Why are you not Catholic?

[D0UBTFIRE]

Any of you come “this close” to embracing Catholicism, but haven’t been able to? How come?

Did any of you start as Catholic but ended up converting to Eastern Orthodox or Anglican or Lutheran or something else? Why?

Any of you “cafeteria Catholics” and are comfortable with it? How did you reconcile that?

Just trying to find my place in this world!

 

[dronald]

Any of you come “this close” to embracing Catholicism, but haven’t been able to? How come?

Did any of you start as Catholic but ended up converting to Eastern Orthodox or Anglican or Lutheran or something else? Why?

Any of you “cafeteria Catholics” and are comfortable with it? How did you reconcile that?

Just trying to find my place in this world!

I came extremely close. Some of the members here wonder “what the heck happened” because of just how close I was.

For me, it’s that Catholics around me have no heart. They have grey hair, they have a couple family members with them, they’re not open about their Faith, and it’s really just a part of their culture. No one took any interest in me when I visited CC’s.

They’re not interested in “Going and making Disciples of all nations.” As for me, I want everyone to know who Christ is, I want to discuss it with my closest friends and I want them to be inspired in our discussions. I want God to be the centre of my life, and the Church I attend makes sure that’s your attitude. There is no “Culture” where I go to Church. People come in whether rich, poor, old, young, whatever. People are on fire for God where I go.

There are some doctrinal reasons I am not Catholic, but when my conscience was hurting and I couldn’t decide because both my Church and the CC’s sounded so right, I then decided I would only pray and read my Bible. I put it in God’s hands. And for whatever reason, it seems so obvious to me that He wants me where I am.

Where I am now I know Christians who are only Christians because they want to be. We feed the poor, not to be social, but because we want to preach Christ. There’s so much good where I am, and I won’t give it up unless God brings me somewhere else.

 

[Share_love]

I came extremely close. Some of the members here wonder “what the heck happened” because of just how close I was.

For me, it’s that Catholics around me have no heart. They have grey hair, they have a couple family members with them, they’re not open about their Faith, and it’s really just a part of their culture. No one took any interest in me when I visited CC’s.

They’re not interested in “Going and making Disciples of all nations.” As for me, I want everyone to know who Christ is, I want to discuss it with my closest friends and I want them to be inspired in our discussions. I want God to be the centre of my life, and the Church I attend makes sure that’s your attitude. There is no “Culture” where I go to Church. People come in whether rich, poor, old, young, whatever. People are on fire for God where I go.

There are some doctrinal reasons I am not Catholic, but when my conscience was hurting and I couldn’t decide because both my Church and the CC’s sounded so right, I then decided I would only pray and read my Bible. I put it in God’s hands. And for whatever reason, it seems so obvious to me that He wants me where I am.

Where I am now I know Christians who are only Christians because they want to be. We feed the poor, not to be social, but because we want to preach Christ. There’s so much good where I am, and I won’t give it up unless God brings me somewhere else.

While I understand that some Catholics aren’t as fellowship-oriented as Protestants are used to, please don’t let this deter you from considering joining the Catholic Church. The Bible that you obviously love was compiled by Catholics and is a Catholic group of writings. Jesus established the Catholic Church, and He is present in the tabernacle so you can visit Him. You can receive Him in Holy Communion if you are properly prepared.

I would be very happy to correspond with you and have discussions with you about this if you need evidence that the Catholic Church is the church that Jesus founded. Please feel free to PM me anytime.

 

[dronald]

While I understand that some Catholics aren’t as fellowship-oriented as Protestants are used to, please don’t let this deter you from considering joining the Catholic Church. The Bible that you obviously love was compiled by Catholics and is a Catholic group of writings. Jesus established the Catholic Church, and He is present in the tabernacle so you can visit Him. You can receive Him in Holy Communion if you are properly prepared.

I would be very happy to correspond with you and have discussions with you about this if you need evidence that the Catholic Church is the church that Jesus founded. Please feel free to PM me anytime.

I think there’s strong evidence for both to be honest. That’s why in the end I left it up for God and found, as you say “Catholics aren’t as fellowship oriented as Protestants.”

Edit- actually I wouldn’t say that’s entirely true. I see that Catholics hang out with other Catholics in their families and schools; but still don’t take it seriously.

