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question about catholicism and why some people really dislike it (please no flames)

G

gopunk

Lifer
i was just thinking, i often hear people say stuff like "i'm a recovering catholic"... but i don't think i've ever heard somebody say that about some other religion or denomination. so i'm just curious, what makes catholicism different? i don't think it's molesting priests, because i don't think that would be extremely prevalent.... is it just that catholicism is more demanding (for lack of a better word)? or is it that people don't like the idea of having a middleman between them and god?

and please... i'm only interested in what these "recovering catholics" believe, so don't post your own personal opinions about catholicism itself, or else this thing will just turn into some huge religion thread all over again.
 
I dont like the attitude of many of the Catholics I know, but thats not what stopped me from contuing life as a Catholic. It just helped.
 
maybe its the history of the church, their haterd of people like galieleo, or maybe the inquizition, or maybe papel indulgences, or their attitude of non-tolarence towards gays, could be a lot of things i think.
 
It's because the Catholic Church began in the Middle Ages and a lot of its doctrine hasn't changed to fit into today's society. Which isn't always a bad thing.

I grew up Catholic and went to a Catholic grade school and high school. A lot of it I don't believe and disagree with (not just Catholicism). Today I wouldn't call myself Catholic.
 
Let me preface this by letting you know that I've never been Catholic. What I would suspect, from what I've seen on TV and in the movies, is that it is the guilt aspect of it. But I think any religion that demands belief with fervor will leave one drained.

Edit: ...and let me say that I don't know why there is such a fear of starting religious threads. I love talking about this stuff 🙂
 
it is the guilt aspect of it

do you mean like how you have to confess? i thought that was standard for christianity in general... am i wrong?

a lot of its doctrine hasn't changed to fit into today's society

do you mean like the anti-birth control stuff? or was there other stuff?
 


<< do you mean like how you have to confess? i thought that was standard for christianity in general... am i wrong? >>



Well, I was referring to the extraordinary number of actions classified as "sin". But the confession thing also contributes. I was raised in a non-Catholic Christian faith but confession wasn't as popular as in Catholicism.
 
I guess that I'm not exactly a recovering catholic, but I AM forced to go to Catholic church.

Well, that is until last week.

That dude who molested the kids actually goes to MY church, the St. Ignatius Loyola church in florida. Hell, I saw him like a month ago. I'm glad I didn't go say hi to him or shake his hand!
 
do you mean like the anti-birth control stuff? or was there other stuff?

Yeah, that and various other issues such as no women in the clergy and strict interpretation of the Bible.
 


<< it is the guilt aspect of it

do you mean like how you have to confess? i thought that was standard for christianity in general... am i wrong? >>



Roman Catholicism (and maybe orthodox and anglican) is the only religion that forces confession. But the whole religion is based on guilt. This is not just a flame, but my belief, you (as in anyone disagreeing with me) will probably not change this belief (especially since I will not be subscribing to this thread).



<< a lot of its doctrine hasn't changed to fit into today's society

do you mean like the anti-birth control stuff? or was there other stuff? >>



birth control, abortion, etc. People seem to think morality should change even though everything is basically the same. Just different ways to commit the same "sins".
 
"...some people really dislike it"

Try, LOATHE IT! :frown:

I detest organized religion in general, but that one really gets my shorts in a bunch! It's the way they use guilt and fear to heard their sheep. They do it from such a young age too. Then there's the money thing. I hear this from members of the church. You want any kind of favor from the church, you better crack that purse. Oh, and check out where a huge chunk of their money goes:

Dioceses across U.S.sell land, borrow millions
  • Some observers estimate that the American church has paid out as much as $1 billion in settlements, jury awards and treatment for pedophile priests...

    ...Bishops customarily pay therapy costs for priests suspected of sexual misconduct. Counseling at institutes that treat clergy costs up to $350 a day, with an average stay lasting between four and seven months, according to the Rev. Stephen Rosetti, a psychologist and consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."

 
Everything that was said is true. I too am a recovering catholic. I went to a catholic grade school and really enjoyed it. But, like they said in the movie Dogma: "when i was little the glass was easier to fill" I didn't think of it that was. They just threw stuff at me that i was supposed to believe just BECAUSE. I hardly go to chuch anymore becasue of what the priest often says durring the mass. Sometimes i think to myself "what the fvck? how can he say that." Maybe it is because none of the ideas have really transfered into the 21st century or whatever....but it's not like i do not believe in God. I do now more than ever, but i don't need someone to hear my sins when i can talk directly to "the Man".
Also, i think Catholcism is a pile is the whole "priest rapping little kids"

There are my two cents

Thanks!
 
