Cafeteria Christianity is a derogatory term used by some Christians, and others, to accuse other Christian individuals or denominations of selecting which Christian doctrines they will follow, and which they will not, similar to how one picks and chooses what food to select in a cafeteria.

Interpretation

The related term "cafeteria Catholicism" is a pejorative term applied to Catholics who dissent from

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

moral teaching on issues such as

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

premarital sex Premarital sex is sex before marriage. It is an act of sex between two people who are not married to each other. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. S ...

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

. The term is less frequently applied to those who dissent from other Catholic moral teaching on issues such as

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, or

just war The just war theory () is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. It has bee ...

. However, not all people take Cafeteria Christianity to be derogatory. There is quite a bit of self-identification of people as "Cafeteria Christians." Politician

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...

, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, has been described as "the ultimate cafeteria Catholic." Carville said, "Everybody in some way or another takes what they want. The real thing is how we treat each other." Author

Mary Karr Mary Karr (born January 16, 1955) is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas. She is widely noted for her 1995 bestselling memoir '' The Liars' Club''. Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracu ...

, a convert from

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer t ...

, was also reported to have been a dissenter of some Catholic teaching. Having been a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

since she was 12, Karr is

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

on abortion and she supports the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

to the priesthood. British actress

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...

said in an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that she is an ''à la carte'' Catholic, though appreciative of "all the pomp and ceremony" of the church.

Cafeteria Catholicism

Cafeteria Catholicism Cafeteria Catholic, also called à la carte, is an informal term used to describe a follower of Catholicism who dissents from certain official doctrinal or moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Polling indicates that many Catholics dissent from ...

is a term that is related, but not the same as Cafeteria Christianity. The term Cafeteria Catholic is applied to those who assert a Catholic faith, yet dissent from one or more doctrinal or moral teachings of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, or who are viewed as dissenting by those who use the term.

Christian atheism/Cultural Christian

Cultural Christians are

deists Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term ''deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation o ...

pantheists Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies o ...

agnostics Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and antitheists who adhere to

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations, historical context ...

and appreciate

Christian culture Christian culture generally includes all the cultural practices which have developed around the religion of Christianity. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has i ...

. This kind of identification may be due to various factors, such as family background, personal experiences, and the social/cultural environment in which they grew up. Christian atheism is a form of

cultural Christian Cultural Christians are those who received Christian values or appreciate Christian culture. They may be non-practicing Christians, non-theists, apatheists, transtheists, deists, pantheists, or atheists. These individuals may identify ...

ity and ethics system drawing its beliefs and practices from

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

' life and teachings as recorded in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

and other sources, whilst rejecting

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

claims of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Christian Atheists may attend church, however, they do not have to attend Christian church services, or any church services to be considered a Christian Atheist. A Christian Atheist is one who doubts or rejects altogether the conventional notions of God, but still follows the moral aspects of the religion.

Sunday Christian

A Sunday Christian (also known as a once-a-weeker) is a derisive term used to refer to someone who typically attends

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

services on Sundays, but is presumed or witnessed not to adhere to the doctrines or rules of the religion. Sunday Christians may refuse to register as an official

church member Church membership, in Christianity, is the state of belonging to a local church congregation, which in most cases, simultaneously makes one a member of a Christian denomination and the universal Christian Church. Christian theologians have taught ...

. These Christians are sometimes considered to be hypocritical in how or what they practice^{/sup> due in part to their confusion or cherry-picking how they live their religion.^{/sup>

See also

*Nominal Christian

The evangelical Lausanne Movement defines a nominal Christian as "a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord"... e"may be a practising or non-practising church member. He may give intel ...

*Cafeteria Catholicism
Cafeteria Catholic, also called à la carte, is an informal term used to describe a follower of Catholicism who dissents from certain official doctrinal or moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Polling indicates that many Catholics dissent from ...

*Cultural Christian

Cultural Christians are those who received Christian values or appreciate Christian culture. They may be non-practicing Christians, non-theists, apatheists, transtheists, deists, pantheists, or atheists. These individuals may identify ...

*Biblical law in Christianity {{Short description, Legal aspects of the Bible

Biblical law is the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Christianity and Judaism.
Christianity
* Abrogation of Old Covenant laws
* Christian views on the Old Covenant, term referring ...

*Lapsed Catholic
A lapsed Catholic is a Catholic who is non-practicing. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic, and remains one according to Catholic canon law.
Interpretations

The ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' definition of "lapsed" in relation to "la ...

*Christian atheism

Christian atheism is an ideology that embraces the teachings, narratives, symbols, practices, or communities associated with Christianity without accepting the literal existence of God. It often overlaps with nontheism and post-theism.
Common ...

*Nondenominational Christianity

Non-denominational Christianity (or nondenominational Christianity) consists of churches, and individual Christians, which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally ali ...

*Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.
...

*Takfir

''Takfir'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic and Glossary of Islam, Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an Apostasy in Islam, apostate. The word is found neither ...

References

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Christian practices}}