Defecting from the Catholic Church

I'm not Catholic, I simply believe that Jesus died for my sins.

Read the Bible and compare it to the Catholic doctrine? Is there such a disparity between the two that you feel you should leave the Catho-holic church? If so, then do so quickly. Remember to ask God for guidance and use 1John 1:9. As a believer in Christ, you represent yourself as a priest before God, so you are your own "BELIEVERpriest". You don't need to sit in a confession booth to talk to God.

Its your future. So be honest to yourself.

I think you know your family well enough to know their reaction.

I have what I fondly refer to as Jesus freaks in my family. You know the ones that will " pray for you " when they feel you lost your way. (Read that as narrow minded.)

Interestingly I have ministers in my family that would do well in this site in regards to the desire to learn and understand the broad picture of theology rather than act holier than thou.

These family members I bring up are close family and I attribute these differences to the choice in churches they attend. The conspiracies in religion area has nothing on family get togethers at my Grandmas trust me!

But, through all that our love is unconditional and I hope the same is true for your friends and family.

a reply to: eire91
Its like leaving Starbucks you just walk out the door,open you mind and learn absolutly about anything and everything.As to what people think or say, its not an issue as its your life and you are free to choose.Enjoy the freedom of not being told what to do and stick with the code of not wanting to harm anyone else. As you practice your new life style you will get better at it, this will give you a feeling of forefillment.

As I never was religious or never been forced into any religion schools (yee, thanks ma and pa) and all I learned about religion was when I was already in college and wanted to learn why grown ups talk about fairy tales as if they really happened... I am unable to help you as how to leave, but I can assure you that once you leave, not much will change.

You still can keep what you consider good, and creatively use extra time that you would otherwise loose on repeating the same bronze age myths...

I am still surprised that no one asked why, so let me be first... why do you have a feeling that you should leave?

SF

originally posted by: eire91
Hi all,

I've been contemplating leaving the Catholic Church.

I'm hoping to find out:

1) How you did it

2) Why you decided to do it (if you feel like sharing)

3) Did you have many problems with your decision? IE With family/friends/officials etc?

I've been baptised, had my communion and been confirmed all before the age of twelve years old which is the norm. I felt this was unfair due to my age. I have my reasons for wanting to leave and I'll share if any of you are interested in this thread.

Please note guys & gals that I don't mean to undermine or offend anyone's religious beliefs. Live and let live. However if I am asked to share my reasons for wanting to leave, I will be completely truthful in my answers.

Thanks for your time ATS. Enjoy your night.


Eire

You are not baptised
If you were baptized then you would stay with the true faith
Baptism is the profession of faith
You can only be baptized by the water that Jesus offers
And also by the Holy Spirit
Drink from my water and you shall have everlasting life.
I believe in Jesus just like all the others
Throughout history
The very man who plunged a Lance into Jesus to make sure he was dead wiped away blood from his eyes that fell from Jesus and was cured instantly when before he had poor eyesight
That very man was converted
And the first to say
That Jesus was truly the son of God
He was born again.
He left the legion and began to speak
Of Jesus so they cut his tongue out
But he could still speak normal
In the end he was beheaded.


Don't listern to heritecs
When they slander the faith and make false claims about idol worshipping
The crusifition is a Latin Mark of Christ the Greek mark is the Chi ryo

Ezekiel 9. I shall place a mark on my ones
So that they are clearly identified because they are worthy of being identifiable
And you shall go out and place a mark on all those men who sigh and all those men who cry over all the abominations in jarusalem

The devil is trying to destroy the faith and if fails with that then the least he will do is destroy its reputation

Remember what Jesus said

Upon this rock I shall build my church
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Stand your ground
And even if there are only a handful of us Catholics left
We are of the true faith

a reply to: eire91

I'm a cradle Catholic, who "left" the church, in my late teens. You don't officially leave the church, your actions and the way you live your life announce to the world where your heart is attracted.

