Former Catholics, why did you decide Catholicism was not for you?

Question

I'm a former Catholic and wanted to know why others may have chosen another path.

Answer 1

I am a former Catholic that realized how ridiculous ALL religion is. The centuries of abuse and corruption perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church also dismayed me, as did the fact of the untold millions of innocents murdered "in the name of Christ". Eventually, I could no longer subscribe to the mythology the Church continues to foist on the ignorant simply to enrich itself.

Answer 2

At about 10 I started to see and hear things that did not make sense to me. I would ask questions and was told that it was not for us to know but to obey and be good Catholics. That did not satisfy me.

At 12 years old, I had it with the church and the school. I rebelled constantly against their teaching. We had a huge coffee table Bible in the living room and I would read it every once and a while. Catholic priest never wanted us to read but to just listen.

I soon found out that what was written in their own Catholic Bible was not what Catholicism was all about. Nothing made any sense.

I later became a Christian and have since been serving God each day. I recommend that people try and stay away from organized religion in every sense and just follow God through His Word Jesus Christ.><>

Answer 3

It just didn't make sense and this applies to all religions. At school you are taught subjects like maths and physics where you have to be able to prove your results and conclusions by exercising your intellect but this process is not applied when it comes to religion. You are expected to accept assertions that have no basis in normal educational practice and you are expected to believe. the most bizarre phenomena as though they were factual.
One example of this is the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in which the priest says certain ritual words over some bread and wine. By this means ,it is claimed that he turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of jesus christ, and, even though there is no change in the appearance or taste of the bread and wine, you have to believe that this change has taken place. Not to believe this is heresy of the gravest sort and thousands of people were murdered in past centuries for rejecting this belief.
So on a Sunday millions of catholics queue up th eat this bread in the firm belief that they are eating human flesh. The priest generally gets to drink the blood, at least he did in my day when I was involved in these practises.
In normal life this would be called cannibalism.
It's said that if you believe in god you can believe in anything.

Answer 4

Well, my first clue that catholicism was not for me was when I saw how people at my church behaved. I would see them during the week, doing whatever they wanted, acting totally unchristian, and then going to confession and thinking that made everything ok. That was just the first step though, there was the pope issue, the females being unequal issue, and so on. I tried other paths as well, but ended up atheist when I realized that I could not convince myself that a god existed, even when I tried.

Answer 5

I realized that Original Sin could not be true, unless it was God's fault - the opposite of what they were teaching me in confirmation class.

That and the fact that there was no evidence for any of it, just words. The Bible isn't evidence of anything except that some people believed some things and wrote them down.

I got into New Age stuff for a while in college, until I took some philosophy. I realized that there was no real evidence for that stuff either, and that most of the New Agers were irrational, i.e. they wouldn't consider alternatives, they were committed to things they couldn't prove.

Answer 6

The Churches of Catholicism looked like they were interiorally designed by Quentin Tarantino.

But really, it was the fact the church was too full of hypocrisy that even a twelve year old could see, and it brought up more questions than answers about the faith.

Answer 7

I had too many questions that I was told to leave alone, stop asking or that I'd go to Hell for. I got tired of doing penance for those questions too. How many times can the Bible be read & preached upon? I can recall several priests who had similar sermons. HMMM!!! I could have sworn that when I spent 3 years in Catholic school, we were taught that the priests sermons were private; they spent time alone coming up with the words. How then did several have similar ones? I did 10 Hail Marys & 15 Our Fathers on that question. The answer is they compared notes somehow. Sermons private? I don't think so.

I stopped going to church in my early teens right after that big penance. I now follow a different religious path, after spending time with Baptists, Protestants & Lutherans. None of those religions suited my needs & I didn't feel comfortable with any of them.

On occasion, I get the urge to go to Mass on Sundays. I give in, feeling very much out of place. All of the words & songs come back easily so that's not it. I just don't feel like I belong. I've talked to several priests nearby & all have said to me that I have to be comfortable in my choice not to go to Mass more than on occasion. I am comfortable with my choice & am happy in the path I now follow. Not one of the priests told me I'm going to Hell or would spend eternity in Purgatory. I joked with one priest that those places are going to be Party Central & he laughed heartily, agreeing that I might be right.

Answer 8

I left it because I couldn't support a church that had been caught red handed protecting child molesters. I figured there was no way god would have allowed his servants to get away with that for so long, and so the Catholic church was not special as I had always been taught.

Answer 9

I was also once a "former catholic" and then one day I just started going again. Then I wondered why on earth I had ever left in the first place. Now I am a committed and happy catholic again. Its just the finest-and the oldest and closest to the bible, the history and Jesus and the testaments.

Answer 10

1) Because I'm a woman who believes I am every bit as equal as men.
2) I do not think sex before marriage is a sin.
3) I accept gay people.
4) I use contraception.
5) I think stem cell research should be allowed.
So now I'm an atheist who is free to do and think whatever I want.