Further...Awake

I thought this was an interesting and unsurprising article. This source is a Catholic website, and I found the candor of the author refreshing.

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Article: "Further Adrift"
Source: http://commonwealmagazine.org/further-adrift 

Excerpt: In February 2008, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, based on interviews with a representative sample of thirty-five thousand adult Americans, reported that one out of every three adult Americans who were raised Catholic have left the church. If these ex-Catholics were to form a single church, they would constitute the second largest church in the nation.

Fictional Christians

I've been so crazy with school. I can't believe my last post was in August. I also can't believe this headline.

Psst! Hey, Vatican, didn't you get the memo? The Simpsons aren't REAL. They're just fictional cartoons. Don't spend too much time analyzing their beliefs because there are REAL starving children dying in other countries that could really use your help.

Homer Simpson is Catholic, Vatican Paper Declares

Mon Oct 18, 10:18 pm ETLOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "The Simpsons" just got a blessing from the Vatican. The official Vatican newspaper has declared that beer-swilling, doughnut-loving Homer Simpson and son Bart are Catholics -- and what's more, it says that parents should not be afraid to let their children watch "the adventures of the little guys in yellow." "Few people know it, and he does everything to hide it. But it's true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic", the Osservatore Romano newspaper said in an article on Sunday headlined "Homer and Bart are Catholics." The newspaper cited a study by a Jesuit priest of a 2005 episode of the show called "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star". That study concludes that "The Simpsons" is "among the few TV programs for kids in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurrent themes." The Simpsons pray before meals, and "in its own way, believes in the beyond," the newspaper quoted the Jesuit study as saying. It's the second time the animated U.S. TV series, which is broadcast in 90 countries, has been praised by the Vatican. But executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly on Monday he was in "shock and awe" at the latest assertion, adding that the Simpsons attend the "Presbylutheran" First Church of Springfield. "We've pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic," Jean said. "I really don't think he could go without eating meat on Fridays -- for even an hour." In December 2009, the Osservatore Romano described the show as "tender and irreverent, scandalous and ironic, boisterous and profound, philosophical and sometimes even theological, nutty synthesis of pop culture and of the lukewarm and nihilistic American middle class." "The Simpsons", which introduced the catch-phrase "D'oh", is the longest-running prime-time TV series in the United States and is now in its 22nd season.