I became a practical atheist. Not by announcing to the world, but instead by how I lived my life. I lived my life like *I* was God. "MY will be done"

In my late 40s, when the s--t hit the fan, I called out to Jesus as I was drowning. He answered. I knocked, the door opened. I climbed a tree to get a better look, and Jesus looked right up at me, and called me by name. Now every minute of every day, I try to continue to draw closer into an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He's helping me along the way of course, because of course, he's been with me every step of the way anyway, throughout my entire life, I just never knew it.

Many things I could say, looking back, I could write a book. The biggest thing I found out about The Catholic Church, after returning to it...was how very little I knew about The Catholic faith, even though I was raised a Catholic. And I'm continually amazed at the level of ignorance shown by non-Catholics towards Catholics, bordering on hate.

What I've experienced is termed a reversion. But that's not correct, I'm undergoing a continual CONversion. A conversion means a change. I was born and raised a Catholic, but now I truly AM Catholic.

A conversion has 3 parts. 1. Fall in love with Jesus. 2. Fall in love with his message. 3. Fall in love with the church he started, The Catholic Church. It ALL starts with #1. You'll never experience 2 and 3, unless you start by getting to know Jesus. So, my advice is to simply pray. Ask Jesus to show you Himself. If you ask humbly with a contrite heart, he will answer. I guarantee.

Statistically speaking, I can virtually assure you that you've never been in full communion with every message and tenet of The Catholic Church. To say you are Catholic does not mean you are Catholic. You cannot leave something, if you were never there in the first place. A true Catholic is an "intentional disciple" of Jesus Christ, first and foremost. An intentional disciple of Jesus Christ would not consider, even for a moment, leaving Jesus' church...which IS The Catholic Church.

Get to know your faith more. Pray a ton. Don't talk to us here, go see a priest. Talk to an expert. Pray some more. Study your faith, read the church Fathers, read about the heroes of the faith, the saints. And then pray.

"Not one person has ever studied their way out of The Catholic Church. "

a reply to: eire91

Former Catholic here.

I was once devout but I grew disillusioned because I feel like Christianity isn't what it used to be anymore.

I grew to resent Christianity due to the fact a lot of the people there don't practice what they preach. I mean look at at Catholicism, the Vatican got rich, while poor Catholics get very little and plus the Catholic Church has been involved in the brutal subjugation of the Americas.

I didn't tell any of my family members yet because my dad hates atheists and one time he compared atheists to animals because he believe if atheists don't have god then they have no morality.

Right now I'm a Spiritual Atheist that follows the Jedi Philosophy.

a reply to: eire91

Wow, what a question!!! In my case, I was raised as a RC, but soon rebelled, as I didn't like the way I was treated by Mother Superior. Then, later, I rebelled more strongly because of all the baloney about the devil and essential sinfulness of mankind. Many years later, I came to see that ...more or less...the WORST in Roman Catholicism ("Fundamental" Christianity too) was related to the dogma of Paul and Augustine, yet these two traditions PARTICULARLY emphasize these--arguably warped--individuals. I will add that I eventually found a lot of value in traditions like Religious Science and the Course in Miracles.

Oh, I have also found myself repelled by the Church's stand on birth control...absolutely medieval...and illogical. Nope, you DON'T just let fate control the generation and birth of children (extremely irresponsible!!)...and, sex is NOT only for the production of children.

In recent years, I have come to have some appreciation for the liturgy of the Mass, so do OCCASIONALLY attend a local RC or Episcopal church service, but see no need to become a full-fledged church member. There is so much doctrinal and dogmatic junk, like this stuff about "being saved by the blood of Jesus"..that it "ain't funny!!!" Hope that helps!!

originally posted by: piney

originally posted by: eire91
Hi all,

I've been contemplating leaving the Catholic Church.

I'm hoping to find out:

1) How you did it

2) Why you decided to do it (if you feel like sharing)

3) Did you have many problems with your decision? IE With family/friends/officials etc?

