Stopped believing in God

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lucysweeny
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lucysweeny

Guest
I’m 16 and I’m not catholic anymore.My mum is really religious they strive for me to go to mass every week (which I don’t do).I stopped believing after reading about hell.Hell a place where people are subdued to the eternal flame.Tortured for all eternity.People describe hell as a place of complete and utter torment.beaten and burn and in constant pain.People say that the air in hell is suffocating and your greatest fears are used against you.I don’t believe that anyone could possibly deserve this. Even the most psychotic,physciopathic,evil people should not have to endure an eternity of unimaginable abuse.I think this is crazy many people believe that this could be possible.God is described in the New Testament as a diety if pure goodness,kindness and forgiveness.this idea of a place of no love and no light compromises this entire perception of what are creator must be.How could a being so pure and full of love force this fate apon a person.I have heard this argument of it’s not god who send you there it’s yourself.How could this be who else could send you to this horrid place surely if God loves us so much he could not think of putting us here.In matter a fact I have debated if this percetion of God paints him as evil.Even us as humans Have laws In place to protect the human rights of even the most disgusting criminals.God would be violating all human rights by doing this.Also I have thought of the many things this church considers ‘sins’ For example sex before marriage,masterbation,some versions of ivf(although I don’t agree with embryos being destroyed I believe one should be created and used),gay people having a relationship.These so called sins are said to compromise are eternal souls some stupid act of having sex means we get tortured forever?sounds silly.

Purgatory:I liked the idea of purgatory repenting and severing our time for ur sins so u can enter heaven not a bad idea.It sounds like the best solution,but that Catholic Church created this idea middle century to get money off people scared of damnation.so when u read about it it feels shakey as there is no bible references and reassurance that it is there.This is why I stopped believing in a catholic god.
 
My nearly 15 year old has a similar thought. Although she told me that if there was no God there is no Hell and that she does not know how she can believe in heaven without believing she wouldn’t be condemned in hell. So the very best thing for her in her mind was to stop believing all together although she will say Grace at dinner time and go to church on special days and help mr 5 with his RE homework and will not tell the younger kids her opinion ( which I am extremely thankful for)

She also decided against getting baptised for This very reason. I told her the same thing I’m going to tell you now.

That is perfectly fine and everyone has there own beliefs and thoughts, However when you are ready God will be waiting for you. It doesn’t matter how long it takes he is always there waiting ready to forgive.

Now I just pray hoping she will someday soon see the light
 
Last edited:
Best reply ever.

To the OP: I’m a priest. You’re in my prayers. If I can be of any help, feel free to PM me.

-Fr ACEGC
 
Last edited:
Not sure where you got your info from.

Hell is for people who choose it. For people who choose to refuse God and His love, people who refuse to have anything to do with God, it’s a choice.
Trust me, there are very likely ex atheists and masturbators in heaven.
Those rules are created out of love for us. It’s not a list of things we can’t do, it’s a road map to the quickest way to be with Him.
If found that the closer I follow it, the happier I am.

Just remember, nothing can separate you from God’s love.
 
Most ideas of heaven are speculative. As someone else said that’s not who god is. Also God sends no one to help. People willingly go there.
 
  • Nobody in Heaven desires anybody in hell to be miserable, but everybody in hell desires everybody in Heaven to be miserable.
  • Hell lasts forever because the person’s obstinacy lasts forever
  • Sexual sins are one of the chief reasons there is so much suffering in the world.
  • Purgatory is a concept that existed among Jews before Christ ever walked the Earth.
Peace.
 
Last edited:
If you mean separation from Gd is a human choice, I agree with you. But if you mean eternal torment and torture, whether within a specific “place” called hell or within one’s own mind, is a human choice, I cannot agree, for who would choose that?

As to the OP, I do not believe hell is a place of physical or spiritual torment but rather a state of separation from Gd. And I think Catholicism believes this as well, but I am not sure since I have heard at least two perspectives of this. The “fire and brimstone” notion of hell, however, is, I believe, more associated with certain evangelical or fundamentalist Protestant groups. With regard to purgatory, this Catholic notion is derived from the Hebrew Bible and Judaism. It is not something non-biblical made up out of thin air.
 
God wants us to be his partner to be a force for good in this world.
We are stronger with you helping. No one else can take your place.
 
Take the advice of others here, and make use of the priest who offered himself as a resource on this thread. I’m not great at giving advice myself, so I’ll leave it to those better qualified, but I must say that your perception of the origin of purgatory is way off. My wife is Jewish, and she has been taught from a young age about prayer for the dead and purification after death. This is an ancient Jewish belief, and far from a Catholic invention. Look at the main catholic.com page for information about purgatory, and do an internet search for its biblical basis. You would also do well to look up the history of indulgences and their abuse, which is the what I believe that you’re referencing with regard to the Chuch’s getting “money off people scared of damnation”. Your statement is inaccurate in itself, but even if indulgences were a money-making scam, they would have had no impact on anyone if the belief in purgatory were not already in existence and well known. Aside from that, since no one in purgatory will be damned, fear of damnation would not even enter into the equation.
 
Lucysweeny said:
How could a being so pure and full of love force this fate apon a person.I have heard this argument of it’s not god who send you there it’s yourself.How could this be who else could send you to this horrid place surely if God loves us so much he could not think of putting us here.In matter a fact I have debated if this percetion of God paints him as evil.
Click to expand...
Have you ever read the story of the prodigal son?

Imagine the Father in that story as God. Imagine His house as heaven. Imagine the younger son never decides to come home.
 
Imagine a football player who is in the Superbowl! The big game! and the whole game he is on the sideline, listening to music, playing with his phone. Missing the whole thing. His team is taking hits, losing yardage, being carried off. They are behind in the score, and his team mates come over and say Come on! We need you!!! and you say Get lost. I’m busy. The coach pulls on your sleeve and says GET in there! THIS is why we are HERE!! and you reply You’re not the boss of me! Get lost! This is all stupid.

Today, we are the team. This is our chance to make the big plays. To make the saints in the stands cheer for us! Through all the centuries, others had their turn. It’s your time to be the star. Don’t blow it. Life is short and what you do matters. It matters to a lot of people. Be a force for good. Get in the game that matters.
 
@Lucysweeny I was raised a Southern Baptist. At age 18, I lost my faith in God after one of my aunts died. I was an atheist for five or six years. In my mid 20s, I decided to find my way back to God. And God led me to the Catholic Church. At age 29, I was received into the the Church. This scripture reminds us of God’s love. God bless you!

Philippians 2:6-8

6 Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

7 Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance,

8 he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
 
I don’t see how you can think it impossible for a man to send himself to Hell. I see it or read about it almost everyday. I see people here on Earth choosing an earthly Hell. That is the key to it all, choice. We are given a choice and God respects that choice. Choose wisely.
 
Are you joking anyone in there right mind would rather cease to exist than be in eternal suffering
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top