Former liberals?

[Nigel71]

Being new to all of this I was wondering if anyone else had ventured in the direction of Catholicism having formerly held possibly long standing views that were very different from that of the church and if so how difficult it tends to be to change in that respect ? Does it tend to be a short or long term process etc ?

My advance appologies if I’ve worded this badly ( probably have ) and my thanks for any answers ( I’ll hopefully get ) .Just to clarify I’m asking this to learn from other people’s experiences not be contraversial /arguementative ETC

 

[jmcrae]

I was brought up in a very liberal, feminist environment.

The thing to be careful of is not to throw the good things out with the bad - liberalism is good because it’s about getting the benefits of civilization to every human being on the planet.

The bad thing about it is the means it often uses to do that, which interfere with personal freedom.

Feminism recognizes the truth (which is right there in the Bible) that man and woman were both created equally in the image and likeness of God - men are not “more accurate” images of God than women are - women are not “damaged men” or less intelligent than men - both are equal in dignity, and both are created perfectly by God. We are also created to work together, each adding our strengths to the other, to create the whole.

The bad thing about feminism is that it wants women to have the same freedom to sin sexually that men have - that’s what abortion and birth control are about. If men can get away with having an affair without it showing six months later, then so should women, is the thinking behind birth control and abortion.

In the Catholic way of thinking, nobody should be doing these things. Men who do them may be getting away with it in thls life, but the Judgement Day is coming, and it will be a lot worse than an accidental pregnancy when they are called to account for it. In that sense, God is a feminist, I think, because both sides will be punished equally.

 

[YinYangMom]

From what I gather, you are asking if there are members in this forum who, at one time held views contrary to church teaching but no longer hold those views. You are also asking how hard that process was and how long it took. Is that correct?

If so, I’m one of those.
In my situation I had no idea I held views contrary to church teaching because I was catechised in California by catholic schools which apparently were liberal in their theology. I didn’t know any better until Relevant Radio hit the airwaves and this CA Board got up and running.

Was it hard? Only on my pride. I yelled at the radio and monitor for several months. Almost stopped listening/visiting, but my curiosity got the better of me so I started looking into the writings people were referencing left and right. Lo and behold, there was no question the Vatican teachings were different than the California ones and so I had to reeducate myself for the sake of my children.

How long did the process take? I’d give it a year, but I was blessed, truly. The Lord threw two crises involving my children my way which brought me to my knees in humility. Once I was open to letting God lead the way the information came flooding in. It was almost overwhelming, but again, I visualized myself as a sponge and trusted I could take in what the Spirit was sending my way. It was a lot less painful that way. Submission is the key, but the timing is all the Lord’s doing.

I agree with jmcrae about not throwing out the good with the bad. I think once I realized not everything I learned was contrary to church teaching I was more comfortable with viewing what I was learning about those teachings was providing more depth than anything else.

 

[Nigel71]

Thanks both for the replies & sharing your experiences , which yes is what I was looking for and it is appreciated . As for me it seems to be simpler than I’d thought it would be ( after the first week or two anyway ) . Once I accepted that if God said one thing and I said another it was me that was going to be wrong it all got a lot easier ( having said that I’ve got a vast way to go yet so more vey basic questions will probably follow ) .

Thanks again

Nigel