In my neighborhood there’s literally no difference between Catholic parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, and public parents.

I don’t get where the heart is to let everyone know about Jesus? Why is it so lacking?

 

[angell1]

I think there’s strong evidence for both to be honest. That’s why in the end I left it up for God and found, as you say “Catholics aren’t as fellowship oriented as Protestants.”

Edit- actually I wouldn’t say that’s entirely true. I see that Catholics hang out with other Catholics in their families and schools; but still don’t take it seriously.

In my neighborhood there’s literally no difference between Catholic parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, and public parents.

I don’t get where the heart is to let everyone know about Jesus? Why is it so lacking?

beats me really, but we went wrong somewhere along the line. somehow people just stopped caring or something.

but it’s the greatest gift we have, they’re just taking it for granted. seriously, if that’s the only reason, I would say maybe give it another go if you feel so called.

I’ve been in your situation, been going to the same parish for years and people hardly talked to me. at one point I thought of just stopping, it’s not like anyone would notice anyways, but God would notice.

the curch has been in worse circumstances, I think, Jesus did literally tell Francis of assissi to rebuild his church because everyone had become so worldly

sometimes it takes a great saint to make a big change, maybe you could be the one? I found the problem wasn’t just with other people, it was also with me. I’m always waiting for people to approach me but maybe I needed to do something about that.

take care and God bless

 

[JonNC]

=D0UBTFIRE;13060244]Any of you come “this close” to embracing Catholicism, but haven’t been able to? How come?

I’m somewhat close. There are many things in Catholic teaching that are rejected by many protestants, even Lutherans, that I can accept. Universal jurisdiction of the pope is the one I can’t.

Any of you “cafeteria Catholics” and are comfortable with it? How did you reconcile that?

Precisely why I cannot be Catholic at this point. I don’t want to be a Cafeteria Catholic, anymore than I want to be a Lunchroom Lutheran.

Just trying to find my place in this world!

May the Spirit guide you where He wants you to be.

Jon

 

[WT1]

I’m somewhat close. There are many things in Catholic teaching that are rejected by many protestants, even Lutherans, that I can accept. Universal jurisdiction of the pope is the one I can’t.

Out of curiosity what exactly has a Pope decreed that you can’t agree with? When you say Universal Jurisdiction I am taking that to mean infallibility and my finding is that most people don’t really have a correct understanding of that term.

There has only been two "ex cathedra’ teachings since the inception of the Church and those are:

The Immaculate Conception
The Assumption of Mary

Other than that the Church only says that the Pope is infallible when teaching on morals and faith but I’ve never seen anything I could argue with. Therefore I am curious if it is just the general concept or if you have a specific example.

Thanks

 

[Patti_M]

I think there’s strong evidence for both to be honest. That’s why in the end I left it up for God and found, as you say “Catholics aren’t as fellowship oriented as Protestants.”

Edit- actually I wouldn’t say that’s entirely true. I see that Catholics hang out with other Catholics in their families and schools; but still don’t take it seriously.

In my neighborhood there’s literally no difference between Catholic parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, and public parents.

I don’t get where the heart is to let everyone know about Jesus? Why is it so lacking?

Pardon my interruption with your conversation with Share Love but from my point of view Catholics have been bullied into silence for almost as long as America has existed. If you research the history of our church in America you will see some very disturbing things. So, I don’t understand why is this so surprising to noncatholics? I never come out and tell people that I am a Catholic…I used to, but no more. My little corner of America is very anticatholic. I would go so far as to say many Catholics where I live know exactly what I’m talking about. I guess I could turn the question around and ask “why should we be very vocal about our faith when we might be ostracized for it?” There is only so much bullying and discrimination one can take. Sorry if I sound bitter, I don’t mean to. I truly love my faith. My heart aches to tell others about how I feel after I receive communion.

 

[Micosil]

I came extremely close. Some of the members here wonder “what the heck happened” because of just how close I was.

For me, it’s that Catholics around me have no heart. They have grey hair, they have a couple family members with them, they’re not open about their Faith, and it’s really just a part of their culture. No one took any interest in me when I visited CC’s.

