Religion fascinates me. And the terminology and practices do as well. Historical and theological reasons for those practices, whether something is tradition or dogma, the fact that so many know so little about whatever religion they practice - all of that fascinates me. I try to avoid discussion of religion in this forum (or anywhere for that matter) because it is a topic extremely personal to so many. HOWEVER, I've been thinking...
Isn't it funny that only a Catholic is ever considered "lapsed"? Even the definition of the word lapsed from the online Miriam-Webster dictionary uses "lapsed Catholic" as the example of the use of the word.
But the definition is not exclusive of other uses, so why have I never heard of a lapsed Lutheran? Or a lapsed Methodist? What about a lapsed Hindu? Lapsed Buddist? Muslim? Jew? Certainly I've never heard of a lapsed satanist. If someone doesn't believe in any sort of god whatsoever, and then he changes his mind, could he be called a lapsed atheist? If someone finally made a commitment one way or the other, would he be a lapsed agnostic?
And I've only ever heard of a Christian being "born again." When really that would be more fitting for a Hindu.
These are the things that go on in my head. Triggered by someone's simple use of "lapsed Catholic." Used to be, I would just think this stuff and go on about my day, but NOW I can subject you all to my inane rambling thoughts. And ask: What inane rambling thoughts do you have? And if you were a lapsed something, what would it be? I'm most definitely a lapsed worker-outer. And a lapsed healthy eater. I really need to fix that.
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Lapsed worker-outer applies to me too. What I NEED to be is a "Lasped Lazy Person". I guess I'll work on that later.
Number stuff runs through my head. If I see a phone number on a billboard my mind will start trying to rearrange the numbers into a pattern or adding them up to try and get to a whole number. It is the most annoying thing.
I am a lapsed frequent blogger and commenter! DAMN!
And I am QUEEN of the inane thought. Srsly.
This topic reminds me of an Anne Lamott quote:
"My friends like to tell each other that I am not really a born-again Christian. They think of me more along the lines of that old Jonathan Miller routine, where he said, "I'm not really a Jew -- I'm Jew-ish." They think I am Christian-ish. But I'm not. I'm just a bad Christian."
I am a lapsed exerciser. Again.
Some of my friends think I'm a lapsed lesbian...lol But not due to switching teams, just dating lapsed...lol But actually I am dating secretly...so as to not arouse any criticism of date choices.
I'm a lapsed fun person. I feel like I have so much going on and so much to do that I don't have time to be fun. Dammit, that makes me mad.
And I've only ever heard of a Christian being "born again." When really that would be more fitting for a Hindu.
Brilliant! Glad I could help to get the wheels turning for this one. Excellent observations!
hee, both my parents are lapsed catholics.
i'm a lapsed taking-care-of-my-hair-er. i haven't blown dry or styled my hair in MONTHS. sad.
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