NationStates Jolt Archive

Mmkay. Bear with me.

My dad was born and raised Muslim over in Burma/Myanmar. He moved here to the U.S. in the 80's and met my mom. My mom was born and raised Catholic. They married and had me by 1990.

So, as far as I can tell from the bits of the history of my mom and dad, mom quit practicing Catholicism for dad and I was raised Muslim. Muslim beliefs and everything. I grew and now I have actual faith to go with my beliefs, something I didn't have before.

But mom never really officially converted to Islam in the first place. I think she just did it to please dad or something. I think she regrets that. Anyway...I also recently found out that in Catholicism, if the mother is Catholic than the baby is Catholic.

My question is this. I hold Islamic beliefs and everything. Yet apparently I'm...Catholic? :confused:

Now I know the entire concept of free-will and of course I can choose to be whatever religon I damn well want to be. But I'm just curious as to what was I born as? A technical Catholic or a faithful Muslim? Or an Islamic Christian? :eek:

Either way I'm not going to kill myself...as any good person goes to heaven IMO.

Mmkay. Bear with me.

My dad was born and raised Muslim over in Burma/Myanmar. He moved here to the U.S. in the 80's and met my mom. My mom was born and raised Catholic. They married and had me by 1990.

So, as far as I can tell from the bits of the history of my mom and dad, mom quit practicing Catholicism for dad and I was raised Muslim. Muslim beliefs and everything. I grew and now I have actual faith to go with my beliefs, something I didn't have before.

But mom never really officially converted to Islam in the first place. I think she just did it to please dad or something. I think she regrets that. Anyway...I also recently found out that in Catholicism, if the mother is Catholic than the baby is Catholic.

My question is this. I hold Islamic beliefs and everything. Yet apparently I'm...Catholic? :confused:

Now I know the entire concept of free-will and of course I can choose to be whatever religon I damn well want to be. But I'm just curious as to what was I born as? A technical Catholic or a faithful Muslim? Or an Islamic Christian? :eek:

Either way I'm not going to kill myself...as any good person goes to heaven IMO.


Dear god, I never would have thunk it. You? A muslim? But yeah, you're a muslim. It would be a different distinction if you were Jewish and became a christian. Then you'd be a Messianic Jew. Anyways, god, I never knew that about you, and here I thought you might be a christian! Wow, I'm shocked.

You are not Catholic unless you were baptised. No way.

You are not Catholic unless you were baptised. No way.
Isn't that just extra and not really nessecary?

Isn't that just extra and not really nessecary?
No no! Thats QUITE necessary :D

Isn't that just extra and not really nessecary?

It's one of the 7 sacraments, and it is required to be Catholic. See here (http://www.catholic.com/library/Necessity_of_Baptism.asp)
Actually, it is only the first step in becoming a full Catholic. The next two, First Communion and Confirmation are required as well if you want to be a full member of the Roman Catholic church.

if you want to be a full member of the Roman Catholic church.

...why? i never figured that out... :rolleyes: :p

It's one of the 7 sacraments, and it is required to be Catholic. See here (http://www.catholic.com/library/Necessity_of_Baptism.asp)
Actually, it is only the first step in becoming a full Catholic. The next two, First Communion and Confirmation are required as well if you want to be a full member of the Roman Catholic church.
:eek:

Aside from all that....:D...I'm mainly referring to the whole "If the mother is Catholic the son is Catholic" thing. Is it true in the first place?

...why? i never figured that out... :rolleyes: :p

Holy Baptism holds the first place among the sacraments, because it is the door of the spiritual life; for by it we are made members of Christ and incorporated with the Church. And since through the first man death entered into all, unless we be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, we can not enter into the kingdom of Heaven, as Truth Himself has told us.

If you really, REALLY want to know it, check the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm) . But it's a loooong read...

:eek:

Aside from all that....:D...I'm mainly referring to the whole "If the mother is Catholic the son is Catholic" thing. Is it true in the first place?

For all I know, Catholics are held to raise their children Catholic, of course. But that would mean baptising them and teaching them about the faith.
No, you cannot be born Catholic, that's simply not possible. You become Catholic when you are being baptised...

For all I know, Catholics are held to raise their children Catholic, of course. But that would mean baptising them and teaching them about the faith.
No, you cannot be born Catholic, that's simply not possible. You become Catholic when you are being baptised...
Mum had the wrong idea then. Go figure.


Mmkay. Though you WERE the only one that actually gave me the whole baptising thing as a reason. Preferably I'd like at least a few more people to say SOMETHING.

If you really, REALLY want to know it, check the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm) . But it's a loooong read...

