If you were not Catholic, what religion would you choose to be?

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I would be Jewish, only very orthodox. If Judiasm didn’t exists then Buddhism would be my next choice.
 
Cari said:
Jewish. Closest to Catholicism. Though for a brief, rebellious moment, I’d consider creating the “Church of Me”. 😉
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How about the Church of WMSCOTT, I only require a 5% tithe. Contact me privately and I will let you know where to send the money. 😃
 
If not Catholic then Orthodox, if not Christian then Shia Islam, if not Islam then Judeaism, if not a Judeo-Christian faith, then whatever was the local religion.

Up until Christianity and Islam most religious were cultural and nationally based.
 
zagjames said:
If not Catholic then Orthodox, if not Christian then Shia Islam, if not Islam then Judeaism, if not a Judeo-Christian faith, then whatever was the local religion.

Up until Christianity and Islam most religious were cultural and nationally based.
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Just out of curiosity, why would you go from Christianity to Islam rather than Judaism first? That seems illogical to me.
 
Yes, especially since Judaism is the true ancient religion with true prophets sent by God and was the precursor to Christianity, while Islam is a false religion perpetrated by a false prophet.
 
scapularkid8 said:
Just out of curiosity, why would you go from Christianity to Islam rather than Judaism first? That seems illogical to me.
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Because Judeaism is a national religion. As a Gentile I would not want to place myself under the Abrahamic Covenants when I must simply follow the Noahide Laws as a gentile. So what I would worship if Christianity existed is really not all that important under a Jewish world view.

In the time before Christ came religions were national. Judeaism was the national religion of the Jews. I’m not a Jew so therefore it would not be logical for me to join it. I would want to worship in a non-national religion, or the religion of my family. That is the basic human condition. Without Christianity on the scene, Islam is the non-national religion that evangelizes so the likelyhood would be that I would join it, and shia islam in my opinion is the preferable of sects of Islam. More to the point it worships the God of Abraham so there is a plus. But in a world without pan-national religions I would probably be whatever the local religion was, or if I could I would want to be Jewish in faith.

I suppose you could argue that Islam is not a pan-national religion. Which in that case I would skip Islam over, and would want to follow Judeaism.

Mostly though is Christianity did not exist I would want to follow natural law, the law written on all our hearts. Without Christianity thats all we as gentiles have got.

Hope my response was not too convoluted.
 
Okay that makes sense!

I was just curious to know your though process on that since it was different from mine. Good point on the Christianity being the only option Gentiles have got…our God is so Good:) :bowdown:
 
I am not Catholic ( I was raised Catholic, so I guess I can participate in this thread). I really have issues with the term “choose” because I don’t believe in shopping for a religion.

I am a pantheist, but I didn’t “choose” it. I AM it. It is what I believe, and how I live. I know of people who shop for a religion that “fits their needs”, whatever that means.

I think that a person should practice the religion they believe to be true, not the one the HOPE to be true. Even if it’s hard, even if it’s scary, even if it leads to sacrifice, persecution, etc. Truth trumps everything else.

cheddar
 
cheddarsox said:
Truth trumps everything else.
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Right, I agree. I can’t speak for everyone else here, but the Truth that we’ve found in Catholicism is rooted in Judaism which would be the full revelation of Truth if Catholicism didn’t exist and that’s why we would say we’d be Jewish. I think there’s a difference between ‘shopping’ for a religion you just happen to like and honestly looking for the Truth. For example, I have a friend who is borderline Atheist/Buddhist who is honestly searching for the Truth and I respect him tons more in that regard than my other friend who wants to convert to Judaism just because he thinks it’s “cool”.
 
Amish. But I’d have to be born to it, because I don’t think I could “do” that lifestyle otherwise. I’m too lazy.

Non-Christian–I’d be Jewish, or maybe a Unitarian Universalist.
 
scapularkid8 said:
Right, I agree. I can’t speak for everyone else here, but the Truth that we’ve found in Catholicism is rooted in Judaism which would be the full revelation of Truth if Catholicism didn’t exist and that’s why we would say we’d be Jewish. I think there’s a difference between ‘shopping’ for a religion you just happen to like and honestly looking for the Truth. For example, I have a friend who is borderline Atheist/Buddhist who is honestly searching for the Truth and I respect him tons more in that regard than my other friend who wants to convert to Judaism just because he thinks it’s “cool”.
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I think you’re totally right. I don’t think converting to a religion because it’s cool is necessarily the right thing, but maybe somewhere in the process, one discovers the truth. My best friend became Jewish sometime after college, not because it was cool, but because she saw “Truths” in it. She was raised a Baptist.

I’ve also read comments from a few priests who were raised Jewish and converted to Catholicism that the realized that Catholicism was the Truth revealed through the Messiah or the completion of Judaism (or something to that affect-- I’m paraphrasing badly. I’m exhausted and my brain is fried tonight.)
 
HashemEchad said:
A discussion in another thread made me think of this question.

I know, speaking for myself, if I were not a Jew, I’d probably be a Deist.
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If it is just Catholicism and not Christianity that did not exist I would choose an Eastern Christian Church, most likely the Oriental Orthodox. I find their spirituality to be beautiful and to start with I am already of a similar (Maronite) tradition.

If Christianity as a whole did not exist I would probably choose Orthodox Judaism. I like the tradition and the discipline.

Like you I am drawn by the more traditional religions.
 
HashemEchad said:
A discussion in another thread made me think of this question.

I know, speaking for myself, if I were not a Jew, I’d probably be a Deist.
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Eastern Orthodox. If that wasn’t around then Agnostic defenitly.
 
This thread gave me an idea for discussing Catholicism in a Jewish context. I was going to start it here, but that’s not really appropriate so it’s here.
 
Definitely Jewish. My wife is Jewish and she often claims that I am in some ways more Jewish than she.
 
CATHOLIC! 🙂

If I were not one, then I would be eligible to become one!😉
 
Orthodox Christianity, so at least I could have access to the sacraments.
 
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