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How
to get excommunicated
We
concentrate on the Roman Catholic Church because
it is one of the worst for inflating its numbers
by counting everyone who was ever baptized without
taking into account current attendance, and because
leaving membership in many fundamentalist and cultish
Christian groups is fairly easy. For instance, if
you are a Mormon, you can simply send a clearly
worded letter to your local Mormon bishop asking
to have your name erased from the membership records
of the church, and it shall be done.
The
Roman Catholic Church apparently does not excommunicate
its members easily. They say that the reason for
this is to leave the way open for reconciliation.
However, their thinking is based on irrational belief
and is motivated by fear, and they assume that you
are the same. They believe that you will react as
they do to the fear of death, and wish to deny reality
and embrace an illusion. Even more importantly,
by never giving up a member, the church is able
to claim millions as members, who do not accept
its doctrines, who never attend, who never contribute
money or time and who are, in fact, opposed to what
it stands for. This greatly enhances its power.
If you were ever baptized a Roman Catholic, and
have not been excommunicated, you are still being
counted. If you do not wish to contribute to the
power of the Roman Catholic church, you may want
to get yourself excommunicated.
The
Church's criteria for meriting excommunication The
church is patronizing to atheists. They can easily
recognize another superstition, but, being unfamiliar
with rationality, they have difficulty accepting
the decision to renounce all mumbo jumbo. They have,
however, officially established these criteria for
judging all cases of excommunication:
| You
must ACT. Mere thought is not enough. You should
be able to cite memberships in freethought and
humanist groups. You should be able to cite
actions you have taken, such as, letters written,
demonstrations attended, meetings attended,
magazine subscriptions, etc. As well as negative
actions, like not attending church, not giving
them any money, time or thought for years. |
| You
must be PERSISTENT. This must take place over
a long period of time. If at first you don't
succeed... Cite long commitment, and keep trying
and keep writing. |
| You
must be CONTUMACIOUS. As in: I am firm, you
are contumacious, he is pigheaded. Do not waver
or indicate any hesitation. It is not necessary
to be impolite, but do not be unclear in your
condemnation of Catholicism in order to avoid
offense. |
| You
must be AWARE that this involves excommunication.
For them, ignorance of canon law is an excuse.
State in your letter that you are aware of this,
that you know what the consequences are and
that this is what you wish to happen. |
| You
have to BE A ROMAN CATHOLIC. Obviously. |
http://infoweb.magi.com/~godfree/excom.html
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