They’re not interested in “Going and making Disciples of all nations.” As for me, I want everyone to know who Christ is, I want to discuss it with my closest friends and I want them to be inspired in our discussions. I want God to be the centre of my life, and the Church I attend makes sure that’s your attitude. There is no “Culture” where I go to Church. People come in whether rich, poor, old, young, whatever. People are on fire for God where I go.

There are some doctrinal reasons I am not Catholic, but when my conscience was hurting and I couldn’t decide because both my Church and the CC’s sounded so right, I then decided I would only pray and read my Bible. I put it in God’s hands. And for whatever reason, it seems so obvious to me that He wants me where I am.

Where I am now I know Christians who are only Christians because they want to be. We feed the poor, not to be social, but because we want to preach Christ. There’s so much good where I am, and I won’t give it up unless God brings me somewhere else.

As a person who will hopefully, God willing, be received into the Church next Easter Vigil, I definitely know where you’re coming from. It often baffles me why people aren’t so stoked about this. There’s solid, credible evidence that Jesus did come back from the dead. We have the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, Jesus is really there. People don’t realize how truly astounding that teaching is: that God is truly, substantially present, flesh and blood, soul and divinity, in the Blessed Sacrament. Why aren’t people excited about this, is something I often ponder to myself.

 

[sfleet]

All of your evidence is anecdotal. A Catholic or any person of any faith can name examples of the exact same thing happening in Protestant churches.

It is important for us as followers of Jesus Christ (regardless of “denomination”) to look at what the church we are a part of stands for and not get caught up in the weeds of what the people in the church do or say. We are all fallen humans and if our barometer for a successful church is based on the humans within it we will be setting ourselves up for disappointment time and time again.

I just recently converted and did so because what the Catholic Church teaches and proclaims is far more fulfilling than any of the protestant teachings I came across. And that is completely different than which church has the best country club atmosphere or whether they have good programs, or whether you feel “welcomed” when you come into church.

Do you want the truth when it comes to the Gospel or do you want warm and fuzzy feelings because someone told you good morning and gave you a hug?

Just my two cents.

 

[Micosil]

Pardon my interruption with your conversation with Share Love but from my point of view Catholics have been bullied into silence for almost as long as America has existed. If you research the history of our church in America you will see some very disturbing things. So, I don’t understand why is this so surprising to noncatholics? I never come out and tell people that I am a Catholic…I used to, but no more. My little corner of America is very anticatholic. I would go so far as to say many Catholics where I live know exactly what I’m talking about. I guess I could turn the question around and ask “why should we be very vocal about our faith when we might be ostracized for it?” There is only so much bullying and discrimination one can take. Sorry if I sound bitter, I don’t mean to. I truly love my faith. My heart aches to tell others about how I feel after I receive communion.

I would understand this attitude in, say, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, where Christians of all stripes, not necessarily just Catholics, suffer persecution and, infrequently, martyrdom as well – now, granted, I don’t know where you are exactly in the States, but is it that bad? Just curious, perhaps I am not aware that there truly is hostility against the Church in many areas of the US.

In Spain for example, it’s no secret that the Catholic Church had ties with the fascist regime of Franco, so the younger generation are often mildly suspicious, though as far as I can, there’s no real hostility: you won’t get called names or be physically assaulted if you share the faith in a non-proselytizing manner.

 

[D0UBTFIRE]

I came extremely close. Some of the members here wonder “what the heck happened” because of just how close I was.

For me, it’s that Catholics around me have no heart. They have grey hair, they have a couple family members with them, they’re not open about their Faith, and it’s really just a part of their culture. No one took any interest in me when I visited CC’s.

They’re not interested in “Going and making Disciples of all nations.” As for me, I want everyone to know who Christ is, I want to discuss it with my closest friends and I want them to be inspired in our discussions. I want God to be the centre of my life, and the Church I attend makes sure that’s your attitude. There is no “Culture” where I go to Church. People come in whether rich, poor, old, young, whatever. People are on fire for God where I go.

There are some doctrinal reasons I am not Catholic, but when my conscience was hurting and I couldn’t decide because both my Church and the CC’s sounded so right, I then decided I would only pray and read my Bible. I put it in God’s hands. And for whatever reason, it seems so obvious to me that He wants me where I am.

Where I am now I know Christians who are only Christians because they want to be. We feed the poor, not to be social, but because we want to preach Christ. There’s so much good where I am, and I won’t give it up unless God brings me somewhere else.

