Leaving your religion

[Quiddity]

I was waiting in line for my pretzel when I heard someone behind me say "I'd leave the church if the pastor did that to me".

I have no idea what that would be, but it just made me think that I have a completely different outlook on this because I can't think of a single thing my pastor could do to me that would make me leave.

Perhaps the person was just saying he'd leave his local church and simply attend another one?

I guess I'm just continually surprised at what little it takes for people to leave there faith or church.

Not enough parking?......
The pastor a little to rash for your taste?.....

Thoughts?

 

[Zorro1227]

I was waiting in line for my pretzel when I heard someone behind me say "I'd leave the church if the pastor did that to me".

I have no idea what that would be, but it just made me think that I have a completely different outlook on this because I can't think of a single thing my pastor could do to me that would make me leave.

Perhaps the person was just saying he'd leave his local church and simply attend another one?

I guess I'm just continually surprised at what little it takes for people to leave there faith or church.

Not enough parking?......
The pastor a little to rash for your taste?.....

Thoughts?

Well I left the church for things that pastors and christians did. The pastors bashed homosexuals in almost every service and it was a very hateful place that I did not want to associate myself with. Now I am not a christian, but even when I wanted to be one I could not bring myself to go. I just feel that the church is filled with so many hypocritical people. I have nothing against the religion, but I have had terrible experiences with its followers.

 

[Quiddity]

Well I left the church for things that pastors and christians did. The pastors bashed homosexuals in almost every service and it was a very hateful place that I did not want to associate myself with. Now I am not a christian, but even when I wanted to be one I could not bring myself to go. I just feel that the church is filled with so many hypocritical people. I have nothing against the religion, but I have had terrible experiences with its followers.

Yeah......I don't get that. I guess I just don't expect the followers or the leadership to be any less perfect then those outside of it. In fact, you can find some inside the Church that are worse. So yeah, you'll be surrounded by hypocrites and a whole lot more. What does that say other then the Christianity (like most of the world) is full of sinners.

 

[Man of Faith]

I try to remember that nobodies perfect and keep my eyes on Jesus.

 

[Zorro1227]

Yeah......I don't get that. I guess I just don't expect the followers or the leadership to be any less perfect then those outside of it. In fact, you can find some inside the Church that are worse. So yeah, you'll be surrounded by hypocrites and a whole lot more. What does that say other then the Christianity (like most of the world) is full of sinners.

Honestly, the most beautiful people I know are not religious. This is one reason why I do not believe in the Bible and it's teachings. Why would anyone want to associate with a church filled with hateful and hypocritical people?

 

[sandandfoam]

I

I guess I'm just continually surprised at what little it takes for people to leave there faith or church.

Thoughts?

I'm also continually surprised at how people will stick with their church. Yours in particular, through outside persecution (e.g. the Penal Laws), through the recent scandals around abuse etc. - to an outsider it's amazing.

 

[Quiddity]

Honestly, the most beautiful people I know are not religious. This is one reason why I do not believe in the Bible and it's teachings. Why would anyone want to associate with a church filled with hateful and hypocritical people?

Because it's not about the people.

 

[Quiddity]

I'm also continually surprised at how people will stick with their church. Yours in particular, through outside persecution (e.g. the Penal Laws), through the recent scandals around abuse etc. - to an outsider it's amazing.

Hopefully this thread will be fruitful at least in understanding what that is so...

 

[Mister Emu]

Perhaps the person was just saying he'd leave his local church and simply attend another one?

Perhaps, or it could be a very wrong act(like tried to rape someone)... I could understand, if a priest/pastor/preacher tried to rape someone, or the children who did get so, not wanting to be in the Church. It isn't just about knowing that a particular Priest is not going to do so, but a deeper psychological issue about being in a similar situation.

I'm also continually surprised at how people will stick with their church. Yours in particular, through outside persecution (e.g. the Penal Laws), through the recent scandals around abuse etc. - to an outsider it's amazing.

It isn't about whether the people in it are good, but ultiamtely, at least for me, the Truth. If the Catholic Church holds the Truth, that is where I will be

 

[sandandfoam]

Hopefully this thread will be fruitful at least in understanding what that is so...

