Ask an ex-Catholic

[Aroura]

...
As an adult, I look back and think how childish so much of that belief system really is.  ...

I know the feeling.  I almost start to feel ill if I think about it too much, that I really believed the nonsense that I believed.  To be thoroughly indoctrinated as a child gives one a kind of understanding for how people get sucked into such nonsense, but I really wish I were one of those atheists who had no clue about it.  So much wasted time and effort thinking about all that ridiculous nonsense!  It makes one wonder what one would have done if one had not been raised to believe fairy tales.

So much of it is so bizarre and crazy, but when raised to believe it, it did not all seem that way at the time.  Even basic points, like why did God insist that he become a man and then be killed in order to forgive people?  Why not just forgive them?  It is just so crazy, it boggles the mind.  And yet it is what millions of people believe, or claim to believe, and they don't seem to think it is a crazy thing.  It is very disturbing to think that one ever believed such rubbish, and very disturbing that many people still believe such rubbish.

Back to the questions.

Did you attend one of those cool, magnificent (from an architectural standpoint) churches, or one of the more modern ones?  And did the church have great music, with a glorious pipe organ?  Or was it more like just some nun strumming on a guitar?  And do you think any of these things had an influence on how long you stayed in the church?

I attended a small but old fashioned brick church with beautiful stained glass, sculptures, and a vaulted ceiling.  And yes, we had great music with a traditional pipe organ, and we all got to sing along most of the time.  (I also got a horse as a gift from my mom for first communion.  So....yeah.  Bribery, lol.)

This is a SUPER good question, because I think it played a very large part in my staying there as long as I did.  The music, particularly, is really beautiful and has stayed with me for life.  We also had very traditional nuns and priests that always wore traditional garb, not modern, they were Bernadine Fransiscans, and regular Fransiscans respectively.  One young Brother would come and do funny magic trick at the kids masses; he made it all even more magical.

The new modern mega churches were possibly part of why I stayed away during what I'll call my "seeking" period in my early 20's. 

[Whateverist]

So, what were your thoughts on the Eucharist?  Did it bother you eating Jesus, or did you never really believe that part?  (I should probably try to be funnier, and just ask what Jesus tastes like.)

It's fine when you're a kid, but I have a hard time understanding how grown people can still fully believe that the wafer is somehow magically actually Jesus.  And if it was?  Ewwwww......really.

Also, the wafers are really so bland, I guess I'd pick salsa, to give them some zing!  Although I really love Hummus, too! (especially the regular garlic lemon kind, though sun dried tomato and roasted read pepper is also awesome).

A fun prank for anyone in a position of authority with catholic kids. I'm picturing someone leading Sunday school. (I know, that is what nuns are for.) But for anyone with access, try introducing them to the practice - but substitute some beef jerky.

[Minimalist]

Really have fun... Substitute a urinal cake.

[Pyrrho]

I know the feeling.  I almost start to feel ill if I think about it too much, that I really believed the nonsense that I believed.  To be thoroughly indoctrinated as a child gives one a kind of understanding for how people get sucked into such nonsense, but I really wish I were one of those atheists who had no clue about it.  So much wasted time and effort thinking about all that ridiculous nonsense!  It makes one wonder what one would have done if one had not been raised to believe fairy tales.

So much of it is so bizarre and crazy, but when raised to believe it, it did not all seem that way at the time.  Even basic points, like why did God insist that he become a man and then be killed in order to forgive people?  Why not just forgive them?  It is just so crazy, it boggles the mind.  And yet it is what millions of people believe, or claim to believe, and they don't seem to think it is a crazy thing.  It is very disturbing to think that one ever believed such rubbish, and very disturbing that many people still believe such rubbish.

Back to the questions.

Did you attend one of those cool, magnificent (from an architectural standpoint) churches, or one of the more modern ones?  And did the church have great music, with a glorious pipe organ?  Or was it more like just some nun strumming on a guitar?  And do you think any of these things had an influence on how long you stayed in the church?

I attended a small but old fashioned brick church with beautiful stained glass, sculptures, and a vaulted ceiling.  And yes, we had great music with a traditional pipe organ, and we all got to sing along most of the time.  (I also got a horse as a gift from my mom for first communion.  So....yeah.  Bribery, lol.)

This is a SUPER good question, because I think it played a very large part in my staying there as long as I did.  The music, particularly, is really beautiful and has stayed with me for life.  We also had very traditional nuns and priests that always wore traditional garb, not modern, they were Bernadine Fransiscans, and regular Fransiscans respectively.  One young Brother would come and do funny magic trick at the kids masses; he made it all even more magical.

The new modern mega churches were possibly part of why I stayed away during what I'll call my "seeking" period in my early 20's. 

There is some great religious music.  I listen to religious music of Bach and Mozart with some frequency.  We had mostly boring hymns in my church, with an electric organ (and piano), so I did not miss the music when I stopped attending church.  My wife, though, does not like some of the religious music to which I listen, as it reminds her of her Catholic upbringing (she, though, was only brought up in a half-assed way to be Catholic, and was never really much of a believer, so asking her about this isn't the same as asking you).


I would think, though, that the magic tricks were not a good idea for keeping people believing in religion.  It is too suggestive that miracles are really just con jobs, just tricks rather than anything real.  In the church I attended, they wisely never had any magic acts (or if they ever did, I must have missed that week due to illness or being out of town).  It seems to me to have been a tactical error, to have an authority figure in your church do a bunch of pretend miracles.  Unless, of course, he was trying to make atheists out of you.

[Whateverist]

Yeah, I like some religious music. Thinking of anything along the lines of the sound track to "Oh, Brother ..." along with some Mozartly stuff.

But 'new xtian' lite rock? Rather poke my eyes out.

[Exian]

Were you aware of the non-decomposition of Saints and did you believe it? Also, is that still a thing?

[Randy Carson]

Why did you stop being a Catholic?

Because I came to my senses.

I went to a private Catholic school for 7 years, and was quite heavily indoctrinated, so it was an uphill climb. Fortunately, my family also loves science and taught me critical thinking skills, so by my teens I was questioning heavily.  By my 20's I'd left the RCC, by my 30's I'd left all supernatural nonsense behind.

Aroura-

You've had an elementary school -level education in the Catholic faith, and in your teens, like most kids that age, you started asking questions for which (sadly) no one provided answers. Continuing that trajectory into your 20's and 30's, you now reject all "supernatural nonsense".

First, have you done any reading of Catholic theology since then?

Second, based on the experience you've described, how well would you say that you understand Catholic theology?

Third, are your parents/family members still Catholic?

[Minimalist]

Did you miss the part about her leaving the supernatural nonsense behind?

[LastPoet]

Sadly the catholic faith has no answers. They just pretend that they do. Just like any other religion.

[Pyrrho]

Did you miss the part about her leaving the supernatural nonsense behind?

He's hoping she is brain damaged so that he will be able to get her back in the church.  From reading some of her posts, for that to happen, I think she is going to have to get a severe blow to the head, or get Alzheimer's or some other such brain deteriorating disease.  Until then, I think he is wasting his time.