Ex-Catholicism

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Montie_Claunch

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I was reading Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on “Romanism” by “Bible Christians” and I noticed the first third or so of the book Mr. Keating devoted some time to the history of Fundamentalsim and such and I noticed a lot of the main oppostion was from ex-catholics and ex-preists, I have also run into ex-catholics. What posses a person to leave the church, especially in such a late (and presumably more educated) stage of life? and what propells such hatred that I have noticed? I could never figure it out. As Mr. Spock would say, “That wouldn’t seem logical.” Does anyone have some insight into this? And How would one talk to one about the faith?
 
I’ll take a swing at perhaps one hypothesis. I think some folks, as they grow out of childhood, do not continue to hone and nourish their understanding of Catholicism beyond that of young children. Then they wake up one day as an adult, consider their notions of faith to be childish and irrelevent, and leave. This is in spite of the wealth of material they could use to foster a more grown-up understanding of their Catholic faith. Can’t say why this might apply to a religious, but I know many laity that experienced this.

Then again, Christ did say “Let the little children come unto me.”
 
Most Catholics of the last 30-40 years have had a crummy Catechesis and have suffered from this in becoming adults with a poor understanding of the faith. They are then led to a non-catholic church which shows how they were “duped”, (there are many churches who focus on the evils of Catholicism) and since now they are free they want to attack this evil organization that had held them captive.

Since many people have had a crummy Catechesis then any thing that mis-represents truth can be used on these people to lead them out of the Church like this…

Accusation “Catholics changed the Bible to support their beliefs”
see look at my Bible.

Catholic “oh wow, your right my Bible is different”

Accusation “Where is the word Pope in the Bible”

Catholic “You know you are right, I am not sure why we have a Pope”

And so the Catholic is taught that he has been decieved, and rejects the Church.

I have seen it happen with my brother, which is part of the reason I came back to the Church after hearing a lot of crazy things from him. I investigated and learned too much, then I came back.

God Bless
Scylla
 
If your not satisfied with your own faith then you have to find answers.

My God-son at the age of 18 wanted to leave Catholicism and join the Orthodox Church because he found that there was something missing in the Roman Catholic Church. I never realy forced him to do anything he did not want to. He however was eager to learn all about Orthodoxy. All I did was pointhim to book and resources which showed him what we believe in. There was no “we are better than them…” attitude and I was in fact quite neutral through the whole process of his conversion. It was all attributed to him and I think it was better that way.

I think he realised that we had many similarities but felt more inclined towards the Orthodox Church. After a few years however there was a problem and he returned momentarily to the Catholic Church because he missed the priest’s friendship.

He told me and I said in a neutral way, what I had been saying to him all the time, “where-ever your conscience takes you.” He then asked me if I was upset. I told him yes but I respect his decision. The next week he came back to Orthodoxy after a long confession.

I think that we should not let little things take us away from what our conscience tells us. Sure there are scandals in the Church, there are going to be persecutions of us and of others. We should be prepared for this, but we should not let anything come between our love for God just as God promised never to stop loving us…
 
The guy that invented the entire protestant religion was Martin Luther. He was a Catholic priest.

This is nothing new. Sad, but not new.
 
yeah a lot of protestant chuches were even started by Catholic monks.
 
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DavidFilmer:
The guy that invented the entire protestant religion was Martin Luther. He was a Catholic priest.

This is nothing new. Sad, but not new.
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A bit off-topic, but i think it would be quite relevant to the post I quoted. Protestants, surprisngly, do not realize they’re Catholic. Why: As I have heard one radio commentator here said, the best proof is they use the Bible. Now, which Church compiled the Bible? None other than the Catholic Church. So Protestants are, in essence, really rebel Catholics. Amazing that most Protestants do not realize it. I could only imagine the consteration of many anti-Catholic pastors and people when they realize this.
 
Montie Claunch:
I was reading Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on “Romanism” by “Bible Christians” and I noticed the first third or so of the book Mr. Keating devoted some time to the history of Fundamentalsim and such and I noticed a lot of the main oppostion was from ex-catholics and ex-preists, I have also run into ex-catholics. What posses a person to leave the church, especially in such a late (and presumably more educated) stage of life? and what propells such hatred that I have noticed? I could never figure it out. As Mr. Spock would say, “That wouldn’t seem logical.” Does anyone have some insight into this? And How would one talk to one about the faith?
Click to expand...
Here is something to remeber; Most Ex-catholics know very little about the Catholic faith 2 weeks prior to leaving the Church and then they know everything about it 2 weeks after they have left.
God Bless all here.
 
I’ll give you one. I know a few divorced and re-married Catholics that left because of not being able to take communion. They say it’s like going to Thanksgiving dinner and told to watch everyone else eat.
 
I guess poor catechesis explains also why so many in my generation leave. If their parents were poorly catechized, even if they do stick with their faith, they may not be able to explain questions well to their children sufficiently to keep them from the shiny glow of secular humanism. Also, many of my friends’ “Catholic” parents don’t really live their faith. If a kid thinks Mom and Dad are just paying lip service, they’re gone at age 11.
 
**It has been my experience that most of those who leave the church do so because of some percieved hurt or missunder- standing…They are so hurt and/or angry, that they see no other choice. Others leave becaue of apathy, and still others leave because they have decided to join another church… Usually a warm evangelical one. **
It is true that many Catholics are not well-grounded in their faith, and are therefore open to other theological perspectives. Just visit any evangelical church and ask for a show of hand of those who came from the Catholic Church.
**I find it particularly frustrating when a Catholic who has been angered or hurt and leaves ends up in another church. I live with that situation in my own home, so I know how hard it can be…I know the best thing to do is to pray, and live as faithful a Catholic life as I can, and be an example…Preaching or little hints do not help…You have to learn to be a silent witness…as suggested by Pope Paul VI. **
 
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