Ok. I’ll bite.
Been there tried it bought the t-shirt. I found after a while that I, and all the non-religious types I knew, ended up in serious slavery in one way or another, whether it was to money/possessions, status/their job, the fleeting and unstable desires of the body for sex, food, drugs or what-have-you. These things are and should be either absent from your life or of secondary status and not dominating it. Net result when they do - much unhappiness.
It seems to me that without God, life has no real meaning. Without God, I don’t know what would get me out of bed some mornings. Without God, I wouldn’t understand my profound purpose in this life.
You would not be here if it wasn’t for God. God is only impersonal because you make no attempt to allow him to get personal.
I was raised in a non- religious home. From what I have read on this forum Jesus died for me but why does that make me accountable to him? I didn’t ask him to die for me.
You didn’t ask Him to give you life, either, but He did. You are accountable before God, and there only. When you reach your final reward, He will demand an account from you.
My rule is: Love the sinner, hate the sin (because we are all sinners-incapable of being otherwise!). The Catholic Church does not tell you you’re a bad person for sinning, It does, in a nutshell, tell you what you should do to live a purer life, and ultimately, get to heaven.
) Look at the results: If you’re married, and you have sex outside of a covenental marriage (and if you said “I Do” in church with witnesses, you’ve entered into a covenental marriage), you’ve broken the covenant, you’ve broken your promise to your spouse and to God! What’s more important, really, than being honest? I won’t go into the multiple partners thing, but think of the spiritual aspect of sexual relations. Sex is meant to be a beautiful thing, some would say sacred. When you go around sleeping with multiple partners, you ruin the more spiritual meaning of the act.-St. Thomas Aquinas
Ok Nancy, I have a question that I really feel I need to ask… It is a serious question, from the heart, and I am asking that you don’t take it in any way as against you personally… but there have been times where I have read posts similar in nature to what you are asking in the beginning of this thread… and I wonder, what causes a person who rejects Catholicism, religion in general, or God our Father, to come to and join a place specifically titled ‘Catholic Answers’? Much like those who are very anti-Catholic and come here and join, reside amongst us for periods of time, sometimes long periods of time, all the while detailing their objections to the faith. I just don’t get it, and I honestly want to understand the reasons/motivations… no harm intended at all. Can you share with us/me what brought you here to the Catholic Answers to begin with, then what caused you to join, and why you stayed if you do feel the way you seem to - rather than joining a forum not based on Catholicism and with others who might more closely share your beliefs? Is it really because you are denying a part of yourself that might want more from life and you are searching and hoping to be brought into the faith? Or something else?
No, you are not alone. There are millions people out there who think they have everything, but at the end of their lives, they realize they’re thirst for something else. Something that a Christian can only find from the True God - it is the Eternal Love and Life.
I’ve asked this question of other posters as well. I’ve never understood why anyone who feels this way would bother with folks who feel the way we do! When I was out of the Church, and spewing my anti-Catholic nonsense everywhere, the last place I would have wanted to be was a Catholic forum!
If you don’t need God in your life, what are you doing in this forum? You’re obviously searching for something!
I’m sorry, something in your post just occurred to me … the question about who needs an ‘impersonal’ God… this is probably one of the biggest misconceptions of anyone who has not truly experienced and lived the Catholic faith… there is absolutely nothing impersonal about God to us. He lives and breathes within us, throughout each and every day, and we in him. He guides us through trials and rejoices in our triumphs… he shows us the way when we are lost, loves us despite our sins, and protects us from anything that would take us from his love. I feel I know God and he me so much more intimately through Catholicism and daily prayer than I ever could have come to experience in any other (lesser) faith…
