Am I.... Normal?

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JD27076

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I can’t get this out of my head…

I’m 15 and I am the only Catholic in my family. I converted by myself.

One day before school, my mom (Baptist, not devout) and I were watching a TV episode, and during the episode, this man was placing magazines that contained impure content. Once the man went back into his house, 13-14 year old boys started running towards the stack and taking those magazines. My mom, who knows I am a child with great morals which sometimes get in the way of my social interactions, told me “Now that is what a normal kid does!”

I was immediately shocked and responded with “Well I’m not normal!”… Do you think my morality is not normal for a 15 year old boy myself? I would never result to the evils of pornography, masturbation, or even lust…With Gods grace of course. 🙂

Do you think I’m normal?

Thank you
 
oooooooooooooo u not be norm@l chil’

u ned a docta

-A Good Friend of JD
 
I am sorry that your mother would say such a thing to you. It may be “normal” in that many, many teens in our secular culture would do so. It is not “normal” as in “how we should behave” as Christians.
 
Because you aren’t giving into temptations, people will think you are weird, probably because society has come to see yielding to base instinct, and going against it as being wrong to assure itself. Nobody likes being reminded that what they do is wrong, thus they say that you are wrong instead.

Believe me, I wish I had your morals when I was 15. Carry on strong, man.
 
There are boys your age who would do that, but the idea that it is normal or what all boys your age would do is false.

We tell the same lie about men. Many men do have a porn problem, but many do not. About 20% of people say they use online pornography, for example. A sizable number, but not the norm.

Porn is ubiquitous in our culture. People tend to be exposed early and often. It can be very difficult to avoid.

I think what is uncommon is your awareness and willful avoidance of it. Most people your age probably haven’t formed opinions on pornography unless they’ve been exposed or used pornography. It can feel threatening to an adult to have a child who is keenly aware of sin and consciously rejects it. It can also be a source of concern that the child might be rigid to the point it disturbs his peace or affects his ability to socialize, especially if the child seems preoccupied or emotional over topics not usually addressed by his peers.

It was inappropriate for your mom to encourage lust and sexual objectification as if it is a norm for which you should strive. Be sure in your interactions with her that she’s seeing the joy and peace your faith brings you, not a rigid isolation that would be cause for concern. My guess is that she doesn’t really want you using porn, but she fears that you’re missing out on a childhood and chose a very poor place and way of expressing it.
 
JD27076 said:
I can’t get this out of my head…

I’m 15 and I am the only Catholic in my family. I converted by myself.

One day before school, my mom (Baptist, not devout) and I were watching a TV episode, and during the episode, this man was placing magazines that contained impure content. Once the man went back into his house, 13-14 year old boys started running towards the stack and taking those magazines. My mom, who knows I am a child with great morals which sometimes get in the way of my social interactions, told me “Now that is what a normal kid does!”

I was immediately shocked and responded with “Well I’m not normal!”… Do you think my morality is not normal for a 15 year old boy myself? I would never result to the evils of pornography, masturbation, or even lust…With Gods grace of course. 🙂

Do you think I’m normal?

Thank you
Click to expand...
You are perfectly normal! 😃
 
You are normal in the eyes of God who created you and gave us the commandments. You obey the 6th commandment very well. All the saints of God will assure you of your normalcy…and my sons were like you. May God protect and abundantly bless you always.
 
JD27076 said:
I can’t get this out of my head…

I’m 15 and I am the only Catholic in my family. I converted by myself.

One day before school, my mom (Baptist, not devout) and I were watching a TV episode, and during the episode, this man was placing magazines that contained impure content. Once the man went back into his house, 13-14 year old boys started running towards the stack and taking those magazines. My mom, who knows I am a child with great morals which sometimes get in the way of my social interactions, told me “Now that is what a normal kid does!”

I was immediately shocked and responded with “Well I’m not normal!”… Do you think my morality is not normal for a 15 year old boy myself? I would never result to the evils of pornography, masturbation, or even lust…With Gods grace of course. 🙂

Do you think I’m normal?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Code: 
          Answer... Yes and No...

    Better Question........  What is Normal ?
 
I consider normal according to the biological definition, “free from disease or malformation, of natural occurrence.” In my own words, normal is what God made us to be.

Average is typical, common, or ordinary.

I think you’re normal, not average. Good for you! 👍
 
You have been given graces from God with which you are cooperating wonderfully 🙂

Whether you are or are not normal is irrelevant; what matters is if you are holy. It doesn’t matter what other people think of you, only what God thinks of you.
 
No you are not a normal boy, you, my friend, are a man! What courage in facing off against the pernicious aspects of our Society alone. I admire you and wish I had that same courage when I was younger. Stay with it you are not alone, you have the whole church with you in spite of its’ lonely lack of community that should bolster you more. But greater news is that Christ is with you. I have said a prayer to His mother that she keeps you under her special care. Love your mum and you will always have your heavenly mother’s affection. I pray for the same graces for myself. Please say a prayer for me.
 