Thanks for sharing your story with me. I’m sorry about the others jumping on you as if you haven’t heard all this before.

 

[Patti_M]

I would understand this attitude in, say, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, where Christians of all stripes, not necessarily just Catholics, suffer persecution and, infrequently, martyrdom as well – now, granted, I don’t know where you are exactly in the States, but is it that bad? Just curious, perhaps I am not aware that there truly is hostility against the Church in many areas of the US.

In Spain for example, it’s no secret that the Catholic Church had ties with the fascist regime of Franco, so the younger generation are often mildly suspicious, though as far as I can, there’s no real hostility: you won’t get called names or be physically assaulted if you share the faith in a non-proselytizing manner.

I am not flogged or tortured but I have been called out in meetings where I work to explain why Pope Benedict was elected because he was a Jew hating Nazi (not my words) why Pope John Paul II was euthanized by church officials, all priests are pedophiles, on and on. I heard a lady telling friends of mine that our bishop was plotting to take over the hospitals in our city. When I say people in my part of Texas hate Catholics I mean they truly believe that we are evil. Not all but a large enough portion that I don’t share my faith unless I know for certain that they are sane. A baptist man asked me if I wanted to go to a singles party until he found out I was, duh duh duhhhh, a Catholic.

 

[Cake_or_Death]

Any of you “cafeteria Catholics” and are comfortable with it? How did you reconcile that?

I’m not sure if I should share my reasons, I fear it may earn me a ban or suspension but I feel I should be honest as my story is far from unique.

I was actually quite comfortable being a Cafeteria Catholic, really after the child abuse expose the vast majority here in Ireland take the proclamations of the Catholic priesthood about as seriously as they do an episode of the Big Bang theory (I mean no offense by this, I simply cannot think of a better analogy) and favor a more personal private faith. Catholic by circumstance and culture more than anything else.

It wasn’t always this way, I took my Catholic faith very seriously but (personally) as I progressed through my Religious Studies and History Undergraduate Degree to my mind the position of papal infallibility became entirely untenable. Not from anything like the Galileo affair but rather the formation of the Church itself. Certainly, men are sinners but the way the church was set up as an organization (absolute monarchy) really appears to my mind to invite corruption (who could possibly challenge Innocent III about his proclamation about being Supreme Temporal Ruler for instance?). I personally cannot accept the idea that our savior couldn’t come up with a better mode of governance or would permit the world to suffer as the west did under medieval Catholic rule. Certainly democracy is not perfect and many democratic institutions themselves are corrupt but when ones looks at episodes like Honorius or the Cadaver synod democratic corruption really in my mind pales in comparison.

That didn’t tip me into converting though, what did was the attempted suicide of a dear friend of mine who was kicked out of the family home by her parents for being a lesbian. Not for having a girlfriend (at the time she had decided to remain celibate), not for disobeying Catholic teaching, but for having same sex attractions.

Their callousness draws directly from their intense Catholic faith, and I cannot say it is just because their daughter was gay (their son has since ran away from home and now lives with his sister as well). I realized I simply couldn’t support such an organization anymore, these two people are hailed as paragons of Catholic virtue in my local parish by the priest and while disliked by almost every other parishioner are constantly upheld as a shining example of Catholic virtue in practice. Certainly the Pope did not my friend her out of her family home or directly suggest her mother beat the “gay demons” out of her with a candlestick until she fell unconscious, but her parents quoted the advice given by Cardinal Burke to cast sinners out of family life as justification for doing so. It may be guilt by association but I decided I wanted no more part of it, by practice or even as a nominal cultural Catholic.

Why am I no longer a Catholic? I, as an academic teacher at a university can sit at my desk and consider the good and the bad aspects of Catholicism if not in history than at least in my life and that of those around me. The bad far outweighs the good in the lives of those I am intimately familiar with and myself, it continues to influence actions that lead to the harm of otherwise innocent people here and upholds those who deserve justice to be done to them as paragons of virtue. In other words, I can’t offer any form of support or anything but the most basic level of neutral academic respect to that.

I continue to study as a scholar, since Catholicism was my original specialist subject and I am paid grants to continue my research, but on a personal level I have no desire to return.

