the wall of my dorm room. One night I went out on a serious debauch with a buncha people I had met at a pizza parlor. I was flying on about 11 different herbs and spices by three in the morning, and as I was passing the bowl with my companions of the evening, I decided to give one more hit a pass after looking at her picture out of a vague sense of 'would you want her living like this?' if that makes any sense. Not that I haven't indulged my base desires in the same way numerous times over since, but at the same time I've encountered religious devotion and it's move me in the same way bacchanalian revels have, in a way I can't deny.

I was raised passive-aggressive atheist. On the whole it was very helpful, as I never got the sense that my spirituality was out of my hands. Of course, I now read and think about things that would horrify my parents, but you takes your chances with open-minded kid-raisin'.

yeah i'm trying not to sound like a shithead but I had to just get that one little jab in. Sorry.

Whatever, Goddies. I'm so blase about spirituality I couldn't even handle being Unitarian for 2 years.

Love the costumes, though. The little white necktie goatee has its charms.

I was raised a devout catholic...did the whole alter boy thing, never missed a Sunday mass until my parents moved. My mother was religious but also a big sci-fi buff, and she never passed off any of that 6000 year earth stuff. On my own I stared reading Paul Davies, Daniel C. Dennett, Richard Dawkins and all of that crowd. It pretty much sealed the deal for me.

When the time comes I will read bible stories to my kids, right next to Aesops fables and Brothers Grimm (and Froggy and Toad now too). But it will be about the morals.

The thing I retain from the bible more than anything else is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

And I don't need a minister to call me a groom.

I was raised Catholic. The Basilian Fathers who ran my high school taught me to be a gentleman at all times. I still try to live by those standards. I was also impressed by the fact that they didn't tell us what to believe but led by example but that did make me intolerant of people who preach to others about how to behave.

These days I have no belief in any gods or greater powers.

Another former Catholic/current agnostic here. I retain a real fondness for a lot of the associated imagery and ritual of the mass -- Jim Carroll has a great line in one of his books or poems abot the poetic/imaginative power of Catholic symbolism and ritual, even for recovering Catholics.

I, too, always say "hello Father/Sister" if I cross paths with a priest or nun, though that's more of a rarity in L.A. than it was in Chicago.

I remember a Catholic Worker-ish priest once telling me that the parable of the loaves and the fishes was about the redistrubution of wealth, not about conjuring food out of thin air -- "the Lord is not a two-bit magician!" I certainly can't completely trace my socialist politics to that comment, but it did have an influence.

I do still believe in the concept of grace, though now it's not related to a specific deity/trinity/whatever.

Sorry, not Catholic, thank Allah (pbuhlol). We went to church for a few weeks when my dad went slightly crazy in the late 70s. It was Protestant and relatively mellow and the pastor (?) is still a person I would call on for advice today (self-admitted alcoholic, the definition of humility, and full of the kind of Christian love for God that makes me wonder sometime in the purest sense of the sword). I remember Sunday School now more intensely that I would have thought, so thanks for posting this, jon. Other than that I was brought up to be a film maker, I suppose. (My grandfather was indeed the patriarch of the family. And of course, my own dad.) Artists can be much more pervese than priests. They are more imaginative. I suppose my church was the farm I grew up on and the pulpit was a Moviola.

er *word* -- that could be taken wrong. Crap. :-(

I was raised in a "seriously religious background" since my birth while my dad was still in seminary. He's always led more liberal-leaning protestant churches, so a lot of the more savory aspects of Christianity have informed my perspective. I believe in mercy and grace. I believe in justice and peace. I believe in love and tolerance. I believe in gentleness and forgiveness. I don't believe that my gay and Hindu friends will burn in hellfire for eternity.

I believe in some concept of God, and am honestly bewildered by those who despise the fact that I feel this way.

Oddly, though my dad is a pastor, the only time we prayed at home was around the dinner table, and the only time he talked about the bible was when I asked. When I go back home I go to church with them, but on my own I have no initiative to. In some ways, I do miss it.

Mom used to be a nun and dad became a deacon when I was a couple years old. Spent K-12 in Catholic school.

What did I take away from the Church? An intense anger at the institution for many of the reasons you list, jonmc. A lot of repressed guilt about my sexual orientation and gender identity.

On the more positive end, a fierce passion for social justice and admiration at the radicalness of Jesus' teachings. I'm currently involved in a rather intense project centering on nonviolence and direct action, and I find that there's a lot to learn from Jesus and his story.

for what it's worth, I too was raised catholic, only because my extended family is a bunch of mexican catholics. I never bought into it though, I always thought church was a waste of time.

I was raised Catholic too, jonmc. I went to catholic school and was an altar girl (I think NZ may have been a little more progressive than the USA??) Now I'm an atheist/agnostic, whatever.

What did I take away from Catholicism, apart from feeling vaguely guilty if I don't capitalize the word? Definitely the "judge not..." aspect, as well as "love your neighbour". Strangely enough, I never really got indoctrinated with the whole serious guilt bit. Of course, going to Jesuit school I also got taught how to think, (ie. not to believe that the earth was actually 4000 yo, or whatever) as well as the fact that a lot of the bible was just metaphor.

Despite the fact that I don't believe in god(s) I still love going to church for its rituals and suchlike, and I think prayer is a Good Thing, for its meditative qualities and reflection and all that.

I hate going to protestant christian churches though. Hippy dippy clappy holding hands stuff. I grew up on Latin Mass, yo.

Raised Catholic, allergic to church from earliest memory. Refused to be confirmed because I wasn't going to lie. Had my father tell me "his salvation may depend on my actions." Atheist since I understood the concept. I'm with gaspode, though, I like the Latin Mass/Ritual/Torah Readings kinda ceremonies for their theatricality. Also new agey hippy dippy pagan group breathing and chanting around a fire or whateverthehell for the same reasons. But I don't believe. Going farther, I act out of self interest and don't have a guilt reflex. I was a Catholic Mutant Baby! AAAhhGGH!!

Artists can be much more perverse than priests.

Cryptical, I know a person who grew up among artists and they are definitely as indoctrinated into those beliefs as any person that was raised in a very strict religion. You hit the nail on the head.

My parents are pretty traditionally Chinese and I took away from that appreciation for politeness, manners, and rituals. On the bad side, I was raised by people who basically communicated with you when they wanted to get something out of you, and never any time else. There are a few religious holidays that we were always careful to observe, and it was nice to have a few nights of peace and reverence each year, or something close, despite the manipulative dramas that went on otherwise.

It seemed as if ideals and beliefs could make even bad people good for a little while.