I can legitimately call myself a recovering catholic. After all, I've been baptized in the church, as well as received penace, communion and confirmation.

What makes catholicism different then, say, a more liberal protestant church? Catholicism is very overbearing. You basically are told how to think and how to act...like a puppet. Plenty of catholics will say this is not true, but the fact remains that many of us who left the church could not handle all the moral snobbery and the rampant hypocrisy.

This is bad, that is bad. You sin constantly, you must repent and the only way to repent to confess in front of a priest. The clergy looks down on the congregation and dictates how you should live, for there is only one true way of living, even though they live sheltered, unrealistic, celibate lives without getting married or raising children. Women are forbidden from entering the clergy but that's just the way they like it.

You must be pro-life because they said so. You must picket abortion clinics because they need puppets in position to push their narrow yesteryear agenda. You may not be a homosexual because they said so. God will punish.

You must raise large families so that you may bless the church with children. You have an obligation to financially contribute until it hurts: Two or three weekly collections, various seasonal collections (heating/cooling/lawn care/etc), occasional special interest collections (missionaries/monastraries/papal/automotive fleet/pro-life/catholic school appeal/etc), block collections ($250 from every working adult).

The mass is never changed to make it interesting. No, they use the same old, tired format with the same old, tired readings year after year. Let me recall Christmas mass's first reading:

For Zion's sake I will not be silent
For Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet
...
No more shall men call you forsaken
Or your land desolate
But you shall be called my delight
And your land espoused
As a young man marries a virgin
your builder shall marry you

etc.

I still remember this stuff even though I always hated church and I haven't been there in years! It's the repitition, it just drills into your brain. Ugh, make it go away. Only the homily (sermon) is different between masses and, because priests live such sheltered lives, they make these arguments that seem irrevelent to a modern audience. I have yet to meet a priest who can speak well and get your attention. No, they just drone on about the same old crap.

Catholicism's hierarchy is rather questionable and I never viewed the Pope as a person of any special persuasion...he is just a man like anybody else who has ever walked the face of the Earth. I also thinks he has too much to say given his lack of a "real" life.

Of course, I'm atheist, so obviously I have absolute differences with the catholic faith system and creed, but I need not go into that here.

Who wants to make a bet that Optimus shows up in this thread? 😀
 
Wow, I had no idea it was like that.

I've never been baptized, and haven't been to church more than 10 times my entire life and quite thankful for that.
 
The Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christians in the US. With that many people you will have malcontents. Who cares really.

Its like McDonalds. Someone somewhere finds a full deep fried chicken head in their McNuggets and all of a sudden the McDonalds franchise seems to have more people hating it than any other fast food chain.

I am Catholic and completely support the Catholic church.
 


<< The Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christians in the US. With that many people you will have malcontents. Who cares really. >>



i thought protestants were... at 56% according to the CIA... catholics are at 28%... jews in a distant third with 2%
 


<< Who wants to make a bet that Optimus shows up in this thread? >>



Actually, Optimus is absent for the evening, so you're all lucky! better clear out before 11pm😉 J/K

I wish I had more time to state my dos centavos properly, but I must say that I do understand where a lot of people are coming from.

Many children who have grown up in Catholic families are told the basic tenets but not WHY, or sometimes worse--the faith is explained in a confusing manner, and a way that sounds like God is just a cynic watching your every move and waiting for you to trip up and Heaven help you if you don't do exactly everything by the letter to make it right. This couldn't be further from the truth.

God asks for an intolerance of sin itself but not the sinner. Unfortunately, sometimes members don't always remember this, because the church is comprised of people and people aren't perfect. You'll find abusers and exaggeraters in every religion and denomination, however.
It is a faith that demands effort, but Jesus never said his path was the easiest, or paved with thrills, entertainment and convenience.
We're in the business of saving souls.

Take care, y'all, thanks for the lack of flames(so far) in the thread🙂
cheers

Edit: Ah, I spoke too soon...just saw the post above. Tsk.
 
excommunicated catholic here...

There is a rigidness, an inflexibity of the needs of flesh and blood real people that bothers me particularly since
Jesus was supposed to be a human man.


