Considering the Catholic Faith

to all that are/were catholic, what are your views and opinions on the faith?

i've begun reading "My Daily Catholic Bible" which is a pretty cool bible that provides daily readings from the old and new testament, and a quote from a saint. it's really made the task of reading the bible much less daunting.

i don't really know what other questions to ask, but if i think of any, i'll bring them up.

 

Was raised as a catholic but am now lapse.Find the whole organisation very suspect.Too many links(just like the other religions) to politics,crime ect.Dont like the way Catholic priests who are found to be nounces are hidden away and protected by the church.Couldn't get to grips with the whole transabstanciation thing but what really turned me off was the whole sex is evil thing.Getting dragged out of bed at the age of 15 for "knocking one out" and then have to enjure a one hour lecture on the subject is not my idea of fun,more like torture.

Trust me pal been raised as a Catholic has left me with some serious issues and I wouldn't advise anyone to do the same on a twisted note however if anyone askes me what my religion is I always reply Catholic,with I might add a touch of pride...strange

 

i've been coming to the conclusion so far that everyone i talk about Catholisism with is that they've either experienced (1) hardcore catholic faith, unaccepting of anything the bible wouldn't tell you to do; and (2) a more relaxed version of it.


More specifically, we've just been to an "engaged couples" day trip, and it was promoted that sex is good and that religious individuals tend to enjoy it more. an odd contradiction to what most others had told me that sex is taboo in the catholic faith.

also, when we met with an older married couple, they were pretty open about the whole sexualtiy thing, but did press towards me going to church towards the end when we discussed religion (this was after taken a "test-like" evaluation, then discuss where our answers differed from preferred answers).

when i mention i am considering the catholic faith, it would be that i am accepting god into my life. i have always had this deep feeling that there is a greater force connecting all things, and i don't care what religion you belive in, they all pray towards the same force, i.e., God. i'll still hold to my interpretations of certain biblical statements, etc.

Do you think Catholicism is the wrong way for me to go. I don't easily conform, but do have faith. Are they going to tell me their way or the highway? i may not be so clear, but i hope the general message is getting through...

 

Ihave massive massive issues with the Pope (This one and the last one) And have to admit it really impacts on ym entire view of Catholicism. Having talked about it with friends of mine who are Catholic and people who are Christian but not Catholic I still can't see where a large amount of the ideas put forward by the Catholic church come from as they dont appear in the Bible.

 

would it be wrong of me to become catholic if i didn't completely agree with what the "church" practices, but do agree with the basic underlying concepts given by the bible?

sort of like being american even if i dont' 100% agree with what the goverment chooses to do...

i know there is christianity and catholisism, do they use the same bible? i know the bible i have is my daily catholic bible. is there a difference?

 

Well of all the young catholics I know one is gay, one is promiscuous and the other is bisexual so I guess that you don't have to completely agrewe with the views of their church. On top of that none of them have a word for the pope that isn't a T.O.S violation.

On the other hand what would be the point of becoming Catholic if you didn't agree with the church on a lot of matters? Why do you need to label yourslef, most people I know are happy to say they are "Christian" and leave it at that.

 

Sex before marrige is prohibited,oral and anal sex are prohibited,condoms and all other birth control is prohibited.This is the law in black and white and only the Pope who is infalable can change this i.e if God tells the pope this no longer need apply then it no longer need apply.If you look at the work of John paul 2nd he was just about to let the aids stricken people of Africa use condoms but with his passing this is now a faded dream-how can both popes be infalable when they both had completly differing views?

 

i feel that after a lot of things that i have done, i need to be baptised in the eyes of God. i believe in God, don't completely agree with the church as a whole, but it is run by man after all.

i do however believe in my local church (my fiance's) and what they do. it doesn't seem to me to be 100% traditional from what i've gathered, and rather enjoy going there (we have only gone on holidays) and reflecting on life. i don't listen 100% of the time, i reflect, and when i hear something that relates, it only helps me. to me it is a place of peace, and i like that.

i don't necessarily want to be "labelled" but i do want to accept God into my life, and would like to do so in my fiances faith.

i need to be forgiven for the things i have done, and i need to know in my heart that i have acceptance for the things that i may end up doing.

i plan, after some time, to try to join the Marines again, and it's been quite the roller coaster trying to find myself in all of this and all things seem to point to God for me right now.

 

Depends on what you disagree with, obviously.

