"Only 40% of Mexicans in Ajijic are Catholic"

[cbviajero]

To be a Catholic godfather/mmother you have to present a baptism certificate and show you were married in te Catholic church. Of course it all depend on the priest but that is what I was asked to show in Ajijic. Sincé my husband and I were not married in church and he is not Catholic , I did not qualify.

They must be strict in Ajijic,because I was never asked for documents the two times I've been a godfather , once in Guadalajara and once in Michoacan

Edit;,on the other hand I was single at the time so that is probably why they didn't require them..duh..

[JayBearII]

Interesting thread. Me, I have failed in my effort to believe in God, but I consider Jesus to be one of the world's great revolutionaries. I took to the golden rule. I believe I have no greater calling than to help people. And BTW I love cathedrals and stained glass windows; I get a special feeling from being in a great cathedral. The great cathedrals reflect the hopes of mankind, altho I do believe that the Church should not collect money from poor people. Enough said. A year or so ago, I was sitting in a local restaurant listening to a preacher from a non-Catholic religious group here, and he was talking about what Jesus wants us to do. I happened to be sitting adjacent to the males; the females were across the garden. And the preacher said that Jesus taught us to take care of each other, but he added that this obviously applied only to the faithful of his denomination. It was all I could do to avoid getting up and confronting him! If I had it to do once again, I would get up and do so. What a perversion that guy was. I take care of other people, regardless of their beliefs. I firmly believe that Jesus would do the same. Great guy IMHO.

[bmh]

jaybearII I think you would really enjoy the book the Zealot if you have not already read it. Fascinating take on Jesus the revoltionary (the man, not the son of God).

[More Liana]

Agreed. Our grandson is in USA. What box would he check there?

Our grandson will be getting Mexican Citizenship, as his mother is Mexican (Tenerife/Syrio/Libanese/Castillian/Africano/Maya/Basco/Puertoriqueñan-Mexican), and he comes to here to Mexico at least 4-5 times a year, and will be spending summers with us - attending some masses here - which means he will be legally eligible to be officially counted in surveys (as a Dual Nationality - Dual Citizen) on both sides of the border.

Just as the grandson may check "N/A" in future USA study's boxes, how would he (and his mom) be counted in the Ajijic Catholic survey? His dad was baptized in the Christian Church, believes in "nothing", and has no formal Catholic ties, except for the legal promises he made in Roman Catholic legal contracts he sighned to marry our daughter.

The grandson and his parents do not really attend any church of any kind, but they do go to Roman Catholic bodas, funerales, y fiestas. How should our grandson, and his parents, be counted in the Ajijic Catholic survey?

I haven't seen anything on this thread about "the Ajijic Catholic survey", but maybe I missed that post. Can you point me to it?

[snowyco]

You wrote earlier about Pew survey results on Hispanics and Latinos. I questioned how those survey results were collected, and that since we don't know how to precisely define who are Catholics, or define exactly who is Latino or Hispanic, then the claims about 80% or 87% of Mexicans being Catholic, and the proposal that "Only 40% of Mexicans in Ajijic are Catholic" may be biased by how you define being Catholic and also on how you define being Mexican.

Someone pointed out that there is no formal survey data, so I took the next step to point out that "the Ajijic Catholic survey" would have a lot of difficulty in determining who qualifies to be counted as a Mexican Catholic in Ajijic. Which explains my last question:

" How should our grandson, and his parents, be counted in the Ajijic Catholic survey? "

I apologize for confusing things by writing "the" Ajijic Catholic survey.

It would have been more accurate to write "an" Ajijic Catholic survey.

That takes us back to one of the OP's original unanswered questions about just what that 40% actually meant.

Survey results, formal or informal, are only as good as how they collect, sort, and filter the data.

[MyHomeSweetHome]

The government did a census, but our gate has been painted twice since then, census may have been in 2011.

questions on the censes:

how many in the household

highest education of person in the household

languages spoken in the household

religion of the household

40% cannot be correct. Perhaps there is only 40% that attend mass.

[Travis]

Actually, the OP never asked a question, or mentioned a survey. The OP only mentioned some observations and opinions three women shared one Saturday that he found interesting.

