Cafeteria Protestants, Jews and Catholics


I suppose there have always been cafeteria Protestants, Jews and Catholics. They are also referred to as Protestants (Catholics, Jews) "in name only." It seems like that makes all of them Pagans. Pagans had a different god in every town.

The link is about "cafeteria Jews." When one thinks about it, the Orthodox Jew seems to make bigger sacrifices to follow that branch of the faith than does most any branch of Catholics or Protestants. It's an all or nothing world. The lost Orthodox Jew has died in the eyes of her parents. 

The irony is the devout in any faith who hold their noses high and look down on others who are casual followers, the cafeteria group, are making a mistake. The devout should be grateful the cafeteria group stays in their group at all. 

At atheist gatherings people share their background in religion. Once the shine is off the faith, there is the choice to stay in and enjoy the friendships made over time as well as relatives and just participate in a few parts of it. I knew lots of people like that during my church life days and perhaps most continued in it for the rest of their lives. A few others, like me, left active church life. 

Of the millions of church members in all U. S. religions, several million must be "cafeteria" participants. The costs of being in a church, time and money, must be offset by something they enjoy or the leave. Devout critics of the cafeteria members need to keep the benefits high and the costs lower to hang or the decline will accelerate. 

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