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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Please don’t criticize me for choosing to be a practicing catholic and raising my kids in the faith.

But, if you are a lapsed catholic, is there anything your parents did or did not do that contributed to you wanting to leave the church? I don’t care about any of the issues with the church. I’m well aware of the issues. But, when it came to family devotions, practices, schooling, etc...do you think your parents did or didn’t do anything that factored into your teen/adult thoughts and choices?[/quote]

I was sexually abused by a relative and they tried to hide it so they could portray the image of the beautiful extended family. Even throughout my life the focus was always on me forgiving him and befriending him rather than protecting me. I had to spend many years after sitting next to him, being alone with him etc. Later I found out my abuser was unhappy in his marriage and wanted to divorce but my parents argued against it which probably led to the abuse. It's further triggering to have found out as an adult that the church itself promoted this behavior with priests and children and then to see other Catholic friends also not support the victims. Then to see them act like they care about unborn babies rather than the babies priests abused is more unforgiving. Then realizing that people are not able healthily to abstain this much from sex and that the entire religion is built on a foundation of giving up your life for some supposed great future life and excusing behavior on earth versus trying to live your best moral life here and manage your earthly desires was another point that turned me away from the church. I saw priests pretend to be celibate but really be gay because they couldn't face their own masculinity and then turn around and tell people that being gay was wrong. Then to see people politicize the religion and act like they were christians while doing majorly unchristian things made the little customs that I liked about the religion turn into weapons as these people paraded this belief that whatever custom they adhered to was more important than being a good person. Basically, one major lapse by my family led to the realization that the entire foundation of the religion was shaky.[/quote]
Interestingly I still practice the faith in my own way kind of combining jewish secular, and catholic customs and beliefs.
What I couldn't get away from though was the fact that I was worshipping a woman who never had sex but somehow became a mother to all and was a human without sin so nothing like regular women and a man who somehow saved everyone by dying himself and also was without sin. It wasn't an achievable earthly outcome nor did it seem a path to becoming godlike by forsaking the body completely. I couldn't get over that this faith was basically discarding the use and regulation of the goodness and evilness within the human body. I think it relates to why so many Catholics and Christians disregard their lives on earth and make excuses for their behavior. People blame St. Augustine for bringing in the gnostic anti-body traditions, but I think it was present before this. Even communion. Eating the body. By making these people into gods it kind of tricks us into thinking we can also be like them but we are human. Mortal. And we have to contend with our survival and others on earth. So my issues ended up running way beyond just being upset at the church for abuse. I fail to see people living the faith in a way that actually contends with their human needs. They either give into the secretly or refrain from society so much that they can barely interact with it.
[/quote]

Whatever you’re practicing, it isn’t the Faith defined by what the Catholic Church believes, professes and holds as true.

Catholics do not “worship” Mary. Jesus was both God and man.

You seem to have had a pitiful catechetical education.

You’re free to believe whatever you like, but please do not misrepresent it as bearing any resemblance to Catholic teaching. [/quote]

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