Published July 29, 2010

Statue of St. Denis, Paris (Dan Zelazo/Flickr)

Last week, after Radio Boston host Meghna Chakrabarti offended some listeners with the phrase “lapsed Catholics,” I asked Hubbub readers to offer alternatives.

Turns out a lot of you used to be Catholic. Here is a sample of your thoughtful (and occasionally very funny) responses:

• Jack B: “Lapsed” sounds as if I dozed off. “Fallen-away” sounds like accidentally stumbling down the steps. I prefer to say I’m alienated after noticing long ago that the two very most important matters to the institution were (and are) sex and money.
• Gary Hills: The correct terms are either apostate, if you belong to another religion, or non-believer, or possibly lazy.
• Joanne Archibald: For many years, I used to say I was “a recovering Catholic.” Now I usually refer to myself as “culturally Catholic.”
• John: “Lapsed” was probably an accurate way to describe the targets of this advertising campaign. People who left the Church due to a desire to sleep late on Sunday or those with busy lives are more likely to “come home” than those of us who left due to disagreeing with the Church’s bigoted policies regarding women and gays, their disgraceful coverup of child rape, or realizing that there is not a god.
• Jim: To progress from belief in received wisdom to rationality is hardly a “lapse”. Escape might be more like it.
• Joe The Plummer: I prefer the term “Recovering Catholic” as in recovering alcoholic. As an alcoholic can never get rid of his alcoholism but can control its harmful effects by staying away from alcohol, a cradle Catholic can never get rid of the Catholic upbringing, he can control its harmful effects by staying away from the church!
• Paul: You can call me, “No Longer Guilt Ridden.”
• Steve Louis: I’d like to proffer the nomenclature “Non-Observant Catholic” for consideration. Some of my Jewish friends refer to themselves as “Non-Observant Jews”, and it seems to work for them.
• chris: I consider myself a “fallen Catholic” who has no intention of getting up. I also say I stopped practicing Catholicism because I wasn’t getting better at it.
• ivoted: Around my town, we call former Catholics “Unitarians”

My favorite response is from commenter JKHJ:

“Inactive” or “Not an Active Member” is how I describe my relationship to the Church, when called to do so.

To me, “Former” implies bitterness or alienation. I was treated well in the Church and I have deep respect for the Sisters of Loretto who run the best schools in the world. I believe a person can truly develop spiritually (mentally and emotionally also if “spiritually” is too ethereal a word for you) through the sacraments, in a Catholic community. This may sound a little arrogant but I feel that I have outgrown the church, therefore am not a member. No hard feelings though, and many fond memories, and much respect for my parents who have always been active participant even when they were in disagreement.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love our readers?