Guidelines on Excommunication Why should I get excommunicated? Three good reasons. <> Although the Pope and the priesthood or the televangelists may talk about 'cherishing' or 'adoring' women, what they mean is a master's appreciation of an obedient and docile servant. They do not believe that women are the equals of men. The Roman Catholic church funds lobbyists and works for anti-woman legislation around the world. The Roman Catholics and the Mormons were the primary sources of the funds and lobbying which helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States. Mormons are just as opposed to reproductive freedom for women as the Catholics, and also hold women in an inferior position. The Catholic church has crippled international development, especially in the neediest countries, by refusing to allow any form of birth control to be discussed. Ireland and other Catholic countries do the church's dirty work by blocking meetings unless all countries submit to Catholic doctrine in matters of birth control. Historically, christian churches have fostered wife abuse by promoting cultures where any marriage, no matter how bad, was better for a woman than living alone. <> In fact, it's worse than that, the proper description of the position of many churches is 'pro-natalist'. Any form of sexual behaviour that doesn't raise the birth rate is forbidden. Sex as an expression of love and sexual activity for simple pleasure are prohibited or subordinated to the production of little christians. Even within marriage the loving exchange of pleasure is a sin, unless conception is a risk. The Roman Catholic church will also refuse to marry couples if the union cannot be fertile, which has caused untold anguish to couples wherein one partner was handicapped or otherwise infertile. Through the ages, of course, men have had little trouble getting their pleasure from sex. The burden of this policy falls on women, whose bodies and health are destroyed by endless childbearing. Homosexuality is completely prohibited and is condemned with unusually intense loathing and disgust. (Although priestly paedophilia was very lightly punished, if at all, until recently.) The churches have rarely objected to any punishments, up to and including death, which a society has wished to impose on homosexuals, quite the opposite. Even if some liberal congregations or denominations have recently changed their policies, they are ignoring the words of their founding document, which are quite clear in their homophobia, pro-natalism and misogyny. <> Americans, Canadians and others from secular or otherwise non-Catholic countries may refuse to believe this. However, like every religion, the Catholic church, when it is in a minority position, is all in favour of tolerance and democracy. However, when it is in control, as in Ireland or Poland, it shows its true colours. The church is much more comfortable with authoritarian right-wing governments and has historically allied itself with them. If the people in 'Catholic' countries who do not accept the homophobic, misogynistic and intolerant doctrines of Catholicism would take the step of leaving the church, especially in a positive direction towards humanism, the church's power to do harm would be greatly lessened. Historically, the church saw Mussolini and Hitler as bulwarks against atheistic communism and actively supported Spanish Fascist dictator Franco in the rebellion against the legitimately elected republican government. Hitler, although a Catholic, never committed a grave enough sin to merit excommunication. Such an action on the church's part might have saved millions of lives. The Mormons have allowed agents of the American government to disguise themselves as missionaries in order to carry out clandestine activities in host countries. If you are a member of a Protestant denomination, consider its history. For instance, the 'Southern' denominations (Southern Baptists, Southern Methodists, etc.), were founded in order to continue excluding blacks from membership. I don't accept my church's position on birth control, or on abortion, I don't believe in the prayers, the miracles or the theology, and I haven't been to church in ages except for weddings and funerals. I am really no longer a christian. I don't want to be counted as a member of this church. How do I get excommunicated? For most protestant denominations and many cults, such as the Mormons, you simply have to write a letter to the congregation where you were baptised as a child. Ask them to remove your name from the records of the church. Tell them when you were baptised, and that you are no longer a christian, and do not want to be counted as one. Ask to receive a written response. The Roman Catholic church apparently does not excommunicate its members as 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, 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 important, 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. (This last point also applies to all churches. As long as politicians, judges, and police perceive that the vast majority of people are church-going christians, they will pass laws, enforce laws, and rule on laws that are biased in that direction. In order to have a secular society, we must first let them know that we exist.) If you were ever baptised a Roman Catholic, and have not been excommunicated, you are still counted as a member. If you do not wish to contribute to the power of the Roman Catholic church, you should get yourself excommunicated. As of 1983 there are nine canons under which excommunication can take place. Five of them only apply to priests or bishops. One of the others is physically attacking the pope, and criminal acts can hardly be recommended, and, in any case, does not result in automatic excommunication. Another is 'violation of sacred species', normally called desecrating a consecrated host. It is hard to imagine doing this without committing a criminal act and it would certainly deeply offend almost everybody. Next to last is 'procuring of abortion'. Excommunication for this is supposed to be automatic, but it only applies to the doctor and the woman involved. I am told the church does not seek out such cases. In any case one would hardly choose to have or perform an abortion solely for the sake of excommunication. However, any nominally Catholic doctor (or Mormon, and probably others) who is performing abortions, could inform the church that he or she is doing so, unrepentantly, and receive an excommunication that way. For Roman Catholics, this leaves canon 1364, section 1 'Apostasy, heresy, or schism'. This involves automatic excommunication, if you can convince the church that it applies to you. The most common usage of this canon is when a former Catholic embraces another religion. Obviously, if you are now a Muslim, a Mormon, a Buddhist or a Jehovah's Witness, you are automatically no longer a Catholic. It is your task to convince the church that you, as an atheistic secular humanist, are in the same 'non-Catholic' category as a Muslim or Buddhist. In your favour is a nineteenth century ruling which stated that 'those who make a public renunciation of all religion may be subsumed under this category [apostates].' You will need to write a letter to your current parish or your birth parish. It should include the necessary information to meet all of the criteria for deserving to be excommunicated as listed below. <> 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 cite actions you have taken, such as: letters written, demonstrations attended, meetings attended, magazine subscriptions, etc. * 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 pig-headed. 