I meant 'why would any one want to become one!? ' :D

I meant 'why would any one want to become one!? ' :D

*lol... Don't know. Nobody asked me, I was 3 months old at the time. But I kind of like being Catholic; at least I can actively work against the pope :D

Mmkay. Though you WERE the only one that actually gave me the whole baptising thing as a reason. Preferably I'd like at least a few more people to say SOMETHING.

Nothing more needs to be said. You cannot be born a Catholic. You must be baptised and believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in order to qualify as a Catholic.

Nothing more needs to be said. You cannot be born a Catholic. You must be baptised and believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in order to qualify as a Catholic.
Ahh. There's the definate thing. I don't believe Jesus as the son of God, but rather the prophet of. Alrightie.

Nothing more needs to be said. You cannot be born a Catholic. You must be baptised and believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in order to qualify as a Catholic.

as the son of god and as god himself. in a way, he's his own father.... weird :confused:

Ahh. There's the definate thing. I don't believe Jesus as the son of God, but rather the prophet of. Alrightie.

And to top it all off, He was Jewish
:eek: :D

A belief system (I'm not fond of the word 'religion'... it smacks of big-haired, two-faced televangelists) is not something you are born with. It is something that you must understand and practice (whether you adopted it conciously or had it ingrained in you by your up-bringing.)

At any rate, maybe your mom wasn't quite happy with the choice she made (to not fight your dad regarding what faith you would be brought up as) and made up this little private 'white lie' to assuage her feelings of unease. Kind of like, "He's being raised as a Muslim, but he was born a Catholic, so it's all right." We all do that kind of thing, though we don't usually realize that's what we're doing.

Ahh. There's the definate thing. I don't believe Jesus as the son of God, but rather the prophet of

Well there you go, you're a Muslim. End of story.



as the son of god and as god himself. in a way, he's his own father

Welcome to one of the biggest theological quandries that still rages to this day...

Mmkay. Bear with me.

My dad was born and raised Muslim over in Burma/Myanmar. He moved here to the U.S. in the 80's and met my mom. My mom was born and raised Catholic. They married and had me by 1990.

So, as far as I can tell from the bits of the history of my mom and dad, mom quit practicing Catholicism for dad and I was raised Muslim. Muslim beliefs and everything. I grew and now I have actual faith to go with my beliefs, something I didn't have before.

But mom never really officially converted to Islam in the first place. I think she just did it to please dad or something. I think she regrets that. Anyway...I also recently found out that in Catholicism, if the mother is Catholic than the baby is Catholic.

My question is this. I hold Islamic beliefs and everything. Yet apparently I'm...Catholic? :confused:

Now I know the entire concept of free-will and of course I can choose to be whatever religon I damn well want to be. But I'm just curious as to what was I born as? A technical Catholic or a faithful Muslim? Or an Islamic Christian? :eek:

Either way I'm not going to kill myself...as any good person goes to heaven IMO.

Quite a paradox. Id say you are a Muslim, since you hold faith in islam, you do not believe that if a catholic mother gives birth to a child, the child is catholic. so, you are technically muslim. And im athiest, so dont think im saying this to strengthen either faith.

Eh, lemme put it this way. The Catholic Church is kinda like the Mafia with some people. Some think that if a member of your family is in it, you're all in it, and if you're born into it, you're a member for life. However, 'round your sophomore/junior year of high school, you go through Confirmation (at least my church did), and you decide whether to be Catholic or not. I rather vehemently chose not to. So, m'thinks that if you're 1)Not baptised (I think you said you're not), 2)haven't gone through First Communion (no idea on that one with you, but I'm guessing not), and 3) you're not, or at least never will be, Confirmed, then I'm pretty sure the Church won't count you Catholic.

You are what you wish to be. You might want check out Lutherans, though. I was raised Lutheran - the only things you need are a beer-fridge and a Bass-boat.

Mum had the wrong idea then. Go figure.

Possibly she was thinking of Orthodox Judaism for some reason, where this rule of matrilineal descent determining religious status does apply.

I would say what you believe is what you are. Aside from being born Jewish, I don't know of any other religion that you are born into. And really, you aren't born Jewish religiously, you are bore Jewish ethnically. If you follow Islam, your Muslim.

Membership in the Catholic church comes in stages. First you must be baptized, which cleanses one from original sin. Second you must begin confessing and atoning for your sins. That makes you eligible for the third step, communion, where you participate fully in the mass by eating the wafer which is spiritually transsubstanciated into the flesh of christ. Thus you reenact and participate in the last supper with Jesus and his original disciples. Finally you must be confirmed. Your knowledge of the faith is tested, you are annointed and given a new name in the Catholic church. Typically you choose a name based on a saint who's qualities you admire and aspire to mimic. Now you are considered a full member of the Catholic church.