I never felt that a bunch of old celibates in Rome were in any kind of touch with my life or the issues I faced daily
 


<<

<< Who wants to make a bet that Optimus shows up in this thread? >>



Actually, Optimus is absent for the evening, so you're all lucky! better clear out before 11pm😉 J/K

I wish I had more time to state my dos centavos properly, but I must say that I do understand where a lot of people are coming from.

Many children who have grown up in Catholic families are told the basic tenets but not WHY, or sometimes worse--the faith is explained in a confusing manner, and a way that sounds like God is just a cynic watching your every move and waiting for you to trip up and Heaven help you if you don't do exactly everything by the letter to make it right. This couldn't be further from the truth.

God asks for an intolerance of sin itself but not the sinner. Unfortunately, sometimes members don't always remember this, because the church is comprised of people and people aren't perfect. You'll find abusers and exaggeraters in every religion and denomination, however.
It is a faith that demands effort, but Jesus never said his path was the easiest, or paved with thrills, entertainment and convenience.
We're in the business of saving souls.

Take care, y'all, thanks for the lack of flames(so far) in the thread🙂
cheers

Edit: Ah, I spoke too soon...just saw the post above. Tsk. >>



I applaud you! Thanks for the substance in your post. One of the best posts yet in OT!


Michael

 
I would be interested in hearing about the churh outside of the U.S., the Catholic Church in the U.S. is very independent of Rome and often conflicts with the dictates of Rome. I was raised Catholic but I only go to mass on special occasions (I drink at the festivals as all good Catholics should).
 
Man, what the hell schools did these "recovering Catholics" go to because they sure didn't teach you jackcrud.

"The large amount of things classified as a sin" "the difference between the Catholic church and a more liberal Protestant church"

What a load of crock. A sin is as textbook as it gets, something that you do that's bad! Anything bad! There's not some frickin' list that says "All these things are sins." Damn! Confession is only necessary for mortal sins. What are mortal sins? Any sin that is serious! They even let you decide how serious the sin is! Everything else can be forgiven in a prayer or good act according to tradition. Also, don't think the Protestant church is any more lenient. Protestants invented the "fire and brimstone" sermon and just look to any small Southern predominantly WASP town to see they're even more public in their judgement of your sins and evils. It just might be to the Church's advantage Mithrander isn't a Catholic anymore. You don't have to picket a goshdamn pile of dogdoo if you don't want to, all collections are optional and can only be encouraged, and the readings are the same because you can't rewrite the bible to make it interesting! You can have your own opinions and thoughts, and few religions have let you interpret the bible any way you please, else there would be only one protestant religion. No, there are baptists, methodists, presbyterians, etc., etc. They all have their own dogmas, just like the Roman Catholic church. All religions have central core beliefs that people *share*. If you don't share them, find that one that suits you! What a bunch of ignorant Catholic baiters.

(Yeah, I'm teste and looking for a fight)
 


<< Man, what the hell schools did these "recovering Catholics" go to because they sure didn't teach you jackcrud.

"The large amount of things classified as a sin" "the difference between the Catholic church and a more liberal Protestant church"

What a load of crock. A sin is as textbook as it gets, something that you do that's bad! Anything bad! There's not some frickin' list that says "All these things are sins." Damn! Confession is only necessary for mortal sins. What are mortal sins? Any sin that is serious! They even let you decide how serious the sin is! Everything else can be forgiven in a prayer or good act according to tradition. Also, don't think the Protestant church is any more lenient. Protestants invented the "fire and brimstone" sermon and just look to any small Southern predominantly WASP town to see they're even more public in their judgement of your sins and evils. It just might be to the Church's advantage Mithrander isn't a Catholic anymore. You don't have to picket a goshdamn pile of dogdoo if you don't want to, all collections are optional and can only be encouraged, and the readings are the same because you can't rewrite the bible to make it interesting! You can have your own opinions and thoughts, and few religions have let you interpret the bible any way you please, else there would be only one protestant religion. No, there are baptists, methodists, presbyterians, etc., etc. They all have their own dogmas, just like the Roman Catholic church. All religions have central core beliefs that people *share*. If you don't share them, find that one that suits you! What a bunch of ignorant Catholic baiters.

(Yeah, I'm teste and looking for a fight) >>



<------------ Catholic and proud of it

and I do agree with what they do

I am not forced to believe anything I dont want to believe and still consider myself a good catholic

if you think we are all mindless drones than you can think whatever you want

nothin i can say or do is going to change your opinion
 
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