Questioning Catholic would love some advice

[lilvioletcub]

I'm not sure how many people here are relgious or of faith but I've been questioning my relgion now for almost a year if not two. I just took a goth quiz and in it it asked what relgion are you and these were two replys "Athiesim, Reglon binds me and I want to be free" and " Satanism/witchcraft I feel christans are bloody close minded sexist hypocrists while Satanism/witchcraft is the opposit" Neither of course fit me but there was a ring of truth in both.

 

Recently in viewing GOD as a woman I've felt more connected to her. At the same time I'm still at a loss, I want to have sex and study tarto, the energys in the world like lay lines and how it all connects to God.

At the same time my parents and my church are old fashion very marriege before sex and the like

 

Any advice on how to find spirial or relgious freedom?

[Darkling]

Read. 

 

Read a lot on religions, different ideas. Religious quizzes are good for finding starting points, but they don't define you. I have some knowledge of satanism, so if you want to ask questions about the real religion then i could help with that. The ideas are very different to the portrayal. 
There are many different paths of witchcraft, and i'm not overly familiar with any of them. 

Personally i have Vodou / buddhist beliefs. 

Try to find out what YOU believe and think..... Then find something that fits that, so you can start asking the right questions. 

[Guest Vexe]

Breaking free of religious dogma that was ingrained in childhood is hard, very hard.  It's a thinly veiled secret in Catholicism and Christianity that the best results come from childhood indoctrination.

 

Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

 

This is why Richard Dawkins very clearly states that he believes that the childhood indoctrination into a religion is child abuse, and I agree with him.

 

I made this journey a long time ago, I'm the son of a pastor and from what people call an evangelical family.  It was long and painful, and the end result is really a state of less comfort with the world around me as there is great comfort in dogma and very little to be found in cold logic.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't go back though.  The secret really is to question the things that you assume to be true.  Unfortunately that means a lack of faith, so it doesn't go over very well in the religious community, but until you stop believing long enough to consciously decide what you believe in, rather than having it dictated to you, there is no freedom.

[Ringdancer]

The only one that can decide if they have faith or belief is you.

 

Just understand that you can have these things without the need for any kind of label or organization and that your participation in such things is entirely your own choice, nobody can tell you what you must or must not do in this reguard.

[Vlad ziva's Owner]

If someone is being judgmental and persecuting others, they are not behaving as a Christian is supposed to and they shouldn't be used as an example of Christianity. Everyone, and literally EVERYONE on this planet, has some trait or indulgence that is actually a sin. It doesn't mean they are automatically damned to hell. If that was the case, EVERYONE would be damned. It means that everyone needs redemption, which is where a relationship with God and Jesus comes in. I'm a Christian, but I'm also a sinner because I am human. I'm not going to go to hell for my sins.

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. -Matthew 7

Just sharing this because you mentioned Catholicism and maybe this can be of some help to you and your faith. Of course, if anyone doesn't want to believe this or if they just want to disregard it, that is their choice and I won't be mad or offended.

 

[lilvioletcub]

If someone is being judgmental and persecuting others, they are not behaving as a Christian is supposed to and they shouldn't be used as an example of Christianity. Everyone, and literally EVERYONE on this planet, has some trait or indulgence that is actually a sin. It doesn't mean they are automatically damned to hell. If that was the case, EVERYONE would be damned. It means that everyone needs redemption, which is where a relationship with God and Jesus comes in. I'm a Christian, but I'm also a sinner because I am human. I'm not going to go to hell for my sins.

 

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces. -Matthew 7

 

Just sharing this because you mentioned Catholicism and maybe this can be of some help to you and your faith. Of course, if anyone doesn't want to believe this or if they just want to disregard it, that is their choice and I won't be mad or offended.