[dichosalocura]

I will repeat again, it would be interesting to know the comparisons between church attendance of Chapala and Ajijic. Ajijic is a town overpopulated by gringos of the protestant persuasion. Chapala is more typical Mexican. I live in Chapala, and every time I attend Misa, it is extremely very well attended. They have Misa every couple hours through the day. Misa is very well attended in Chapala. Out of the many Misas they have on Sunday in Chapala, good luck finding a spot if you show up late. What I like about Mexico is that people act kind and Christian without being hypocrital a crazily fundamental. Once a witnesser showed up at my door in Chapala and asked me what I would think if all of Chapala became Jehova Witness and how great it would be............I respectively told this woman that I would move to Guatemala..........probably a bad answer..........honestly these witnessers are probably more active in the poorest of places. I am in Mexico because I love their festivals and their religisiousty. I feel at home here. Sure it is not perfect........but look at Alabama............they are mostly evangelical Christians..................do they live in a utopia???
I would prefer to stay in unperfect Catholic Mexico, thank you. At least we know how to worship God and have fun at the same time.

[bmh]

When I arrived in Alabama in 1970 I was invited by a black friend to her church and I can tell you the Catholics have no idea how to have fun. The church wa swingind and rocking with góspel music, the preacher was in a rocking chair as a 5 year old was singing solo and the congregation was really participating. The ladies were dressed to the nine with great hats... It was a wild service and then we ate and had fun all afternoon around the church, There is nothing like this in Mexico. I have been to some of the Evangelist churches, the music i loud too but it is sedate compared to some of the Southern churces.

[MyHomeSweetHome]

When I arrived in Alabama in 1970 I was invited by a black friend to her church and I can tell you the Catholics have no idea how to have fun. The church wa swingind and rocking with góspel music, the preacher was in a rocking chair as a 5 year old was singing solo and the congregation was really participating. The ladies were dressed to the nine with great hats... It was a wild service and then we ate and had fun all afternoon around the church, There is nothing like this in Mexico. I have been to some of the Evangelist churches, the music i loud too but it is sedate compared to some of the Southern churces.

I've yet to participate in a Catholic church mass, wedding, radio, tv, prayer meeting, or event in the US, Mexico or England as exciting as this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjlpg9i2Bg ...much more solemn. I'd love to have a black gospel church lakeside. Bring it on!

One couldn't use a definitive that there is nothing like this in Mexico without having traveled extensively and visited thousands of churches, take D.F. and Monterrey into consideration.

[bmh]

To have great Gospel music in the churches, you have to have an Evangelist black population. In Mexico there are some areas with blacks like on the Costa CHica or in Vera Cruz but I have yet to enter a church in these two aras and hear anything resembling Gospel. There is some nice music but it is pretty different.

[RVGRINGO]

Although I despise missionaries and their ilk, I must mention that the most beautiful religious music that I have ever heard was in the Polynesian islands, where it is generally without any instruments and the vocal harmony is unsurpassed.

All religions have used various forms of art and music to promote their messages, and they continue to do so to this day. That, and impressive pomp and circumstance, are effective measures in arousing the emotions of the populace, particularly the illiterate and the poor. The well educated can enjoy the music and art just as much; and certainly do, but are less susceptible to the message. As a result, we do see fewer and fewer active members of established religions in many parts of the world. The numbers and percentages, as already mentioned before, are very slippery and will probably never be known. After all, there is the appearance vs. the fact of being religious. In some instances, fear of rejection is the motive for the appearance of devotion and in small communities, a church, mosque or temple may be the main social gathering place. I will admit that my most frequent church attendance is in the event of a good lobster dinner with strawberry shortcake.

[gringal]

WHERE did you get lobster with strawberry shortcake? I'm tempted to join up. (Not really, but my memory of church suppers was much more pedestrian fare, like jello salads and fried chicken)

[RVGRINGO]

I cannot even identify the denominations, but if you travel the side roads of Maine, New Hampshire, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the summer months, you will see the signs pop up on church lawns. It is the only proof of heaven that I know, except for intermediate stops for raw oysters from deep, cold North Atlantic waters.

If you prefer poutine or meat pies, do the same in New Brunswick and Québec until you get to the coastal areas.

[gringal]

I cannot even identify the denominations, but if you travel the side roads of Maine, New Hampshire, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in the summer months, you will see the signs pop up on church lawns. It is the only proof of heaven that I know, except for intermediate stops for raw oysters from deep, cold North Atlantic waters.

If you prefer poutine or meat pies, do the same in New Brunswick and Québec until you get to the coastal areas.

Gotcha! New England it is.

[behnwau]

The best lobster dinners can be obtained in the churches of Prince Edward Island

[mod-3]

Lobster shortcake? This appears to have wandered well off course. Closed.