The Bloody Catholics Won't Let Me Go!

I was raised a Catholic. My mother was a rabid Catholic who dragged me off to church every Sunday. But even though I was a child I could easily see the contradictions and hypocrisy. Sunday we would go to church, the rest of the week it was ok for my mother to beat the crap out of me.

When I was 10 I was told I had to be confirmed. So I got all dressed up and sat near the back of the church while the priest droned on at the front of the church. I remember clearly being much more interested in the antics of a couple of birds playing in the tree outside the window.

So I grew up with a heap of inhibitions and guilt. But all the while I was questioning and seeking answers. I read the Bible, the Koran, and even studied the Wicca. I researched ancient history. The more I learned the more I became convinced that there couldn't possibly be a god. No one, not a single person, could say definitively that they had ever seen a real live breathing god. Not one!

In my researches I found out that there was no evidence to show that Jesus even existed. The Romans were meticulous record keepers, yet there is not a single note about a Jesus of Nazereth. There are plenty of references to other 'holy men' at the time, but not a word about a Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph.

Then there was the discovery that many 'gods' before Jesus had been born of a virgin, had 3 wise men visit them, and then grew up with 12 followers, and died aged 33 to be resurrected again after 3 days. The list is too long to show here, but the story recurs throughout ancient history.

Further research revealed that the story of Jesus is tied up with astrology; the 12 constellations, the 4 seasons, and the equinoxes are all incorporated into the Christian religion in the form of various stories about Jesus and the holy holidays they observe.

I mean, how much lack of evidence does it take to convince someone that their ideas are just plain wrong? That there is no god? I state that categorically. I don't believe in prevaricating. If all the evidence, or lack of it, shows that there couldn't possibly be a god as the Christians have defined one, then that is what I am stating here. I will not waffle like Professor Dawkins. THERE IS NO GOD. Full stop.

THE POPE WON'T LET ME GO!

So, I decided to write to the Vatican and ask them to delete me from their list of registered Catholics. I visited the Vatican website, got the email address to write to the Vatican, and sent my Apostasy Notice:

<strong>to    The Pope <benedictxvi @vatican.va>
date    Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 4:39 PM
subject Re: Apostasy Notice

Dear Pope, I was baptized as a Catholic as a child. I had no say in it. As I grew up I realized I could not believe in any gods....yours or anyone else's. I don't believe in Thor, Isis, Baal, or Rama, so why should I believe in your god?

This is my official Apostasy Notice

I hereby renounce my baptism and confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church. Please confirm your acceptance.</benedictxvi></strong>

Guess what?

About 4 WEEKS LATER I got a message in my Inbox telling me that my message could not be delivered. [See the message below]

<em>Come on!!!</em> That is just BULLSHIT.

If a message is undeliverable, every email program I have ever used will return that undeliverable message withing a few seconds...not 4 weeks later.

Obviously, the Catholic church does not want to acknowledge that anyone could possibly want to opt out of their idiocy.

So, all ex-catholics, now that you have the pope's address, you know what to do.

---------------------

This is the mail system at host lists.vatican.va.

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster.

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
delete your own text from the attached returned message.

                  The mail system

[benedictxvi @vatican.va[: host 212.77.0.211[212.77.0.211] said: 452 4.2.1
   mailbox temporarily disabled: benedictxvi@vatican.va (in reply to RCPT TO
   command)

Final-Recipient: rfc822; benedictxvi@vatican.va
Original-Recipient: rfc822;benedictxvi@vatican.va
Action: failed
Status: 4.2.1
Remote-MTA: dns; 212.77.0.211
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 452 4.2.1 mailbox temporarily disabled:
   benedictxvi@vatican.va

Yeah, right![/benedictxvi[