Apart from the (quite important ) fact that I don't agree with the Church about anything - I'd like to be a Catholic.
It seems to me that the RC church has a message which gives a real rock to those who are open to it/raised with it.
I also really admire the theater of the RC Church - the manner in which the message is presented is mesmerizing imo.

I think the message itself, combined with presentation of said message is often crucial.

 

[MSizer]

My wife grew up in an Anglican family, and the cathedral got a choir master back in the mid eighties. Well, long story short - the choirmaster was abusing choirboys sexually, and the person who had hired him knew that he had been accused of it before (in a different city). I don't know how many victims there were, but it wasn't just one or two. Many people left the congregation. Some have returned years later.

 

[Quiddity]

Perhaps, or it could be a very wrong act(like tried to rape someone)... I could understand, if a priest/pastor/preacher tried to rape someone, or the children who did get so, not wanting to be in the Church. It isn't just about knowing that a particular Priest is not going to do so, but a deeper psychological issue about being in a similar situation.

I don't think that would be considered "leaving the Church" though. I assume the person in question would attend the Church had the psychological issues not been there. In there heart they still want to be Catholic, Methodist ,etc.

 

[Zorro1227]

I try to remember that nobodies perfect and keep my eyes on Jesus.

It is true that no one is perfect. Many christians seem to use that as an excuse though. I dated a "devout" christian who was in seminary school for almost two years. After being sexually and mentally abused by him, I began to examine my "faith". I began to see the warped and twisted lies of the church. I do not believe that any god would want to be represented by people like my ex. And sadly all of the churches I have been to are filled with people just like him.

 

[dogsgod]

I try to remember that nobodies perfect and keep my eyes on Jesus.

Tell me you don't see the contradiction.

 

[Quiddity]

Apart from the (quite important ) fact that I don't agree with the Church about anything - I'd like to be a Catholic.
It seems to me that the RC church has a message which gives a real rock to those who are open to it/raised with it.
I also really admire the theater of the RC Church - the manner in which the message is presented is mesmerizing imo.

I think the message itself, combined with presentation of said message is often crucial.

Well, I didn't really want this thread to just be about why people leave the Catholic Church and why they remain in it. We can get specific elsewhere if you wish. It was supposed to be more general then that.

However, I will say that not agreeing with the Church (I'm assuming on major issues on not on whether the color of the Masses should be changed) would be a good reason not to be Catholic.

 

[Quiddity]

Tell me you don't see the contradiction.

Sometimes......Christians do a horrible job of being Christians and passing that along to there offspring.

 

[Quiddity]

My wife grew up in an Anglican family, and the cathedral got a choir master back in the mid eighties. Well, long story short - the choirmaster was abusing choirboys sexually, and the person who had hired him knew that he had been accused of it before (in a different city). I don't know how many victims there were, but it wasn't just one or two. Many people left the congregation. Some have returned years later.

That would certainly be a good reason to stop attending. But not everybody that stops attending leaves the Church.

 

[sandandfoam]

It was supposed to be more general then that.

Sorry Victor,
My point was that I think it's message+presentation that are major factors on the strength of the grip a church can exert.

 

[Quiddity]

Sorry Victor,
My point was that I think it's message+presentation that are major factors on the strength of the grip a church can exert.

That's a very good point. However, the core (at least to us) is supposed to be the message/relationship. Presentation does matter, but when it fails (as it has more then once in the Catholic Church) we look to what is important.

Isn't that what we all look for in relationships?

 

[dorsk188]

Perhaps the person was just saying he'd leave his local church and simply attend another one?

Probably this. In the American South (where I was raised), people went to any protestant church with little concern for doctrine. It's more about the pastor. Does he give good sermons? Do you like going there? Do you get along with the community? Etc. "Leave the church" in this context means going to the Methodist church down the street instead of the Southern Baptist.

My ex-girlfriend's mother bounced around to different churches while we dated. She compelled her daughter and me (both atheists) to go for holidays and her wedding. The most amusing was a church in the middle of the woods, which was exclusivel upper-middle class whites. (My gf and her mother were hispanic.) All the other parishoners seemed very uncomfortable around her, which I found quite funny. Like they had to put the pointed white hoods into storage until she left.

I don't know anyone who became an atheist because of the activities of the people in the church. My ex-church's pastor was my uncle, who is a great guy.