Is it possible for a Religious person to go full circle and become atheist

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Case in point: Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, the “Singing Nun” who had a #1 hit in 1963 with her version of Dominique. We all sang to it. Best to read the very sad tale.

 
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White_Tree said:
Others chose to remain even though they don’t believe any more, because they often feel trapped in that life, for one reason or another, so they basically just go through the motions.
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It’s not surprising honestly. I mean after spending all that time in seminary it’s not that easy to just get out and get a new job to support yourself. It would be tempting to just stay for the job security
 
aitapyh said:
the reality is, as the Roman Church is set up it can take as little as one single man’s perversity or mere cruel words to destroy the faith that some have come to see them representing.
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It seems that, in that example, the person is responding to a faith in an individual man, rather than faith in the church founded by Our Lord.
A person well formed in the faith, will find it easier to recognize, that priests, like everyone else, are human and that humans sin.
The Holy Father goes to confession just like all of the rest of us.
 
aitapyh said:
As individuals we are all judged for what we have done. The Church will be collectively judged however for how it has responded to these individual sins.
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I agree that, as individuals we will each be judged for what we have done and eternity will reflect that judgement.
The Church is made up of a collection of individuals, some of whom are priests and others whom are religious or laity. Each individual must face the Just Judge at the end of their days. However, He will judge each person individually.
Of course individuals do judge each other and some individuals may choose to judge Catholics or the Catholic church in the light of a particular time or action.
This is why I spoke to the issue of formation. someone who is well formed in their faith will be able to see the problem with rejecting the institution created by God as an instrument of our salvation. While he or she may be angry and frustrated, leaving the Church will be seen as walking away from God’s plan. They will be challenged to forgive while also working to prevent near occasions of sin.
So I would suggest that a person who is well formed and strong in their faith will not leave but a person whose faith is in men, rather than in God might stumble.
 
aitapyh said:
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phil19034:
someone’s bad behavior (alone) doesn’t cause a devout person who loves Jesus Christ to stop believing in Jesus Christ.
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You didn’t consider the entirety of my post. I said,
aitapyh said:
when one’s beliefs are shockingly shattered one tends to rebel “full blown” into the opposite direction with little regard for rational behavior. Rational behavior may or may not catch up with them later.
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People tend to react against being wronged, more importantly severely, world view shattering wronged by rebellion in the opposite direction.

If your world view is that a priest is near immaculate and you enter the Church having more faith in the men who you see as concerns what they are saying about the Man you cannot see when that faith is destroyed people tend to react not only against the immediate offender but also against what that offender represents in their mind, that is the Church. This may not be a rational reaction at the time but it certainly would be a normal one.

The Catholic Church has overwhelmingly emphasized the visual as a promotion of the spiritual. Huge churches, paintings, gilded artifacts, trinkets, statues, elaborate ritual presentations, pomp and splendor so it would be no wonder that people start to blur the lines between what/whom God is, and this divine parade of visual presentations.

So yes, if a priest offends, or some other church related shock takes place the shocked tend to blur the lines between that and God and so rebel against the whole. Ask a victim. One single priest’s offense CAN cause them to rebel against God and the love of Christ. That’s psych. 101.

Of course rational behavior might reassert itself eventually so that they may be able to separate the offense from the love of God and thus regain a spiritual quest but these things take time.
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I don’ t think you are understanding me or we are talking past one another.
  1. we are not talking about anyone belonging to a religion. We are talking about a DEVOUT, Religious person.
  2. I 100% agree that 1 person causing scandal can destroy the faith of an individual (even a devout 1). They can even destroy the person’s faith in Jesus. Yes, 1 person can cause such scandal to drive someone to become an atheist.
HOWEVER, to become an atheist, one has to make choice to believe that there is no higher power. My argument isn’t that it’s impossible for scandal to cause someone to become an atheist.

My argument is that most people who convert from Devout Religious to Atheist have an issue with evil.

When a person experiences scandal in the Church, it is an evil. If that’s why they become an atheist, it’s because they can’t understand how it’s possible for evil people to be in the Church. But evil is everywhere… Adam & Eve’s own son murdered his own brother…

We live in a fallen world, so evil is everywhere. Some people cannot reconcile this with an all loving God. Every conversation that I’ve ever had with an atheist always comes down to “well if there is an all powerful God, then why is there so much evil?”
 
aitapyh said:
The Church will be collectively judged however for how it has responded to these individual sins.
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No. The Church is perfect. The humans inside the clergy are not.

Jesus will not judge the Church. Jesus will judge the shepherds. Afterall, the path to Hell is paved with the bones of evil priests & bishops.

I would be willing to bet that not only are there a large number of evil priests & bishop burning in Hell, but I would not be surprised to learn that there are a handful of Popes there too.

The Church is supernatural - she will not be judged. But the humans inside her will be.
 
Oh yes, I’ve seen it happen many times. For some people science proves everything and the need for God just sort of evaporates. I also think that the more secure your life is, the less you feel like you need God. This is NOT what I believe, it’s what I’m seeing.
 
aitapyh said:
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jeannetherese:
The Holy Father goes to confession just like all of the rest of us.
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I am aware of this. I’ve seen the media circus that makes sure everyone knows about the humility of the Popes. 🤨 Catholicism has an awesome media presence.
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What media are you following? It seems to me, and maybe I am missing something, that the media is fairly hostile to Christianity in general, including the Catholic church.
 
OKComputer said:
Oh yes, I’ve seen it happen many times. For some people science proves everything and the need for God just sort of evaporates. I also think that the more secure your life is, the less you feel like you need God. This is NOT what I believe, it’s what I’m seeing.
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I would not say that science proves everything. That’s scientism and is predicated on a lack of understanding of what science does.

Many just come to accept that if something is real or objective, then it’s got to be observed as such.

We still need lots of things that aren’t materially real. Morals and meaning come to mind.
 
Oh I agree with you completely, I’m just saying what I’ve seen. Not what I believe.
 
I stared out as a Protestant, later left the church for a while, went back when I got married, in middle-age left the church and Christianity. After 15 years or so, I realized I was still a Christian, but I was looking for something. It seemed as if the Catholic church was what I needed and wanted—the certainty that most of the members seemed to have, and the rigor.

I became Catholic, because I chose to believe most of what the Catholic church teaches. I realized that my thought has always been that people believe what they want to believe. I wanted Catholicism. I needed more than a watered down Sunday-only religion. I am in the Church now, because I chose to believe. I love my Catholic faith, my Catholic life, my Catholic church, and I realized that this is where I always needed to be. But it didn’t just happen to me—I made a choice.
 
Matthew 13 teaches us exactly that…

Of course hopefully people who walk away become prodigals who come back. There’s no way for anyone other than God to know who’s going to do what, but we can and are actually beholden to 🙏 for such individuals.
 
Good advice. Adoration does always bring me back to resting in truth and faith.
 
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That yes, it is possible to go Catholic to atheist (which was the OP’s question)
 
OK. A demonstration of free will - as there are innumerable threads here about free will. I have no idea why, since it is self-evident. But that’s another story.
 
Most of these are very standard topics. Happy to talk by pm.

…will say however the one that really gets me is, “Just shut it down!” As if that’s how banks work… and you can never have spent much time in Italy! Lol! You would never say what you are saying - “pathetic” is the wrong word, more like “intractable” or “unsolvable”… Even if it could be “shut down,” then a sovereign country is left without a banking system. Unless the suggestion is to have a Scrooge McDuck style vault with 500 Euro bills stacked up… I guess that’s possible, but it’s probably unwise.
 
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