Affiliation

[Josh]

I think an affiliation should reflect where you feel comfortable going to church today, what denomination/group is closest to you.

I have noticed a lot of ethnic Mennonites still think of themselves as Mennonite in a way and describe themselves as "ex-Amish" or "ex-conservative Mennonite", etc. - I don't think describes an affiliation at all. Most people don't define themselves by "I am not this thing that I used to be". That is uniquely an ethnic Anabaptist thing to do.

[Neto]

I think an affiliation should reflect where you feel comfortable going to church today, what denomination/group is closest to you.

I have noticed a lot of ethnic Mennonites still think of themselves as Mennonite in a way and describe themselves as "ex-Amish" or "ex-conservative Mennonite", etc. - I don't think describes an affiliation at all. Most people don't define themselves by "I am not this thing that I used to be". That is uniquely an ethnic Anabaptist thing to do.

I had a friend in Bible college who emphasized that he was "ex-Lutheran", using the Greek word ek, 'out of'.

[Biblical Anabaptist]

I think an affiliation should reflect where you feel comfortable going to church today, what denomination/group is closest to you.

I have noticed a lot of ethnic Mennonites still think of themselves as Mennonite in a way and describe themselves as "ex-Amish" or "ex-conservative Mennonite", etc. - I don't think describes an affiliation at all. Most people don't define themselves by "I am not this thing that I used to be". That is uniquely an ethnic Anabaptist thing to do.

I agree that an affiliation should reflect where you are today, but I also believe those raised Mennonite or Amish retain fragments of the worldview in which they were raised no matter how hard they try to run away from it.

[Ken]

I think an affiliation should reflect where you feel comfortable going to church today, what denomination/group is closest to you.

I have noticed a lot of ethnic Mennonites still think of themselves as Mennonite in a way and describe themselves as "ex-Amish" or "ex-conservative Mennonite", etc. - I don't think describes an affiliation at all. Most people don't define themselves by "I am not this thing that I used to be". That is uniquely an ethnic Anabaptist thing to do.

Not really. I bet there are 100x more ex-Catholics out there than ex-Amish or ex-Mennonite.

My wife is ex-Catholic, but her world-view is still very much influenced by 12 years of Catholic school education followed by four years at a Catholic university and a youth and young-adulthood spent attending Catholic mass as well as the fact that her whole extended family and circle of friends is at least nominally Catholic. So every wedding, funeral, and high holiday like Christmas is always going to have a Catholic accent. You don’t shed all of that quite so easily.

[Josh]

I think an affiliation should reflect where you feel comfortable going to church today, what denomination/group is closest to you.

I have noticed a lot of ethnic Mennonites still think of themselves as Mennonite in a way and describe themselves as "ex-Amish" or "ex-conservative Mennonite", etc. - I don't think describes an affiliation at all. Most people don't define themselves by "I am not this thing that I used to be". That is uniquely an ethnic Anabaptist thing to do.

Not really. I bet there are 100x more ex-Catholics out there than ex-Amish or ex-Mennonite.

My wife is ex-Catholic, but her world-view is still very much influenced by 12 years of Catholic school education followed by four years at a Catholic university and a youth and young-adulthood spent attending Catholic mass as well as the fact that her whole extended family and circle of friends is at least nominally Catholic. So every wedding, funeral, and high holiday like Christmas is always going to have a Catholic accent. You don’t shed all of that quite so easily.

Yeah really. Lots of people were raised Catholic. I can count on one hand the number of people I've known who describe themselves as "ex-Catholic" (which is hundreds of people, I'd guess, out of the people I know) to the same degree people readily describe themselves as ex-Amish or ex-plain.

[Ken]

I guess you just don’t move in ex-Catholic circles then. Because it is exceedingly common and I hear people use the term all the time. People write books about it. For example, here is a Philadelphia Enquirer article about ex-Catholics: https://www.inquirer.com/news/independe ... 90422.html

The Roman Catholic Church is still the biggest religious institution in the United States — and the world, with about 1.3 billion adherents, according to the Vatican. But fewer and fewer Americans are identifying as Catholic. The clergy sex-abuse scandals, conversion to other faiths, and declining religiosity in general all play a role, according to polls. A Pew study found that between 2007 and 2014, the Catholic Church lost more members than any other religious institution, by a wide margin.

“If ex-Catholic was a religion, it’d be the third-largest in the United States,” said Julie Byrne, a professor of religion at Hofstra University whose book, The Other Catholics: Remaking America’s Largest Religion, explores independent catholicism.

[Josh]

I guess you just don’t move in ex-Catholic circles then. Because it is exceedingly common and I hear people use the term all the time. People write books about it. For example, here is a Philadelphia Enquirer article about ex-Catholics: https://www.inquirer.com/news/independe ... 90422.html

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. I've sometimes found out virtually every person in my workplace was ex-Catholic. None of them wore it like an identity.

[Soloist]

man... I might as well write ex-navy... I think this ex stuff is ridiculous and missing the point

[RZehr]

I’m an ex-school boy.

[MaxPC]

I guess you just don’t move in ex-Catholic circles then. Because it is exceedingly common and I hear people use the term all the time. People write books about it. For example, here is a Philadelphia Enquirer article about ex-Catholics: https://www.inquirer.com/news/independe ... 90422.html

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. I've sometimes found out virtually every person in my workplace was ex-Catholic. None of them wore it like an identity.

Indeed. The only time I see it used as an identity or when articles are written, is because of axe-grinding. They are making a political point, usually homosexuality and homosexual "unions" or abortion; both of which the Catholic Church at large condemns as immoral and abomination.