I was always taught by a organizations fruits one could judge them, and I see a very, very bad crop in 2015 Ireland

 

[RyanBlack]

Out of curiosity what exactly has a Pope decreed that you can’t agree with? When you say Universal Jurisdiction I am taking that to mean infallibility and my finding is that most people don’t really have a correct understanding of that term.

There has only been two "ex cathedra’ teachings since the inception of the Church and those are:

The Immaculate Conception
The Assumption of Mary

Other than that the Church only says that the Pope is infallible when teaching on morals and faith but I’ve never seen anything I could argue with. Therefore I am curious if it is just the general concept or if you have a specific example.

Thanks

Universal jurisdiction and papal infallibility are not the same concept.

 

[Birdpreacher]

Born and Raised Catholic. Now agnostic

Went to Baptist University.
]

• Surrounded by People of Other Faiths
• Study Political Systems
• Study Philosphy (Existentialism)

At the end of the day. I just looked around me and saw religion function as:

1. A Story of a People: Its a story that contains the myths, values, and taboos on regards to how to live. Basically an existential boiler plate for individuals living in that society.
2. A Coping Mechanism: Life is stressful and chaotic. For some, religion offers a sense of order in an orderless world which promises that things will get better provided you live a certain way.
3. Emotivism: Especially with regards to non-Catholic evangelicals, there is this go to church to overstimulate emotions and call the physiological effects the “Holy Spirit”
4. The Nature of a God: If there is truly a good, all powerful God, surely he won’t punish me for not picking one of the numerous faiths that have existed on this earth. Each with its own holy book and miracles that demand submission to their authority. If he does not judge me by my actions, then I need not fret over my afterlife.
5. The concept of living forever, until the end of time, is frankly a bit boring and selfish. I live, I die. To expect more than an opportunity to exist in this world is selfish.
6. Life is more precious when you know its limited. I have a limited time to love all my family. This stark realization that there is no family reunion in the sky pushes me to love and let the people I care about know I love them fiercely.

 

[D0UBTFIRE]

I’m not sure if I should share my reasons, I fear it may earn me a ban or suspension but I feel I should be honest as my story is far from unique.

I was actually quite comfortable being a Cafeteria Catholic, really after the child abuse expose the vast majority here in Ireland take the proclamations of the Catholic priesthood about as seriously as they do an episode of the Big Bang theory (I mean no offense by this, I simply cannot think of a better analogy) and favor a more personal private faith. Catholic by circumstance and culture more than anything else.

It wasn’t always this way, I took my Catholic faith very seriously but (personally) as I progressed through my Religious Studies and History Undergraduate Degree to my mind the position of papal infallibility became entirely untenable. Not from anything like the Galileo affair but rather the formation of the Church itself. Certainly, men are sinners but the way the church was set up as an organization (absolute monarchy) really appears to my mind to invite corruption (who could possibly challenge Innocent III about his proclamation about being Supreme Temporal Ruler for instance?). I personally cannot accept the idea that our savior couldn’t come up with a better mode of governance or would permit the world to suffer as the west did under medieval Catholic rule. Certainly democracy is not perfect and many democratic institutions themselves are corrupt but when ones looks at episodes like Honorius or the Cadaver synod democratic corruption really in my mind pales in comparison.

That didn’t tip me into converting though, what did was the attempted suicide of a dear friend of mine who was kicked out of the family home by her parents for being a lesbian. Not for having a girlfriend (at the time she had decided to remain celibate), not for disobeying Catholic teaching, but for having same sex attractions.

Their callousness draws directly from their intense Catholic faith, and I cannot say it is just because their daughter was gay (their son has since ran away from home and now lives with his sister as well). I realized I simply couldn’t support such an organization anymore, these two people are hailed as paragons of Catholic virtue in my local parish by the priest and while disliked by almost every other parishioner are constantly upheld as a shining example of Catholic virtue in practice. Certainly the Pope did not my friend her out of her family home or directly suggest her mother beat the “gay demons” out of her with a candlestick until she fell unconscious, but her parents quoted the advice given by Cardinal Burke to cast sinners out of family life as justification for doing so. It may be guilt by association but I decided I wanted no more part of it, by practice or even as a nominal cultural Catholic.

