I'm always astounded to see how big religion and the Church are in the States, and yes, I'm assuming the majority (not all) of you are Americans, if you aren't, my bad.
Growing up in Quebec City, I knew ONE person my whole life (I'm almost 33) that was my age who went to mass regularly and was involved in the Church. One.. not two or three... ONE. To this day I'm pretty sure the only reason he was involved was because his dad was the head of the theology department at Laval University and somewhat of a big-shot in that domain, because I highly doubt Oli cared about it. He smoked weed, partied with us and skipped school with us, he was not the "model" Christian whatsoever. Had it not been for his dad, he would have never went. Fuck, he's the guy I had my first acid trip with and he made me discover black metal in high school.
Only time I've ever been inside a Church other than for a funeral was for my first communion in grade 4 (late 1997 or 98). That was because my mom wanted me to do it more than anything (Irish Catholic heritage) and I fucking hated it. 3 or 4 months of Sunday school, I hated it so much. My dad hated it too, boy did he not want to be there; he'd sleep the whole time or spend the whole time listening to music in the car or go for walk and have some coffee. My dad went to a strict Catholic all-boys school in the 60's and was beaten by his teachers, my dad fucking despises the Church and wouldn't even piss on it if it were on fire.
After every class, the Sunday school teacher would tell my mom how I absolutely refused to participate and did not want to be there, I did everything I could to get kicked out and not have to come back. I was never a trouble maker, but I have a knack for getting out of situations I don't like, so if I had to be a giant pain in the ass for everyone to get out of it, that's what I did... but alas, it didn't work. That dude was so patient with me, I hope he's well today, he wasn't a bad dude at all.
That was the general vibe, kids being forced by their parents to go because of "tradition". No one wanted to be there, no one gave a shit at all. By grade 6 it was Confirmation time and I flat out told her that there was no way I'd be spending every Sunday for a couple months in Sunday school, my dad wanted no part of that either, so she had no choice. I had started skateboarding then, there was no way I was going to miss one of the two days a week I had to go skate.
Quebec is very atheist, less than 40% of new borns are baptized and religion is considered in "steep decline". None of my friends who have kids have had them baptized, and none of them are married. Church culture in next to none-existent here.
I mean shit, there's a part in our history that is known as "La Grande Noirceur", or "The Great Darkness" in english. That's when hard-line conservative Christian crackpots ran the province. Just the name says it all in regards to our view of the Church.
Not knocking you guys or your families at all, if it makes you happy, believe all you want. I will never knock on someone for being into religion, but it was never my thing at all, and it's still the case to this day... it's just not a part of the culture I grew up around. Respect to you all, and keep doing your thing if it makes you happy.