Why the Lack of Support & Exodus from the Church

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davidv said:
Does this mean that you think God is not Just?
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Davidv,
Thanks, the answer is ‘yes’. I do not see how e.g. entertaining lustful thoughts, watching pornography or masturbating merits eternal punishment. Our passions incline us to evil, and thus God given tendencies influence our actions.

I was taught that it was a mortal sin to miss mass, without excuse, on a Sunday, thus earning hell for all time. It is hard to see how this is just.
 
NoelFitz said:
I do not see how e.g. entertaining lustful thoughts, watching pornography or masturbating merits eternal punishment. Our passions incline us to evil, and thus God given tendencies influence our actions.

I was taught that it was a mortal sin to miss mass, without excuse, on a Sunday, thus earning hell for all time. It is hard to see how this is just.
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It appears that there is misunderstanding of what mortal sin is. A mortal sin effectively says to God, “I don’t want you”. A mortal sin does not send one to hell. The only mortal sin that sends one to hell is any that remain not repented of at the time of death.

It not surprising, given this misunderstanding, that one would declare God to be unjust. But, if the god you describe is unjust, then I would declare this god to be a false god and not the God of Christianity.
 
A few posts back you offered to list what books you read when you were questioning things. I would be interested in seeing the list
 
Hi Karen, Thank you for your interest. My thinking was guided by a desire to be honest and accurate in my career in sales. The Psychology of Human Motivation, Dennis Waitley, Ph.D, also his Freedom Through Higher Awareness. How to Get People to do Things by Robert CConklin, Language in Thought and Action by S.I. HHayakawa. Emotions of Normal People by William Molton Marston. How the Mind works by Stephan Pinker, The History of God by Karen Armstrong, Things Hidden in Scripture & Spiritulity by Richard Rohr. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer. and his The Science of Good and Evil. There are a lot more but this should give you a idea of how i started asking questions and could never get a satisfying answer from clergy, Then I read The God Virus by Darrel Ray and that explained how I was influenced, that made it clear to me why i never questioned when I was younger. There are a lot more books, but this is a good start.
 
I have a degree in science. Been searching for answers to religious and spiritual questions since a teen-ager, from atheist to agnostic back to conservative Catholic. The more I search the more I realize that the fathers of the Church already debated the big questions and got it right. Unfortunately it’s hard to find these original discourses in modern secular libraries. But I have come to realize that even if I don’t learn all the answers, as Simon Peter said to JESUS, “To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
 
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doesn’t Paul write that there will be a great falling away before the Lord returns?! Watch and Pray!
 
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