Anyone Ever Feel Like Leaving the Church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CountrySinger
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Shadark said:
Your comments are pretty much perpetuating my original ones on why she is thinking of leaving the church. Why does Satan need temptation, when he’s got people like you in the church? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Nowhere did CS say that she is thinking of leaving the faith because of it’s defenders.
 
KC91 said:
I don’t have to think it, it is a historical fact. The faifthful were very devout when the Council of Trent decreed that those who did not accept the Church’s doctrines were anathema.

Acceptance of God and obedience to him is more important than love as love is a temporary feeling that can be washed away with different emotions.
Click to expand...
Words fail me…
KC91 said:
Oh and Shadark it is against the forum rules to try to proselytise Catholics.
Click to expand...
An ironic comment. I’m trying to convince her to keep with it, while you are pushing her out the door. If you have a problem, take it up with the moderators.
 
CountrySinger said:
I honestly don’t know what I believe anymore. All I know is that I hate being told what to do. Love God or go to Hell? Why don’t you all put a gun to my head. You can’t force love. Love is a choice, not made under duress. It would be like me putting a gun to some guy’s head and telling him to marry me. He might do it, but it would be out of fear, not love.

Do I love God? Until I can say “yes” withoug feeling like I have to, I don’t know. He has put me through the ringer, I’ve had a very tough life. Or be Catholic or go to Hell (my mom said that as well). That isn’t going to build true faith.
Click to expand...
I think I can identify with this feeling. I think it can be a reasonable reaction, in some cases. I’ve been there (and a lot of others have been too!)

Sometimes, we all get a little bit angry at God, and he understands that I think.

I know, as a single guy, it can be tough to control things, or wonder why things don’t work out as well. It seems like others are rewarded for bad behavior, but let me ask this - are they really (if you look at divorce rates of people who aren’t religious, contracept, have pre-marital sex, co-habitate, etc.)?
 
Why do words fail you? Any means (that is not incompatible with the faith) is justified to help souls to heaven.

I’m not pushing her out of the door but trying to convince her to keep it. Why did you say ‘CS have you ever thought of attending a different church?’
 
CountrySinger said:
Great minds think alike! 🙂
They remind me of some people at hometown parish. They were practically ready to burn me when I came back to the Church. I’m used to the fact that most Catholics will hate me.
Click to expand...
CS, you’ve already been condemned to hell by not one, but two members of the CAF, so you might as well get used to the idea and try to consider the positive aspects. Who knows, you might meet some interesting guys there!
 
I haven’t condemned her to hell, and she has not even left the Church yet.
 
My friend, your remarks remind me of a conviction that is similar to that used under the Inquisition. Perhaps you mistaking fear of God with respect for God?

When I say attending another Church, I mean attending another Catholic Church in her area. CS pointed out that her peers of a similar age at her current church, are not very friendly at all. Why should she stick around waiting for these people to grow up, and why hang with people who don’t like you? Even if she attends a non-Catholic church, is this not better than no Church at all?
 
TedDC said:
CS, you’ve already been condemned to hell by not one, but two members of the CAF, so you might as well get used to the idea and try to consider the positive aspects. Who knows, you might meet some interesting guys there!
Click to expand...
I think it a record for CAF!

I think that is not a good thing. Hmmm…
I wonder if I really acting bad, I might have earned it.
Oh well, do I live down to their expectations, or try to defy them?
 
I’ve felt like it on numerous occasions, but during Lent I was in a magnificent church and I said to my girlfriend “You see all this, this is what keeps me coming back, it’s ours and we’re not going to let those who want to turn it into a mockery, take it away from us”
 
Inquisitrous conviction? Well for all of it’s bad methods, according to the British historian Hugh Trevor Roper the Inquisition was the fairest tribunal system in the Middle Ages. It did prevent many of the faifthul from apostizing and thus saved their souls. While from the perspective of today the inquisitors seem wrong, they need to be understood in the context of their times.

Fear of god automatically induces respect for him as we won’t want to offend him for fear of the consequences.

To me there is no difference whether an apostate attends a non-Catholic Church or not because by delibarately abandoning the faith despite knowing it is the faith of Christ the apostate loses all chance of salvation unless they return.
 
CountrySinger said:
I think it a record for CAF!

I think that is not a good thing. Hmmm…
I wonder if I really acting bad, I might have earned it.
Oh well, do I live down to their expectations, or try to defy them?
Click to expand...
Nah, I’ve been condemned too 😛 Live up the expectations that reflect who you are, not in angry reaction 🙂

And I think going to a different Church is a good idea. I left a very liberal Church, and went to a different parish a few miles away. It was more traditional and I wasn’t so angry all the time. It gave me a lot of peace to worship without all that negativity in the air. Perhaps try a different parish?

Also when I was younger and I found myself alone in my beliefs, I spent some time each day in a Chapel and that was helpful too.
 
CountrySinger said:
Great minds think alike! 🙂
They remind me of some people at hometown parish. They were practically ready to burn me when I came back to the Church. I’m used to the fact that most Catholics will hate me.
Click to expand...
No sweetie. Not most. Just a very loud, very small minority. That oddly enough you encounter more frequently on internet forums than in real life. 🤷
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
No sweetie. Not most. Just a very loud, very small minority. That oddly enough you encounter more frequently on internet forums than in real life. 🤷
Click to expand...
And from that, there comes the wise saying, “Don’t feed the trolls”

😉
 
CountrySinger, you can come to my church. We have a lots of friendly parishioners, who have real lives and also have fun…although you would have to move to Australia.
 