Yes I’d say you are, not typical but normal.

I sort of see what you’re getting at, I’m about a year younger than you and just the fact that I’m interested in this faith and spirituality stuff makes me feel… weird. I feel like I shouldn’t care about this, and that I should care more about doing makeup or endlessly talking about my crush, but I don’t. I just don’t, and I can’t force myself to like something I don’t, or to be something that I am not.

Actually I’d say we’re the normal ones, all those other peeps are the ones with their heads screwed on backwards. 😛
 
OK, devil’s advocate here. If you never feel any temptation to lust, never want to take a peek at a picture of a pretty and relatively unclad woman and never fantasize about getting married and your wedding night, then… yeah, that’s probably not normal for your age. And in that case, I’d talk to a good Christian doctor to make sure everything’s OK with you hormonally. The teen years are a hormonal avalanche for most typical kids of both sexes but particularly boys.

If, on the other hand, you have all these temptations but have just determined to stay pure, then good for you! But you are not at all typical and yes, it will make it hard for your peers to relate to you and vice versa, I’d imagine. And possibly even your mom has trouble relating to you. If not relating to other people becomes a problem, you might want to seek out your priest or a good counselor (preferably Catholic or Christian). Your priest can recommend someone. Because being able to relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ and all God’s children is an important skill.

But most likely - you are just one terrific dude who’s probably tired of hearing people tell you to lighten up! Just beware of pride - it is easy to think you are better than others your age because your are more pious and serious. And truly, those silly young teen you think less of, who only seems interested in shallow pursuits today, might be the surgeon that saves your life or a loved one’s life someday, or the world’s greatest humanitarian. Many wonderful people enjoyed less pious early years. Having fun and getting in a bit of safe and harmless mischief IS normal for young people.
 
Yes, you are normal. And what your mum did say, forget about it. She said what she said because she also is normal. But one advice, don’t forget to live. You can have strong moral and fun at the same time. I see that your faith is very strong, meaning that it is strong enough to prevent you from doing anything wrong, but giving you the ability to mix fun with moral and have a life.
 
“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”

Don’t follow everyone else, just the Lord; The Way, The Truth and The Life
 
I think it was Peter Kreeft who said “It’s better to receive unjustified rejection by 1 million ignorant men, than justified rejection by the one all-knowing God.”

The Ford Crown Victoria was a car that frequently suffered from a certain engine problem. When that problem occurred, it was called ‘normal.’ If normalcy is malfunctioning, then I don’t want to be ‘normal’! And neither should you! You are a young man worthy to be a role model for others! If I had your strength of morals at 15 as you have…
 
JD27076 said:
I can’t get this out of my head…

I’m 15 and I am the only Catholic in my family. I converted by myself.

One day before school, my mom (Baptist, not devout) and I were watching a TV episode, and during the episode, this man was placing magazines that contained impure content. Once the man went back into his house, 13-14 year old boys started running towards the stack and taking those magazines. My mom, who knows I am a child with great morals which sometimes get in the way of my social interactions, told me “Now that is what a normal kid does!”

I was immediately shocked and responded with “Well I’m not normal!”… Do you think my morality is not normal for a 15 year old boy myself? I would never result to the evils of pornography, masturbation, or even lust…With Gods grace of course. 🙂

Do you think I’m normal?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Though I see many wonderful replies already - I thought I’d drop my nickle’s worth in.

I think you replied quite appropriately and correctly to your mother. You are NOT normal by the world’s standards. But this is not a problem.
There is an old saying - and I can never get it quite right - but it goes something like - - -
Would you rather look foolish before God for the sake of men or would you rather look foolish before men for the sake of God?

You have chosen the better course.

Peace
James
 
No, you’re not normal, but you’re in good company. Jesus was far from what we would call “normal.”
 
JD27076 said:
I can’t get this out of my head…

I’m 15 and I am the only Catholic in my family. I converted by myself.

One day before school, my mom (Baptist, not devout) and I were watching a TV episode, and during the episode, this man was placing magazines that contained impure content. Once the man went back into his house, 13-14 year old boys started running towards the stack and taking those magazines. My mom, who knows I am a child with great morals which sometimes get in the way of my social interactions, told me “Now that is what a normal kid does!”

I was immediately shocked and responded with “Well I’m not normal!”… Do you think my morality is not normal for a 15 year old boy myself? I would never result to the evils of pornography, masturbation, or even lust…With Gods grace of course. 🙂

Do you think I’m normal?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Forget about “normal”. In some neighborhoods it is normal for a kid your age to skip school, have gotten a girl pregnant with no intention of marriage, be flunking school, planning on dropping out of school, be using drugs, and expecting to go to prison as a right of passage. Thank God you are NOT normal in terms of the fallen world.
 
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