Why am I no longer a Catholic? I, as an academic teacher at a university can sit at my desk and consider the good and the bad aspects of Catholicism if not in history than at least in my life and that of those around me. The bad far outweighs the good in the lives of those I am intimately familiar with and myself, it continues to influence actions that lead to the harm of otherwise innocent people here and upholds those who deserve justice to be done to them as paragons of virtue. In other words, I can’t offer any form of support or anything but the most basic level of neutral academic respect to that.

I continue to study as a scholar, since Catholicism was my original specialist subject and I am paid grants to continue my research, but on a personal level I have no desire to return.

I was always taught by a organizations fruits one could judge them, and I see a very, very bad crop in 2015 Ireland

Hi,

It’s still me asking questions, if you didn’t notice.

I too have great difficulty with the way the Church and many in it speak about gays and lesbians. It seems to be greatly lacking in love.

 

[NowHereThis]

Any of you come “this close” to embracing Catholicism, but haven’t been able to? How come?

Did any of you start as Catholic but ended up converting to Eastern Orthodox or Anglican or Lutheran or something else? Why?

Any of you “cafeteria Catholics” and are comfortable with it? How did you reconcile that?

Just trying to find my place in this world!

1. I doubt the story of the empty tomb and the accompanying idea that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead.
2. I reject the Catholic church’s stances on same sex marriage, reproductive issues like contraception and abortion, and refusing to ordain women.
3. I think democracy more fundamentally reflects the inherent worth and dignity of people than a top-down hierarchy.
4. I’m happy with my UU church.

That having been said, there are some things that I do admire about the church, particularly its respect for philosophy and tradition of mysticism.

 

[JonNC]

Out of curiosity what exactly has a Pope decreed that you can’t agree with? When you say Universal Jurisdiction I am taking that to mean infallibility and my finding is that most people don’t really have a correct understanding of that term.

There has only been two "ex cathedra’ teachings since the inception of the Church and those are:

The Immaculate Conception
The Assumption of Mary

Other than that the Church only says that the Pope is infallible when teaching on morals and faith but I’ve never seen anything I could argue with. Therefore I am curious if it is just the general concept or if you have a specific example.

Thanks

No. My understanding is Universal Ordinary and Immediate Jurisdiction has to do with his supremacy over all of the Church on Earth. This is not what the early councils teach.
Papal infallibility ex cathedra is related to this, but it is not the whole issue.

My issue with the Assumption is that it wasn’t defined by a truly ecumenical council.
The IC is a bit more problematic, but again, not approved by a truly ecumenical council.

The issue isn’t the dogmas, but the claim to make such declarations without a council.

Jon

 

[D0UBTFIRE]

Born and Raised Catholic. Now agnostic

Went to Baptist University.
]

• Surrounded by People of Other Faiths
• Study Political Systems
• Study Philosphy (Existentialism)

At the end of the day. I just looked around me and saw religion function as:

1. A Story of a People: Its a story that contains the myths, values, and taboos on regards to how to live. Basically an existential boiler plate for individuals living in that society.
2. A Coping Mechanism: Life is stressful and chaotic. For some, religion offers a sense of order in an orderless world which promises that things will get better provided you live a certain way.
3. Emotivism: Especially with regards to non-Catholic evangelicals, there is this go to church to overstimulate emotions and call the physiological effects the “Holy Spirit”
4. The Nature of a God: If there is truly a good, all powerful God, surely he won’t punish me for not picking one of the numerous faiths that have existed on this earth. Each with its own holy book and miracles that demand submission to their authority. If he does not judge me by my actions, then I need not fret over my afterlife.
5. The concept of living forever, until the end of time, is frankly a bit boring and selfish. I live, I die. To expect more than an opportunity to exist in this world is selfish.
6. Life is more precious when you know its limited. I have a limited time to love all my family. This stark realization that there is no family reunion in the sky pushes me to love and let the people I care about know I love them fiercely.

Hi, thanks for sharing!
I was thinking like you for a good while but I found it depressed me.

I’m an extremist really, so with no God I became a nihilist. I can’t live like that- everything becomes pointless.

So… Here I am embracing God, and Jesus. I just can’t seem to embrace Catholicism a la Catholic Answers (which strikes me as somewhat fundamentalist) because I’m a natural doubter…