Leaving the Catholic Church over sexual issues

[Major_Tom]

I disagree - sin takes away from our humanity; it doesn’t add to it. The less we sin, the more human we are. Jesus was the perfect human being, and I hope you don’t think He ever sinned.

Touche. But I read sarcasm and in that original post, and was commenting on the sarcasm…! It seemed to be an unconstructive comment. How many people have posted questions like “I’m having trouble with this and that…”; a response like “Just don’t do it” doesn’t seem real helpful…

 

[jmcrae]

Touche. But I read sarcasm and in that original post, and was commenting on the sarcasm…! It seemed to be an unconstructive comment. How many people have posted questions like “I’m having trouble with this and that…”; a response like “Just don’t do it” doesn’t seem real helpful…

Well - it can also give you a jolt and remind you that you do have a choice. Just because we sinned yesterday doesn’t mean that we have to sin again today.

 

[OraLabora]

Well - it can also give you a jolt and remind you that you do have a choice. Just because we sinned yesterday doesn’t mean that we have to sin again today.

It is very unhelpful to tell someone with clinical depression to “just snap out of it”.

It is similarly unhelpful to say something similar to someone who has a habitual sin they are ashamed of.

 

[Major_Tom]

It is very unhelpful to tell someone with clinical depression to “just snap out of it”.

It is similarly unhelpful to say something similar to someone who has a habitual sin they are ashamed of.

Much more eloquent than what I was stumbling over…!

 

[jmcrae]

Touche. But I read sarcasm and in that original post, and was commenting on the sarcasm…! It seemed to be an unconstructive comment. How many people have posted questions like “I’m having trouble with this and that…”; a response like “Just don’t do it” doesn’t seem real helpful…

Fortunately, that wasn’t the context of his comment - because, yeah, it would have been rude if there had been someone in the thread asking a question like that. There wasn’t.

 

[ManOnFire]

Recently I spoke with three friends of my wife’s, all of whom say they’re considering leaving the Catholic Church - two of them said they were considering the Lutheran Church.

Their reasons?

One was in opposition to the Pope’s prohibition of condoms in Africa.
The other two disagree with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality as a sin. One of her friends told me “I can’t believe in a God who tells me I have to hate my friends”.

I responded that though there are things I disagree with or struggle with in the Church, I’m not willing to leave that Grace behind for the sake of making my friends happy, and asking whether the alternative (give everyone all the condoms they need) would make for a better world. And I admonished them in seeking that they should not try to find the love of God outside of the holiness of God - and that one must be perfect to enter Heaven. One of the friends said “Who’s perfect? Why would I want to believe in a God like that?”

To me, this is a misplaced mindset - putting 21st century liberal values before Christian beliefs. To them, my mindset is the old one and needs to be brought “up to date” with the progressive world around us. In other words - modernism.

How can we, in our conversations, overcome such barriers to Christ? I would argue that these issues are peripheral - especially for those of us who are not homosexuals - especially when compared with central doctrine of salvation. Indeed, should I reject Christ altogether because my friends are left out?

How many “modern” people are breaking the first commandment by worshipping the false god by living according to pop culture media’s dictates. I wish people would be more open-minded and independent of pop culture. They’re not even elected. They lure people away from True Love by playing to their basic instincts of instant gratification. They’re falling into the trap of living according to pop culture’s rules. Tell them that you can see their future if they continue on that path: it involves atheism.

 

[OraLabora]

How many “modern” people are breaking the first commandment by worshipping the false god by living according to pop culture media’s dictates. I wish people would be more open-minded and independent of pop culture. They’re not even elected. They lure people away from True Love by playing to their basic instincts of instant gratification. They’re falling into the trap of living according to pop culture’s rules. Tell them that you can see their future if they continue on that path: it involves atheism.

With this I completely agree. In fact I think this is a far more important than whether one occasionally falls into the temptation to masturbate, which seems to be the perennial obsession of this forum.

I know that it was excessive materialism, among other things, that led me astray many years ago. I am now making great efforts to simplify my life. Successful in some areas, less so in others. I am fortunate that I married a very frugal woman

In many ways she’s an example of where I’d like to be. Sometimes I find her a bit over the top when it comes to frugality, and a bit too severe and Calvinist at times, but she remains an example to follow. She’s not Catholic BTW, but an evangelical Anglican.