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 offence. * 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. In your letter, make them aware of this by telling them the parish where you were baptised and the date. * They have a duty to other Roman Catholics. Your mental state is something that no one knows except you. You are the only expert on your own non- religious status. They have a duty to inform other Roman Catholics about this change in you so that they do not mishandle their dealings with you. In terms of marriage, communion, death and so on, you should be treated as a non-Catholic. If they fail to do this, they are not dealing fairly with the Catholics in their charge. Write a letter today and send it in to your local parish or your parish of birth. This may only get things started. Be prepared to continue for a long time. Remember: each person who does this makes it easier for the next person. The information in the above, as it applies to Catholicism is straight from the Catholic Encyclopedia and the New Catholic Encyclopedia. Points involving practical steps and post Vatican II, practices were verified with a professor of canon law. What follows is a general rant about rejecting religion. If your church interviews you, (many will wish to send a couple of people over to pray with you about your decision) it may provide you with some things to say: I am an atheist. I hereby renounce all the trappings of religion. I renounce all blessings, benefits, graces, sanctification, and advantages supposedly conferred on me by any religion or by any religious act done by me or on my behalf in the past, present or future. I condemn as monstrous the idea of original sin, and renounce any baptism done on my behalf to wash it away. I reject as ridiculous the idea of an atoning sacrifice and spurn its presumed benefits. I do not believe that any god, supernatural realm or afterlife exists, and will not act as if they did. I do not believe that any book, building, place, person, thing or action is holy and will not pretend that they are. I do not think that praying is anything more than talking to oneself and will not make believe that it is. I do not believe that any person is more sanctified than any other, or that any human being should be elevated above another in any way, due to ancestry, race, gender, occupation, belief or for any other reason and will not feign that I do. As a principled person and a rational being, it pains me that someone, somewhere may be counting me as an adherent of an irrational superstition which has done and is doing irreparable harm to humanity and with which I profoundly disagree. Please remove my name from the records of the church, and record that I am no longer a member. Please send me confirmation of this action. Please do this as soon as possible. General contumacious blasphemous thoughts to help you get in the right frame of mind: Blasphemy is a victimless crime. * indulge extra during lent. * attend blasphemous plays and movies. * buy The Satanic Verses. * laugh at sacred things. * unsettle the faith of anyone you can. * break food taboos. * foster reason, critical thinking and self-esteem in children. * promote the taxation of churches. * promote feminism and access to abortion and contraception. * promote separation of church and state. * fight creationism and coercive religion in public life. * promote human rights for all. * eliminate blasphemy from the criminal code. * avoid charities that waste money on religious indoctrination. * study real biblical criticism and actual ancient history. * study clear thinking. * Read books by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Marvin Harris, Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Robert Ingersoll, and many more. * Subscribe to Freethought Today, Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, Humanist in Canada, The Humanist, and many more, (see Atheism resources FAQ). /*******************************************************/ Hello mathew! hail great alt.atheist.moderated moderator! I believe you have seen the earlier version of this, and its aftermath as it echoes throughout the different boards. For some reason, nearly all the commentary focused on one small point, where I said "Have a ham and cheese," and "have a beefburger," and degenerated from there into a discussion of animal rights. Nobody objected to the "have a beer," instructions, however. As a former Mormon, and previous to that, a former Vedantin. I found having a cup of coffee, a beer and a tuna sandwich quite exhilarating, in their time. A former professor of mine told me that during the 30s, Jewish communists used to have a ham and cheese on Yom Kippur, to emphasize their freedom from superstition. I can imagine that a Hindu or Muslim who feels free from the superstitions of their birth, would feel the same joy, having a beer and some pork rinds at a Sunday match. That was the spirit I was trying to evoke. Anyway, as those simple phrases caused so much trouble, I have substituted the less interesting, but hopefully, less controversial, "violate food taboos." I hope you enjoy this, and consider it for posting again. Its message is as valid today, as it was a month ago. I now know of two people who have said they would get excommunicated as a result of this article. One person has gotten excommunicated from the Lutherans, as a result of its appearance in print, in the Secular Humanist Bulletin (CODESH membership newsletter). I am an excommunicated Mormon and soon to be excommunciated Methodist. I will help anyone who needs further information about getting excommunicated from a given sect, you may include my address: ai815@freenet.carleton.ca (Greg Erwin). I also like to hear of anyone's success at getting excommunicated. I am president of the Humanist Association of Ottawa and a member of the executive of the Humanist Association of Canada. -- A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the universe, and that is how you can tell whether it is or is not a fact. Robt Ingersoll / Atheists are unbelievable!