If you don't believe that Christ is the son of God or the Messiah, you've got problems. If you don't accept Leviticus as the be all, end all of Church doctrine, you're probably ok.

Many modern and younger Catholics are taking much of what the Church feeds them with a grain of salt today, much to the chagrin of the older generation of Catholics...

 

but by becoming catholic, would i necessarily have to agree with the pope, there are obviously those within the church that don't (he is voted in).

so is it right that though you disagree with the pope, you don't agree with the faith?

also, sex before marriage, wouldn't this prevent the widespread diseases that premarital sex cause?

oral and anal, don't agree (but anal can cause disease if not cautious), and birth control, don't agree. people should be able to use birth control as well. but then again, since the pope can change this, does it necessarily mean that being catholic i have to abide by these rules? or does it mean that i don't agree with the pope, but still live by the bible...

 

But you implicitly add value to the faith he is the head of by joining it.

Well as far as I can tell if you become Catholic you acknowledge you'r belief the Pope is the link to God or something like that so really you should entirely agree with him.

Quite simply, no. In Africa at the moment 1/3 of the poplulation has aids so the chances of one partner havin aids in the marriage but NOT the other is 1 in 3. The Catholic church preaches in those areas that if you use conttraceptives you go to hell so people dont use contraceptives, catch aids and die though not before fathering children who are born with aids who will live long enough to amrry and spread the disease again.

Quite frankly whats been done by the Catholic faith in Africa sickens me and I hate the people repsonsible for it.

As far as I'm concerned two consenting adults should be able to do whatever they damn well please together, how you can go againts the wil of God defeats me and I very much doubt that he's gonna get upset becaue you enjoy sex not simply for reproduction. I just cant envisage God looking down and going "Dmanit, look at those young people enjoying themselves! How dare they!"

You are ment to abide by the rules (Again as far as I can tell) but I don't think the Pope has you followed by secret police to ensure that what you do doesnt break any of his rules. Of course if the secret police where REALLY good I wouldnt know about them anyway.

 

"We believe that blind obedience is not and never has been a Catholic value," says the statement. "It is rather a clear sign of arrested or deformed spiritual development. We follow the Catholic tradition and we believe that the intellect as well as the will are necessary for a solid and sound Catholic faith."

i found this statement on the internet, i belive that it's a good one, backing my thought that i can become catholic, try to live a good and peacefull life, and accept god, but still disagree with what politics the church "says" to follow.

i've always been the type to proclaim that since the bible was written by man, it is faulty like man, but i also belive that core values can be interpreted without bias towards another agenda.

now i ask, does anyone know of any major differences between a catholic bible and a "christian" bible?

 

yes i do, but that does not say that i agree with certian politics

so why are there bishops that don't agree with him, and they are in a position of leadership below the Pope?

i disagree. it all started somewhere, and if the pre-marital sex had been avoided from the get go, i don't think it would be so bad anywhere. regardless of the rapes that go on. rape is pre-marital sex, and if it would had not been occuring, there would be no 1/3 statistic to speak of. this is oen area where i don't believe in the church's reaction to a situation, but do believe that if what they preaced in the first place was followed there would be no situation...

the Catholic "faith" did not do it, it was the ones responsible that do it. i would tend to think that a "faith" is entirely seperate from those that practice it.

i am one that has PLENTY of pre-marital sex, but you do have to see that in today's society, it would prevent a LOT of bad happenings. if everyone was a virgin until they were married, there is no way they would end up with STDs

but again, if the pope can change the rules, does that make them rules of the "faith" or of the Vatican. because i believe in the Catholic faith, i don't necessarily think it's a must that you believe in the politics of a MAN at the head of the church.

 

But you have to assume reponsibility for strengthening the position of the Catholioc church.

The y may disagree but they don't obey, again, what is the point of joinning a faith if you dont agree with a significant part of it?

Unfortunatley you are simply wrong here, more than 1 in 10 children in Zambia is infected with Aids, they are born that way, your idea of no pre-marital sex for them wont work. What are you going to do? Wriete them off, say oh well cant save them all?

I completely fail to understand this attiude that not having pre marital sex will prevent the spread of Aids, for starters people who are married can still spread the disease between them and secondly it is having one partner rather than not having pre marital sex that will repvent the spread of aids. Thirdly STD's are not just spread by sex, sex is simply one way of transmitting them.

