Religion can be a polarizing issue.

In this story, a former Catholic just wants to remain agnostic.

But will that cause problems? Let’s see.

WIBTA for buying a neutral greeting card?

So I (24m) was raised Catholic.

But growing up and seeing the harm the church was causing across the world, plus being a gay man myself, I found myself very quickly leaving when I could.

Not the first lapsed Catholic, certainly not the last.

This was both for my own peace of mind, and because I felt I couldn’t in any sort of good conscience support something like that.

My family are all Catholic, and it isn’t something I find terribly delightful but I’ve long made my peace with it.

Usually there’s some disappointed family in the mix. Will OP weather the storm?

This weekend, I have a little cousin (9m) making his first communion. I’ve been asked to go and I intend to, not to support the religion but to show up for him.

In terms of gifts, I was going to give him some money in a card.

My plan was to go to the supermarket and get a normal greeting card, write it as normal, and put the money in.

Standard stuff. Shouldn’t cause a problem, doesn’t mean it won’t.

Some general congratulatory overtones, but nothing overtly religious (though, in saying that, I wasn’t going to buy an offensive card or anything – apart from anything else, he’s a kid, and that would be super inappropriate).

When I mentioned this at home, my mother said I couldn’t do that, because, “Although YOUUUU don’t believe it, it’s still very important to him.”

Hm. Will OP overcome this Catholic guilt?

I wasn’t questioning that the event was important to him, I just wasn’t planning to actively push the religious angle on a day that was already going to be pretty heavy on that.

I was just going to buy a normal, kid-friendly greeting card with no pre-written message, and write a message myself.

Personally, I feel that if his faith or my mother’s is so fragile that it can be shaken by a neutral greetings card, it calls into question the wisdom of attaining full membership of something that’s supposed to be lifelong.

Ouch.  But I see your point, OP.

But that’s by-the-by.

AITA for wanting to just buy a normal kid-friendly greeting card for this event?

In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit… I don’t know.

What do the comments think?

This person says, neutral is neutral. Go for it.

Someone else says just be polite.

Another person says just show them the money.

This user points out the CMG (Catholic Mom Guilt)!

This lapsed Catholic needs a Hail Mary.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.