Which way do converts lean?

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ez3714

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#1 Don’t have the first clue in which category this belongs. #2 I fully concede this invites generalizations, and then protests from trend-buckers. So, my questions:

Do converts to Catholicism tend to lean traditional? Do those who leave the Church for Protestantism tend to lean modern?
 
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I can only answer for myself - I lean far toward traditional; I had been a frustrated Baptist for many years due to modernity. The more frustrated I became, the more I began to search for the truth.
 
When I left the Church years ago, later to become Protestant, I leaned conservative, feeling like the RCC was wishy-washy, weak, not strong in her positions. .

To my own surprise I was to return many years later, after studying Church teachings on my own, rather than basing judgment on her teachers at the time. I find those doctrines to be the real treasure. Now I’m “just Catholic”
 
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I’m a convert to Catholicism 20 some years ago. I’m conservative, but I don’t get all these divisions in Catholicism – some only attend Latin mass, some complain about the modern music, some complain about which way the priest is facing. I’m sure these are all important considerations for some, but for me, they make as much sense as calculus, which I also avoid.
 
fhansen said:
When I left the Church years ago, later to become Protestant, I leaned conservative, feeling like the RCC was wishy-washy, weak, not strong in her positions. .
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Was not expecting that answer. Totally cool!
 
Dlee said:
I can only answer for myself - I lean far toward traditional
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Started off Baptist myself.

Here’s what underlies the question: My parents were immigrants from a not-so-nice place. They weren’t born with the blessings of this place, had to struggle to get here, had to learn a new language, and had to pass an exam before being declared citizens. They and their fellow immigrants made a bigger deal out of being American. I tend to see the same thing in fellow converts.
 
As someone converting now from Protestantism, I would say I lean conservative. I personally prefer a more traditional version of the ordinary form, like the Cathedral I’m going to uses. I personally feel it’s more immersive for me than a mass that uses a guitar or more modern sounding music. That’s all just personal preference though, nothing I’d argue with someone over. I went to an EF low mass and had no idea what was going on, couldn’t hear anything. I would like to learn Latin though
 
Donald_S said:
I would like to learn Latin though
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Father was picky. No RCIA for me; it was one-on-one for over a year. One day, he glowed, “I Am So PROUD of you! You have Already learned all the Latin Prayers we teach our 3rd Graders!” Ummmm, thanks, Father?
 
I am a soon-to-be convert and I started off Anglican Catholic. I lean both traditional and modern. I love modern music, but also hymns like"The King of Love my Shepherd is", I dislike the King James Bible, but I am a strong conservative.
 
ez3714 said:
#1 Don’t have the first clue in which category this belongs. #2 I fully concede this invites generalizations, and then protests from trend-buckers. So, my questions:

Do converts to Catholicism tend to lean traditional? Do those who leave the Church for Protestantism tend to lean modern?
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Well according to some on this forum, they are constantly accusing converts of being too traditional and liken them to standing on their soapboxes telling others how un-catholic they are. 🤨

I think some converts lean more traditional because in some cases its the old traditions and teachings which appeal to them to begin with. Unfortunately, after converting they are struck with the sad reality that much of they read in books and videos from other well known converts, is scarcely practiced at the parish level. Instead, they are met with attempts to soften Catholicism with a more protestant appeal.

I’m often reminded of one Dr. Scott Hahn’s earlier videos where he speaks of his journey to the Catholic Church. In it he tells of a time when his wife Kimberly convinces him that he needs to go and see first hand if the “Catholic Church he believes in, still exists.” Because for Dr. Hahn he kept running into priests and other clergy who no longer held to the teachings he was discovering for himself.
 
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Can’t speak for others and I’m very technically not a convert but an extremely late revert (baptized a year after my birth to make my grandmother happy and never brought up in the faith at all, not a word). I attend TLM exclusively because it’s an option for me and have done since the day I was confirmed.

When I started in RCIA at a OF parish I quickly ditched the children’s bible printouts and teen catechism and used a Douay-Rheims bible and A Brief Catechism for Adults by Fr. William J. Cogan pub. 1951/58 and a Roman catechism. I started reading and listening to St. John Chrysostom at the outset. Tradition is exactly what I wanted, not the church of what’s happening. That said, I won’t leave no matter what.

I truly believe God brought me (nearly kicking and screaming) into the Catholic Church. I had initially intended to attend a church (read: any) as a means of joining a group of people who were more conservative in their values than the typical people of my locality. Like a social club. I didn’t have any faith, natural or supernatural. I was mainly looking at fundamentalist (not mainline, lesbian ministers and rainbow flags on the church, which so many seem to have) protestants (which held no appeal other than “conservative” values and EO, which I knew little to nothing about, but seemed aesthetically more appealing to me. During this period I actually gained faith. I believe it was supernatural but regardless, it made this search more important because now I had to find not a church that fit my tastes, but that was the true church. I was still quite leery of the Catholic Church for all the problems with which we are all familiar. I really didn’t want it to be the Catholic Church. It is. I submitted.

I’ve had to submit and jettison a lot of things about me and my preferences and desires since then and I haven’t regretted it once and I’m incredibly grateful that God was kind enough and merciful enough to bring me to His Church and show me His way and gift me with His Sacraments.

Not sure what prompted this “conversion” story, I guess it felt like part of why I “lean” traditional though I’m not sure that’s clear in the telling. Oh well.
 
Like many things, I think it tends to be a swinging pendulum. I’m a convert of many years ago, but I don’t think I can entirely relate to the motivations of many converting now.

I’ve seen many converts that would lean toward the modern/liberal view according to this forum, and when a few years pass, they seem to be a majority conservative/traditional - again, according to this forum, which I don’t believe to be a representative sample either way. I’ve also watched parishes lean more heavily one way or another over the years, too. In the end, it seems to cycle and balance itself out.
 
MiserereMeiDei, I enjoyed your conversion story-- very similar to mine. Isn’t God good?
Baptized Catholic, never told of it, raised protestant, left that church when I took a homeless guy to coffee hour and got a cold reception.
Five years later I had a conversion experience, joined the Foursquare church, which has some great pastors, then married a lukewarm Catholic and he wanted to visit his church again. So ended up in RCIA and, like you, can’t be pried away.
 
I was drawn to the church because of beauty and tradition. I’m not a rad trad by any stretch, but lean heavily towards tradition and attend a very orthodox tradition-loving parish.
 
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