Catholic Online Forum

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David H.

So, she was raised Catholic but became a Christian?

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David L (CA)
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

The article I linked to states near the end of it that she now attends an evangelical church somewhere in California.

The article does NOT go into details about her 'spiritual journey' during her biological childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. So I don't feel it would be fair for me to comment on something I know nothing about.

Perhaps you might acknowledge that the expression "become a Christian" might have more than one connotation to it?

For some Protestants, for example, it might merely mean reciting the "sinner's prayer".

For some Christians, "becoming a Christian" might mean being accepted on the membership rolls of a particular individual local church congregation.

For some Christians, "becoming a Christian" might mean being baptized according to a Trinitarian formula.

To give another type of example, I believe that technically speaking it is probably quite correct to speak of President Obama as both a Christian AND a Muslim. Why? Presumably he more than once recited the shahada while attending a Muslim school in Indonesia. That's all you need to do to become a Muslim, and to make yourself liable to capital punishment if you ever apostatize. AND he was baptized in the United Church of Christ by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and apparently Trinity UCC does accept Muslim members. I don't know the words of the rite of baptism in the UCC such as whether or not it includes any renunciation of Satan and his works and pomps, etc. But almost certainly it would not include a renunciation of other religions such as Islam. Why would they require such a renunciation if they accept Muslim members? I'm not trying to be cynical. The above statements are either very plausible conjectures or actual recorded events. I'm not even sure that it would be accurate to call Mr. Obama as intellectually dishonest even if he actually privately does think of himself as both Christian AND Muslim. Maybe wrong, maybe an instance of 'cognitive dissonance', but not necessarily intentionally lying.

For some Christians, "becoming a Christian" might mean having traveled a certain length of journey along a process of spiritual maturity. For example, the Catechism speaks about a "second conversion".
This thread for example will eventually lead / link to some quotes from the Catechism:

So bottom line, I don't necessarily view your question as revealing a possible self-contradiction.

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David H.

From: A Profile of Conservative Hollywood Actress Patricia Heaton
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/hol ... tonBIO.htm

"In 2002, she published a book about her life, Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine. In it, she describes moving from Roman Catholicism to the more socially acceptable Presbyterianism. Although she and her family attend an Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Heaton claims she is still a Catholic."

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Bob M
Saints ... Let's help our children see them as role models and true heroes.