Help!!!

[kami_bear18]

Hi everyone! I wanted to ask anyone who reads this to please help me out. I am writing an essay for college on how hard it is to be a Catholic today. There is allot of temptation and sin out there and I wanted to know if anyone could tell me what they face everyday. We all go through different things so it would be cool if everyone who read this please explain what exactly you go through and explain how hard it is for you to avoid these things, do you think it is hard to be a Catholic today?

 

[Loren_1of6]

Hi, Kami. I am a homeschooling mom, so I have lots of opportunities for passing on the Faith. I am lucky in that our local Catholic homeschoolers have a very active group, but I also am part of an online homeschool community made up of persons of many different faiths.

My online group discusses faith but not religion. I have to walk a fine line in that forum, explaining my faith and beliefs in a way that affirms the experiences of others without getting confrontational. As an axample, a while back there was a discussion about having more children. The mother was asking our opinions of artificial insemination. I had to tell her that I thought it was wrong and why, I might have hurt her feelings in the process. By the end of the discussion, she and her husband had decided to go through with it. Again I had to tell her that I did not agree with their decision, but that I would rejoice with her when the Father chooses to bless her with a new life.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

kami_bear18,

As much as it can be REALLY difficult to be Catholic today, I think difficulty is part of being Christian. Christ’s followers have always faced hard times.

What is your paper about and how do you want us to help? Are you planning to quote items posted on this message board?

I’m really not sure what you want from us.

God bless.

 

[duskyjewel]

Oh gosh…the whole no artificial birth control thing. That has been a major struggle for me, philisophically and in real life experience. I have failed over and over again, and asked for forgiveness over and over again. God has literally reached down and smacked me on the head, and yet still the worldly voice that says, “You could stop worrying about all these issues if you just made it so you can’t have anymore kids,” creeps back in.

The struggle between the worldly, population control view and our call to be open to the gift of life rages in me in a very personal way. I am sure it is that way for many married people. It is complicated by my own life experience (growing up the only people I ever heard of who had more than 2 kids were the “welfare queens” on the news), the family I grew up in and the families I knew, family members who think we already have too many kids and don’ t hesitate to say so (my MIL is studiously ignoring my current pregnancy!), or who think we are robbing ourselves of the chance to give our kids “the best” by having more than we can afford, and even just people on the street who make comments. Being the only ones on either side of our family who has even tried to live out this teaching also adds to the mix. Even the people closest to us, the ones who either raised us in the faith (DH’s parents) or at least introduced us to it (my mom) do not “agree” with the Church on this, and so do not understand, or even think we are fools, irresponsible, have no self-control… whatever.

Hope that helps with your paper!

 

[ccfbob]

For Men we face the following:

Women in advertising, tv, movies, anywhere the way they are immodestly dressed is a constant temptation.

Society almost approves of this and TV and Much has gotten almost pornographic, not to mention that porno has almost become mainstream.

Also drinking/getting drunk is SOP.
Cursing, work, etc. all distractions away from Christ. And the devil laughs…

God’s Strength, Mercy and Love to All !

 

[Truly_Beloved]

Hi, Kami -

Do you need to cite research sources for your essay? All of my professors required sources for my information (even when writing an opinion paper), and anonymous internet forums don’t make very good scholarly sources.

For example, as a Catholic, one thing that irritates me is people’s misunderstandings about abortion. In my studies (Family Sociology), I learned that when questioned, tons of Americans say they support Roe v. Wade, but when asked to define the ruling, the vast majority who took the survey gave the wrong answer. Clearly, a person can’t support something if they don’t even know what it is! Most people would be horrified (and rightly so) if they truly understood exactly what RvW says. I would use this example, along with the accompanying studies, to validate any related points I was making in my paper.

Is this the kind of help you need? Or would you rather simply have a list of things that make it a little harder in this world to practice my faith?

Good luck on your essay!