You can't simply be born Catholic, there's a long and rather complicated initiation.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the muslims believe that everyone is born a muslim, and, for example, christian parents can only convert the baby to christianity? If I'm right, don't the religions kind of cancel eachother out? You were born a catholic because you were born to a catholic mother, but you were also born a muslim because you were born in general. Maybe you're an agnostic?

Membership in the Catholic church comes in stages. First you must be baptized, which cleanses one from original sin. Second you must begin confessing and atoning for your sins. That makes you eligible for the third step, communion, where you participate fully in the mass by eating the wafer which is spiritually transsubstanciated into the flesh of christ. Thus you reenact and participate in the last supper with Jesus and his original disciples. Finally you must be confirmed. Your knowledge of the faith is tested, you are annointed and given a new name in the Catholic church. Typically you choose a name based on a saint who's qualities you admire and aspire to mimic. Now you are considered a full member of the Catholic church.

You can't simply be born Catholic, there's a long and rather complicated initiation.


A new name??? :confused:
I'm as Catholic as they come, but nobody I ever heard of got a new name on confirmation.
You can choose a new name when entering a convent or monastery, but otherwise you stick to the one you got when you were baptised...

burmese muslims must be on the endangered species list.....

No worries, Colodia. You're as Muslim as you want to be.

All is well with Allah.

A new name??? :confused:
I'm as Catholic as they come, but nobody I ever heard of got a new name on confirmation.
You can choose a new name when entering a convent or monastery, but otherwise you stick to the one you got when you were baptised...
you didnt get a confirmation name?

not that you use that name instead of your usual one but you still choose it.

As Duke Nukem would say; Let God sort them out!

Mmkay. Bear with me.

My dad was born and raised Muslim over in Burma/Myanmar. He moved here to the U.S. in the 80's and met my mom. My mom was born and raised Catholic. They married and had me by 1990.

So, as far as I can tell from the bits of the history of my mom and dad, mom quit practicing Catholicism for dad and I was raised Muslim. Muslim beliefs and everything. I grew and now I have actual faith to go with my beliefs, something I didn't have before.

But mom never really officially converted to Islam in the first place. I think she just did it to please dad or something. I think she regrets that. Anyway...I also recently found out that in Catholicism, if the mother is Catholic than the baby is Catholic.

My question is this. I hold Islamic beliefs and everything. Yet apparently I'm...Catholic? :confused:

Now I know the entire concept of free-will and of course I can choose to be whatever religon I damn well want to be. But I'm just curious as to what was I born as? A technical Catholic or a faithful Muslim? Or an Islamic Christian? :eek:

Either way I'm not going to kill myself...as any good person goes to heaven IMO.

You are never born a certain religion. If you were not baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby, you are not Catholic. You were raised a Muslim ergo you are a Muslim unless you have renounced your faith.

Isn't that just extra and not really nessecary?

Not in the Roman Catholic Church.

:eek:

Aside from all that....:D...I'm mainly referring to the whole "If the mother is Catholic the son is Catholic" thing. Is it true in the first place?

If one parent is Catholic the Church expects the child to be brought up Catholic. The Catholic parent has an obligation to raise the child in the Church.

A new name??? :confused:
I'm as Catholic as they come, but nobody I ever heard of got a new name on confirmation.
You can choose a new name when entering a convent or monastery, but otherwise you stick to the one you got when you were baptised...

When you are confirmed you choose a name. I chose Michael, so as far as the church is concerned my name is my first name, my middle name, Michael, my last name. You don't change your name in Confirmation, you add one.

...why? i never figured that out... :rolleyes: :p

Look at it this way:
Sure, Jews have it easy, since they don't believe in Hell. But they get a lot of persecution and can't eat pork.

Buddism is a path toward enlightenment, but doesn't have anything to do with salvation of the soul; only the realization of true reality.

Shinto is kind of a naturalist anti-soul religion, since it deals with fitting into this world and not preparing for the next.

Jainism (though unrelated to Shinto) takes it's naturalistic views to an extreme.

Zoroastrianism is basically a moralistic monotheism, and is not terribly far removed from Christianity in many ways.


However, Catholics get to eat bacon, and are forgiven for everything if they just ask for it and do the penance. :)


...everything else is an offshoot of one of the above, or less than 2000 years old and therefore a cult. :D
(Naturalism has been around since time out of mind, (including the resurgence with modern Wicca), but there isn't a single group which survived more than a few generations.)

A new name??? :confused:
I'm as Catholic as they come, but nobody I ever heard of got a new name on confirmation.
You can choose a new name when entering a convent or monastery, but otherwise you stick to the one you got when you were baptised...
You didn't pick a confirmation name? Everyone in my church did. My folks who were catholics from Italy did. It's not an official legal name, but yeah, it's your name in the faith.