General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Catholics Now Tilt to the Republicans [View all]NanaCat
(2,332 posts)Didn't have a community that was important to the faith they once adhered to. Every atheist who once belonged to a religion experienced the same basic community of believers, and that's true of the fundies, Anglicans, Jews, Muslims, Hindi--name the religion they all--ALL--came from faiths with rich cultural and community lives.
Rejecting a religion while enjoying some ties to the community, is immaterial, because what matters is lack of belief in a deity or in what a sect teaches. If you don't believe in the deity/tenets, then you're not a member of the religion anymore, period, because you don't adhere to the defining concept of religion: Believing in the existence of its deity and/or the tenets of the faith.
So no longer belonging to a religion doesn't erase deep cultural traditions. It merely frees you to choose those that have value to you on your terms, and never mind what it means to anyone else--or to your previous religion.