Comments on: Non-Catholic

By: Adam Greenwood

Adam Greenwood — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:20:10 +0000

It’s context, I agree. When I’m moving in Catholic circles I often refer to myself as ‘non-Catholic.’

By: dai

dai — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:34:55 +0000

When I was studying modern Hebrew, I would often introduce myself not with the phrase “non-Jew” but by saying, “I’m not Jewish.” I also have said “I’m not a Hare Krisna” and “I’m not Catholic” with some regularity. The whole non-X construction is really odd, though.

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 02:58:21 +0000

Actually, I can think of at least two conversations in the last few months where I’ve specifically referred to myself as a non-Catholic.

By: RCH

RCH — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:08:10 +0000

I do refer to myself as a non-Catholic (I’m a bit of an RC junkie, so I have these conversations from time to time). I don’t *introduce* myself as such, lol, but in the context of talking about the Roman Catholic church, I clarify that I’m an outsider to the faith and that DH is an ex-Catholic of the E&C variety.

I don’t think I’ve ever had occasion to utter the phrase, “I’m a non-Jew.” But I bet my little sister has. She’s fascinated by Judaism in much the same way I am with Catholicism.

::Shrug::

By: Jeff Milner

Jeff Milner — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 19:35:24 +0000

It doesn’t seem that strange to me actually. It’s human nature to think and talk about the world in relation to one’s own organizations and beliefs.

Also to be more specific don’t Jews and Muslims refer to non-members of their faith as gentiles?

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 16:30:14 +0000

No. It’s simply a function of the conversational context. If I’m talking about the Church in some way, then membership in the Church becomes relevant, and I mention that someone is a non-Mormon. If I were having a conversation regarding the Catholic Church, I would probably make mention of who’s a Catholic and who isn’t. I would almost certainly refer to myself as a non-Catholic if discussing Catholic matters.