Wow, I come back 12 hours later and there’s already a page of answers! For the record, I’m a ‘she’, for all those writing ‘they’ or ‘he’. Weird that nobody assumed I was a woman.
In any case, I’ll try to respond to as many of these as I can. This may be long.
I was kind of in your shoes not too long ago - I had left the Church and embraced all sorts of New Age teachings. I was convinced that belief in the Judeo-Christian God and Jesus Christ was for simple minded people or people that had a blind faith.
My sister (a devout catholic) gave me a few books by a former confirmed atheist. He is an investigative reporter who went on a search for all the evidence against a Creator, Faith, and Jesus Christ. He used all of his experience as an award-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune.
The evidence he found was shocking - it overwhelmingly supported a Creator, Faith, and Jesus Christ.
The author’s name is Lee Strobel. You can find his books on Amazon and at most bookstores. Some of the titles are:
“The Case for Christ”
“The Case for a Creator”
“The Case for Faith”
—May the Holy Spirit Guide and Keep You—
Well, I appreciate the references (and to the person who suggested the titles on Netflix, thanks as well!), but I think you have me mistaken when it comes to how I got to this point. I don’t think people with religion are simple minded. I don’t think I am superior, nor do I think people have blind faith (although some do, I’m sure).
for Catholic and atheism as personal choices of belief, not abstract truths, substitute “particle physics”, “the process of cell division” or any concept difficult or impossible for non-scientists to observe, explain or understand. Would you say it is logical or sane to insist that your own personal beliefs or interpretation are enough to override a scientific fact or truth, even one established by generations of minds wiser and more observant than you. That is, would you say my grandmother’s personal opinion that “men never landed on the moon, it was a hoax propagated by TV”, is equally valid and true compared with the consensus of NASA on that topic?
For the scientist to be able to observe and report the truth it is necessary to have humility to study the work of others who have come before him, and he cannot even publish the results of his own research without peer review. Apply this standard now to religion. Is it not wise to at least allow for the possibility that “clouds of witnesses” of people wiser, more receptive, and more interested in hearing the revelation of Truth, and more experienced in testing and acting on those beliefs, might be more reliable than unaided personal opinion?
You are presenting this argument as if God is something that can be measured. Additionally, you are forcing religion and science to fight. They’re mutually exclusive; you can’t compare an apple to a spaceship and you can’t compare scientific theory to God. But if you insist, I will counter that there is no such thing as “peer-reviewed religion”, especially within the context of the Catholic Church. If the Pope uses his infallibility, NOBODY can argue that. That’s hardly peer-reviewed. You may argue and say that he is chosen by God and thus his infallibility is valid, but there is no proof in that. It’s all faith. Faith that what the leaders in the Vatican say is right. Faith. Not proof.
All these witnesses that you claim I should listen to. Perhaps their “miracles” just haven’t been explained scientifically yet. I broke my nose when I was a kid, and sometimes when I’m congested, I will cry blood. But if people didn’t know any better, I could say I was touched by God and I guarantee I would have believers.
Enough of this.
If you have doubts, please don’t try to explain it away by mentioning this. I don’t buy that Catholicism is what makes anyone feel guilty. It is often used as a catch-all phrase by people that want to bash Catholicism or excuse themselves of their failings. First, you need to really identify what your doubts are. And then, if you truly are interested in believing in more than the spaghetti god, you will do some reading as suggested by another poster and come to a logical decision.
Ouch. What I mentioned in passing really got you going. It may be different for you, but 12 years of Catholic education has taught me to look at everything from a “am I sinning?” approach. If that’s not guilt, I don’t know what is. Please explain why I offended so much.
I would suggest trying to keep the parts of Catholicism you like, if any, in order to give God (if he exists) some room teach you, and allow you to discover him.
the Christian way of life, even if all the theological things about God are wrong, is still a pretty good way to live one’s life, provided you can avoid the guilt, which I agree is a challenge.
Here’s the issue though. Have you been on any other forums besides the Philosophy one? I was just torn apart in Family Life for my thoughts on premarital sex. I presented my argument and then the women there berated me for even being in the discussion. “You’re not contributing anything positive so what’s your point in being here?” Wow. Do I really want to be a part of something that’s so all-or-nothing? If I don’t believe every single word that issues from the mouth of a priest on up to the Pope, I’m essentially going straight to hell.
The “Christian” way of life is just a reason to be moral, but you can definitely be a moral atheist. I don’t see why I couldn’t have the same moral code whether I believed in a omnipotent being or not. I don’t think that reason would work for me to stay in the church.
more below_
) and general learned fear (I’m scared to say Catholic guilt now), I am scared to let go of my Catholic roots. My purpose was to find resources that would convince me that I’m wrong and lovin God is the bee’s knees. I can’t force myself to believe something though, so I wanted to peruse all of the resources I could. I know this kind of stuff is a life long learning process, and maybe I’ll jump from being Catholic to agnostic to Catholic to Atheist to Buddhist to Catholic. You never know with life. You guys have given me a lot of places to look for answers though, so that I can come up with my own conclusions. So for that, thanks. 
