Cafeteria Christianity
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Another term used for "lightweight" adherents is "C and E Christian" or "Christer" (portmanteau of Christmas and Easter). That implies they only pay attention to [[Christmas]] and [[Easter]]. Those of course are holidays that pay off in presents and chocolate bunnies. | Another term used for "lightweight" adherents is "C and E Christian" or "Christer" (portmanteau of Christmas and Easter). That implies they only pay attention to [[Christmas]] and [[Easter]]. Those of course are holidays that pay off in presents and chocolate bunnies. | ||
| − | Since "C of E" also refers to the [[Church of England]] (i.e. the [[Episcopalian]]s), this fact gives people the chance to make humorous puns about supposed worldliness and lack of devoutness in Episcopalians. | + | Since "C of E" also refers to the [[Church of England]] (i.e. the [[Episcopalian]]s), this fact gives people the chance to make humorous puns about supposed worldliness and lack of devoutness in some Episcopalians. Note: Committed members of the Church of England tend to call themselves Anglicans rather than "C of E". |
== Catholicism == | == Catholicism == | ||
Revision as of 19:36, 26 August 2012
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“”Have you ever sat down and read this thing? Technically we're not allowed to go to the bathroom.
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| —Reverend Lovejoy, The Simpsons |
“”You get cafeteria Christianity, a kind of shopping for ideas you approve of. They turned out to be right for the wrong reasons, because I think that once you admit that there are in scripture large sections that by our standards are not just inappropriate but scarcely moral - such as the justification of slavery.
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| — [1] |
The phrase "cafeteria Christian" is a snarl word that can be applied to most followers of Christianity in ordinary society. It implies that the person in question selects which of the principles of Christianity they intend to adhere to and assembles their beliefs from what is available, rather than letting the leaders of one particular denomination select their teachings for them. The purpose of the term is to imply a casual support of the faith, without any genuine identification with its principles. It can be argued that cafeteria Christianity is not only commonplace, but actually required in order for the believer to remain a functional member of society, as opposed to fundamentalists like Jack Chick, who are obviously so paranoid and delirious that they cannot function in the real world. Even most "fundamentalists", though, might get into an uproar about some Bible-approved ways of having fun. [2]....
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C and E Christian
Another term used for "lightweight" adherents is "C and E Christian" or "Christer" (portmanteau of Christmas and Easter). That implies they only pay attention to Christmas and Easter. Those of course are holidays that pay off in presents and chocolate bunnies.
Since "C of E" also refers to the Church of England (i.e. the Episcopalians), this fact gives people the chance to make humorous puns about supposed worldliness and lack of devoutness in some Episcopalians. Note: Committed members of the Church of England tend to call themselves Anglicans rather than "C of E".
Catholicism
The original title of this article was "Cafeteria Catholic", which makes the choice of following or abandoning doctrine clearer, since the Roman Catholic Church has clear-cut rules for its followers. "Cafeteria Catholics" are "Catholics in name only", and ignore any aspects of Church doctrine that inconvenience them (such as proscriptions against birth control).
- Supporters see Cafeteria Catholic as intelligent people who refuse to follow unreasonable dogma blindly.
- Opponents believe Cafeteria Catholic are usually ignorant about supposed truths revealed by god and want to rationalise a sinful lifestyle. [3]
An alternate, Catholic-specific term to "C and E Christians" is "Lily and Holly Catholics," where the lily refers to Easter and the holly to Christmas.
Committed cafeteria Christian
Other cafeteria Christians may be quite committed but they are committed to their own idiosyncratic type of Christianity. Reincarnation and/or material from some popular publications like The Da Vinci Code may be mixed with more standard Christian concepts for example. Passages from the Bible are quoted that support the distinctive viewpoint of the cafeteria Christian while other passages which contradict that viewpoint are ignored. Bible quotes may be unintentionally misleading because cafeteria Christians do not know enough Theology to understand the real meaning and context of scriptures they use. [4]
By contrast selective quoting and selective interpretation of scripture by those who have studied the theology of a denomination in depth is done in a more organised way and follows the Memeplex of that particular denomination.