Here’s what I try to focus on. Faith is a journey. It’s going to change and grow. Sometimes I feel like my faith has stopped, that I’ve gone as far as I can, but then God moves me in a different direction and I grow some more. I’ve gone through times where I was angry at God. Here’s what I’ve done…I told Him about it. I said Lord, I know you love me, I know you are there, but right now I’m mad at you. There are things happening that I can not understand, my heart is hurting and I need time to sort through this. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going to stop believing in you, but I need to be angry at someone and well, you are it…Do you know what He did? He waited for me to sort out my pain just like any loving parent would. He wanted to hold me and keep me from pain, but as a parent it’s sometime not possible to do that. You want to guard your children so they never are hurt, in body or spirit, but you can’t. He did what any parent would do, He watched me suffer, He watched me try to find my way and then He was there when I was ready to come back to Him. And like a child I cried to my Father.
When I became Catholic in 2001, I thought that that was a strong as my faith could ever get! Boy, was I wrong! My faith has been put to the test many times since and it only becomes stronger.
Everyone keeps talking about the “rules”. I’m pretty sure that they are not just Catholic rules, they apply to everyone who believes, at least they are suppose to. God didn’t give them to Moses and say, only Catholics have to follow these. They apply to all, it’s just that some don’t want to follow them, so they don’t. Again, look at this through the eyes of a parent. I have rules for my kids to keep them from getting hurt. My almost 4 year old is not allowed to touch the oven…why? To keep him from getting burnt. It’s simple…God gave us these rules to keep us from getting “burnt” 😃 He didn’t do it to be mean, to take the fun out of life. I’m sorry you are not enjoying your life OP. I’m sorry your friends can’t relate to your faith. Perhaps, and I’m not trying to be mean, but maybe you need new friends. There are different types of friends. There are the ones we have our whole lives, that never go away. But there are also friends that are only meant to be a part of our lives for a short time, they affect our lives, help us grow, but then at some point you grow apart. I’ve had it happen to me as I’ve grown in my faith. It’s not that I don’t love them anymore, I do. It’s not that I don’t think they are wonderful, Christ filled people, but we have hit a point that we can’t relate to each other anymore. Their faith is different then mine, which isn’t a bad thing, but those differences can become a problem when they start to move you away from you walk with God. My husband and I started praying for Catholic friends to come into our lives, people that we could share our faith with openly. And He has done that! It’s been awesome.

I read somewhere, and I’m sorry I don’t remember who said this, but that Jesus is in pain because He has so much Mercy He wants to give us, but we never ask for it. Try asking Jesus for His love and mercy. Ask Him what He wants from you, BUT be ready for the answer. Sometimes we ask the question, but we don’t get the answer we want to hear, so we don’t follow through with it.
I will keep you in my prayers!
 
Rence said:
Nah, I’ve been condemned too 😛 Live up the expectations that reflect who you are, not in angry reaction 🙂

And I think going to a different Church is a good idea. I left a very liberal Church, and went to a different parish a few miles away. It was more traditional and I wasn’t so angry all the time. It gave me a lot of peace to worship without all that negativity in the air. Perhaps try a different parish?

Also when I was younger and I found myself alone in my beliefs, I spent some time each day in a Chapel and that was helpful too.
Click to expand...
There are not very many parishes that I can get to easily, without spending the whole day on the bus (I don’t have a car, because it is too expensive to have one in the city). The one I went to is the one where all the young adults went to, and the other one nearby is where all the older people go to. I know people will say to move out of Seattle, but I love the area. The only other place I could imagine living is a large city (I hate living in suburbs or the country). 😃
 
Reasons such as disliking a parish are not an excuse to skip mass. No matter whether you disagree with the form of the mass, the parishioners or the priest, all masses are valid with Christ being present in the eucharist, and attendance on Sundays and days of obligation are required of all Catholics on pain of mortal sin.
 
Kasenka said:
Hey!
I’ve read some of your posts here and you sound like the kind of woman I’d love to have a margarita with ;). Like you, I’m a single catholic woman in my twenties. I know exactly how frustrating it can be. I’m tired of having men interested in me and then slowly back away when they realized ( with horror) that I mean what I say about premarital sex and relationships. I’ve had my feelings crushed by both nonchristians and christians in this way. I’m a fun loving girl and as soon as men realized that I actually follow the Church’s teachings they immediately start viewing me like a nun! In the meantime, all of my other friends are dating, getting married, having babies etc. .Men who are very conservative seem to want a meek stay at home mom kind of wife (NOT that I think that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not me) and non-conservative non-uber catholic men don’t want the hassle of waiting for marriage when they can get whatever they want from other women. Sometimes (like you) I think I don’t fit in anywhere.
Here’s what I think whenever I feel like not being Catholic would be easier:NOT worth it. Yes, you’ll get the dates. You may marry a a fun guy. You’ll have fun and get to do whatever “feels good” at the time. But, in the long run, you’ll feel that something is missing. You’ll have your heart crushed by men who’ll be with you for sex and for not for you. 🙂
Click to expand...
Yep that’s me too. only in contrast I feel as if the church has abandoned me “singles” per say. They leave no where for us to fit if we’re not hooked up so to say by a certain age. Unless we’ve been divorced. But if you’ve never been married you’re out of luck 🤷
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top