Semantis, the people respponsible for this are at the head of the catholic faith, if you become catholic you are implicitly agreeing with what they do in my eyes and in the eyes of most people I talk to about this.

Agian for the reasons above you are wrong, STD's are something you can be born with and they are not only spread by sex, to say otherwise is untrue and does an injustice to many people in my eyes. I dont thinkit's right to say that and it shows a lot of ignoreance on the matter.

But how do you separate them? As far as I can see the Pope is the embodiment of the Catholic faith and what he says is what is in the eyes of many Catholics.

 

I'm not catholic but what i dislike about the religion more that it's beliefs is the way they are presented to people, or rather forced upon people, in a my way or the highway kinda deal. It’s almost like they bribe people with the “you’ll go to hell” rubbish, which causes people to do as they’re told.

I understand that people have different views and beliefs and therefore you cant get people from various cultures and societies to all follow one rule. It's a shame the Catholic church doesn’t understand that. It's ludicrous to think that people won’t complain and criticize the churches doctrines when there literally forced upon them. Notice that the church has become smaller in recent times. People are more willing to except if they find out and understand for themselves. Hence the Popes urge for people resist the “do-it-your-self” faiths. They hate the thought that people will follow their own path.

The hierarchy-type structure just isn’t necessary and in my eyes is only used to control the masses and for money.

I do like the teaching in Buddhism that you should "be a lamp until yourself" - to examine and test the truth of religious teachings before accepting them.

I would encourage you to delve more into various faiths, beliefs, and spiritualities. I wouldn’t encourage you to label yourself because then people with have reason to criticize your actions, and they probably will. I believe you can just as spiritual without atending a church or being a devotee of a single figure.

If your not labelled then what ever your beliefs, no one can say there wrong

 

That is one thing I find wrong with religion. People who knowingly and willingly violate the terms of their religion yet still insist on being called by that religion (i.e. lutheran, catholic, baptist). I guess they figure they can always repent and be forgiven and then start on their next round of 'sins'.

 

i guess what it all comes down to for me is the fact that i'm not very religious, haven't ever been...

though i think it's redickulous that you think that if "pre-marital" sex wasn't occuring, aids would still be a huge problem. you can keep that viewpoint. the fact is that i was trying to get to the basic belief system within the bible, not some political debate on how much you dislike the leaders of the catholic church. that's a whole new issue.

i guess if the church won't "accept" me without accepting everything they have a viewpoint on, then it's obviously not for me, but i'm only here taking a sampling from this particular community, as i've found it a rich source of religious debate between all types of faiths. i'll look deeper into it myself, and i've recieved some usefull information here, so it's been worthwhile...

 

that is a good point. i guess my view of it was that i want to be baptised in the eyes of god, to accept him as the greater power in my life, but my problem, as Homer puts it well above, is that things tend to be forced on you. personally, i don't see a problem with having faith in God, or any greater power for that matter, but not trusing in the judgment of the men that are conveying that religion to you.

i can already see what the outcome is going to be here. i'm likely to start going to church and use it as a place for reflection, not necessarily even listening to what is preached to me. to those that are Catholic, do you consider that wrong? if i have belief in god, and my choice of venue for worship happens to be a catholic church, is it wrong of me not to have catholic beliefs? i ask this because the church in question, in it's beginnings, started by practicing in a luthern church. they practiced the catholic faith in a church other than a catholic one. would it be wrong for me to worship God in a catholic church, while my fiance is catholic, even though i don't plan on being catholic? should i talk to the priest about this, or should i just go and not worry about it?

i guess it's hard for me right now. how can i accept God into my life without placing a label on who let god in? i'd prefer it to be by someone who's dedicated their life to serving god, in order to give it more meaning, and want it to be official. i guess i just feel bad knowing the things i've done, and thinking that they may have never happened had i been raised in a religious household. it's been the better part of 5 years now since i've really had to deal with these things, but now in my search of self, they've come back to hold me down. is it wrong of me to want to accept god into my life for the purpose of being forgiven in what i've done only to better my life and prevent these things from happening more? i've done a pretty good job of it myself over the past 5 years, but i want to put this stuff behind me, and continue to live a GOOD life. i guess this is one of those things...

 

At the end of the day mate, if there is a God, then he couldn't give a monkeys whether you are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, or even if you don't believe in him at all.

The idea of an all-powerful God who actually cares about what paticular flavour of faith you have is absurd to the point of embarassing the whole human race.