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Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Well, it may be Pascal's Wager is wrong.
If you're an atheist, and you genuinely believe there is no God, but you live a virtuous life and obey the commandments, there may be hope for you to get to heaven.
But there is no hope at all for me, a lapsed Catholic.
Because I learned all there was to know about Catholicism, accepted it all as true, and wandered away any way.
So really, all you atheists are much better off than me.
So Catholicism is a one-way door. You can come in any time you want, but you can never leave.
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 4:22 pm
(This post was last modified: September 26, 2012 at 4:23 pm by frankiej.)
I know plenty of people who used to be Catholics. You can leave if it bugs you that much. 
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Luckily for you (and all of us), there probably isn't a Hell to go to. I've never understood the Christian fixation with Hell. Apart from being backed up by absolutely no scripture in the sense of a place where souls go to be tormented for eternity, the mere existence of the place would seem to contradict the image of the "all-loving" God of Christianity. Humans are certainly not all-loving, yet we seem to understand that different crimes require different kinds (and lengths) of punishment. With the "all-loving" God of Christianity, it's eternal punishment for every single sin, ranging from taking the Lord's name in vain to actual mass-murder.
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Meh. I left Catholicism, too, so I'm in about the same boat.
Know what, though? Catholic theology comes from the pope and the pope can be wrong. They've been wrong before and even ordered some pretty atrocious things (like the Spanish Inquisition). That's not saying the institution itself is evil, but it is saying it's hardly inspired by an omni-benevolent being.
Me, I just try to live life the best I can. I try to help people and bring happiness to other people and reduce others pain and suffering as much as I can (and again, Buddhist philosophy plays a role with this one). The way I see if, if there is a god out there, if this god is truly loving and just and compassionate, he would value someone who sincerely tries to make the world a better place more than he would value someone whose only positive attribute is that he worshiped him.
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"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 4:29 pm
(September 26, 2012 at 4:19 pm)Blackrook Wrote: But there is no hope at all for me, a lapsed Catholic.
Why do you consider yourself lapsed? If you have lived a good life and more importantly are happy with it, a possible afterlife shouldn't matter. You don't know for sure and I don't know for sure what happens after, all you really can be certain of is the now and your life and make the most of it as you see fit (as long as you hurt as few as possible in the process).
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 5:07 pm
I was raised Pentecostal, I'm told there is an especially bad part of hell for backsliders. It's just what they make up about hell to scare you into staying. That's the reason for hell in the first place: you instill the idea into the minds of children so they'll be too afraid to leave their parent's religion. It's a form of child abuse that can stick with you for life.
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RE: Actually, According to the Catholic Church I Am More Likely to Go to Hell than You Are
September 26, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I'd like to point out that according to the bible, all catholics are actually heretics.
There's this whole thing about no man being between an individual and God. Your prayers are supposed to go to Jesus, and he handles the mail and sorts it for God, basically. Catholics, however, go against what Jesus said and impose a system of being "holier than thou." By the sake of scripture, the catholics have it wrong and protestants have it right. But by the sake of logic they're all wrong, so you don't need to worry about an eternity of hellfire; nothing awaits. Do you remember what heaven was like before you were born?
No? Well that's probably because before you were born you never existed in any context.
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