I've been baptised, had my communion and been confirmed all before the age of twelve years old which is the norm. I felt this was unfair due to my age. I have my reasons for wanting to leave and I'll share if any of you are interested in this thread.

Please note guys & gals that I don't mean to undermine or offend anyone's religious beliefs. Live and let live. However if I am asked to share my reasons for wanting to leave, I will be completely truthful in my answers.

Thanks for your time ATS. Enjoy your night.


Eire

You are not baptised
If you were baptized then you would stay with the true faith
Baptism is the profession of faith
You can only be baptized by the water that Jesus offers
And also by the Holy Spirit
Drink from my water and you shall have everlasting life.
I believe in Jesus just like all the others
Throughout history
The very man who plunged a Lance into Jesus to make sure he was dead wiped away blood from his eyes that fell from Jesus and was cured instantly when before he had poor eyesight
That very man was converted
And the first to say
That Jesus was truly the son of God
He was born again.
He left the legion and began to speak
Of Jesus so they cut his tongue out
But he could still speak normal
In the end he was beheaded.


Don't listern to heritecs
When they slander the faith and make false claims about idol worshipping
The crusifition is a Latin Mark of Christ the Greek mark is the Chi ryo

Ezekiel 9. I shall place a mark on my ones
So that they are clearly identified because they are worthy of being identifiable
And you shall go out and place a mark on all those men who sigh and all those men who cry over all the abominations in jarusalem

The devil is trying to destroy the faith and if fails with that then the least he will do is destroy its reputation

Remember what Jesus said

Upon this rock I shall build my church
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Stand your ground
And even if there are only a handful of us Catholics left
We are of the true faith

I will say that the Catholic Church is impressive and shiny, but all that glitters is not gold, except in the Catholic Church where it is gold.

You say the devil is trying to destroy the RCC? That's not quite true. He is trying to hold it up. Cracks have started to appear and the foundation stones they were sure were there have begun to disappear. To now they have plastered over the cracks like Matthew's 14 14 14 generations from Abraham to Jesus via David. Those missing generations have been explained as a typo. Then there's John the Baptist. Matthew, Mark and Luke have him killed off by AD 50. John swears he is telling the truth when he says he has a live testimony from the Baptist in 100 AD. John was written after Revelation which mentions The Lamb. In the Book of John the name has been upgraded to Lamb of God if John comes after Revelation but downgraded if it comes after. You can't downgrade Jesus! The water to wine story in John 2 references Alpha and Omega and Revelation 12, binding the books together. The only conclusion is that John comes after Revelation and continues the prophecy, not for the Second Coming but the First.

Christianity,Islam and Judaism all have the same Messiah. Someone has to be wrong. The youngest loses.

That means the Virgin Mary didn't exist, the Saints were preaching about a fictional character, the first Eucharist never happened, Paul's letters are worthless and the synoptic gospels should be removed leaving a New Testament of only two books.

The good news is that one Messiah for all three traditions is coming to pick up the pieces. And it will happen soon. He will be neither Christian, Muslim or Jew and will not be an atheist, a Satanist or a scientist. He will clarify all the confusion while fulfilling the prophecies of all three.

The devil supporting the Church doesn't want this to happen and he is doing what he can to stop the Messiah with threats and intimidation. The Pope is nervous and has started to make some real clangers. Read his twitter feeds. Catholic Answers has closed down its registrations page to prevent the Messiah from preaching. They have been requested to run a poll of their users for their views but have refused. All contact details for the Catholic clergy have been removed from the Internet to prevent infiltration. At this rate the RCC will implode of its own making.

I would recommend staying with the Church for now so that you have a support network when the Messiah pulls out the final keystone. There will be a temporary void while tempers flare and then calm. A volatile congregation is not a good way to make a fresh start. The other religions will also have their upheavals so it will take a while to sync everyone up. Mutual support and respect will be a theme. It will be good if it develops naturally in adversity. The priests will need protection so look after them by being close by.

Best wishes.