 

 

 

See I was Tought the exact opposit since pre-k -9th grade of relgious education and so many masses. Currently our one piest is very aginst abortion and at least from what I'm getting is very "the men are imporent in being catholic" vibe I was tought x x and this was a sin and you will go to hell

in fact from age 13-22 I was always scared of "is this a sin?" and other such anxieties every time my church said "don't be anxious its wrong have faith in God to not have anxieties" that just made me more guilt ridden and anxious

 

it's only in the past two years thanks to opening up more sexually and the like thanks to my boyfriend that I haven't been as bad of "is it a sin?"

but every other time I feel like the church is guilting me "be a super hero and save the wrold" "what will you say to God on judgement day when he sees you did nothing to help the unborn children" etc etc it's all about judgement day and guilt and anxiet which for some makes them want to act with me it does the opposit and makes me to scared to even live life to the fullest let alone do any good in the world

[Vlad ziva's Owner]

See I was Tought the exact opposit since pre-k -9th grade of relgious education and so many masses. Currently our one piest is very aginst abortion and at least from what I'm getting is very "the men are imporent in being catholic" vibe I was tought x x and this was a sin and you will go to hell

in fact from age 13-22 I was always scared of "is this a sin?" and other such anxieties every time my church said "don't be anxious its wrong have faith in God to not have anxieties" that just made me more guilt ridden and anxious

 

it's only in the past two years thanks to opening up more sexually and the like thanks to my boyfriend that I haven't been as bad of "is it a sin?"

but every other time I feel like the church is guilting me "be a super hero and save the wrold" "what will you say to God on judgement day when he sees you did nothing to help the unborn children" etc etc it's all about judgement day and guilt and anxiet which for some makes them want to act with me it does the opposit and makes me to scared to even live life to the fullest let alone do any good in the world

I had the same kind of anxieties myself up until about two years ago. They made me severely depressed, and I ended up turning away from religion of any kind because I assumed that I was damned to hell anyway, so I had this "Why bother?" attitude. The fact of the matter is that you don't need to be perfect. No one is perfect. And that's not what Christianity is about. Christianity is about developing a personal relationship with God and Jesus, and even in that regard, there is not one specific way to do that. Catholicism tends to do that with ceremonies and rituals, Hail Mary and Our Father to atone for sins. At some point, that is no longer a relationship with God nor a way to express that you repent for your sins. At some point, and for most people I would even say, it becomes an obsessive ritual. The ritual does not save you from sin. Someone can be the "best Catholic" and go to Confession every week, say their Our Fathers, and attend all the ceremonies. If they do not have a relationship with God on a personal level, those things mean absolutely nothing. 

 

You can have a relationship with God in any way you want. It can be through prayer at your house, reading of Scripture, or anything else you can think of that involves you and God. When you read Scripture, keep in mind that it has been translated countless times. Much of its original meaning has been lost. If you want the truest meaning, you would need a great deal of knowledge in the Greek and Latin languages, and a great understanding of Roman, Greek, and Jewish culture of the time. When you read, read it with an open mind and try to apply it to yourself. Put yourself in a situation and find the meaning for you. The Old Testament has some very controversial passages, such as the one about how gays should be stoned to death. In that time, being stoned to death was also the punishment for being disrespectful to your parents, among many other things. Those passages are important, but the context is not the same. The main message is that ALL sins are of equal importance to God. They do not have the same effect to us on earth. Someone will suffer much more from their loved one being murdered than they will from being robbed of a dollar, but sin is sin to God. The point to be learned is that you cannot avoid sin. It is in the nature of every human, but a relationship with God and Jesus absolves you of your sins, whatever they may be. I am a sinner. I'm prone to several sins. I try to avoid them, but when I fail to do so, I no longer beat myself up over it. I know God. I know Jesus. They still love me, and I know that I am loved regardless of my sins. We are not to judge others, but we are also not to judge ourselves. 

 

Plus, just think of how Jesus interacted with the church. He criticized the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time. Jesus was always with the sinners, preaching to them and telling them about salvation through faith and love. That is how salvation is obtained, faith and love. It is not obtained through works, or trying to be perfect and persecuting those who are not because EVERYONE is imperfect. Those throwing the stones are still imperfect. 

 

As for the personal issue of abortion, that is going to be a personal choice for you as well. I myself disagree with it strongly and will give my opinion on it if asked, although I am not going to go about persecuting those who work in clinics or who have had abortions. I don't know them or their situations or beliefs. Everyone does have to answer to God for everything they do in life. That doesn't necessarily mean damnation. There are things I must answer for. There will be more things still that I will have to answer for. That's just the way that life goes.

 

So, take of this what you will and I hope that it can help you in some way. As I said before, if anyone reading this disagrees or wants to disregard it, they are free to do so.