To those raised Catholic who have left the Church, please explain why?

Question

Any reasonable theological motive will be considerd for best answer. Although I am and will remain Catholic to the core.

Answer 1

I was a Presbyterian Protestant before I became Catholic.That was more than 45 years ago. Why did I leave Protestantism? Simple, all that the Catholic Church teaches is true. Jesus Christ also founded one Church and that happens to be the Catholic Church.

May the Lord's peace be with you!

Answer 2

I was raised Catholic; my mom was the Church organist and as a teen, I also played and was very active within the Church.
It all started when when I was 17; an Irish priest got rabid mad at me because I played hard rock on the church organ; I thought it odd that a man of God would get so furious at a teen...so I stopped going to Church and became an atheist. I no longer believed in any Church...I didn't believe a God existed; and for the next 6 years, I played Rock Music with a crazy group and did lots of drugs.
I suddenly rediscovered God while playing Rock Music in a City Club; that night, I just left my Guitar and Keyboard on the stage and just walked out of the club. From that day, I quit using drugs and also quit playing rock Music.
I didn't go back to being Catholic; I studied the bible and the Spirit of God guided me. I am still searching for the truth; I have attended many Christian Churches and most of them seem to teach well.
I think that Christianity is all about loving God and loving each other.
If you wish to know just how I suddenly changed from an atheist to a lover of God, you may Email me.

Answer 3

The blogbaba was raised Catholic, and long before Priests were caught molesting alter boys (an obvious spiritual attack on the Catholic church), nuns were breaking bolo paddles over his backside. I remember looking out the window of my catechism classes on Saturday mornings watching my sub-midget baseball team practicing while the nuns stared menacingly at me. God I had a great childhood, I miss it, being old isn't for wimps believe me.

I never actually left the Catholic church but I do have a couple issues I will share with you.

The aspect of praying to angels & Saints disturbs me greatly. I know the prevailing argument is that we are asking them for intersession with God, but on one of the rare Sunday mornings my daughters and wife conned me and my son into going to church, I heard a prayer to Michael the Arch Angel in mass, and with all due respect it was a prayer. I don't want to push my beliefs on anyone, but I'm pretty sure, God is still a jealous God, and doesn't appreciate lesser dieties honing in on his action.

My eldest daughter currently attending college want's to be a nun, or so the kid claims. Believe me, she is anything but normal, still there are worse things your daughter can aspire to become in life. I am not too keen on the vows they make nuns take, it's worse than joining the military, they actually shave new nuns heads just like in boot camp. The different orders of nuns are organized along the lines similar to a military organization, and you wouldn't belileve how serious these people are about their business.

All and all it guess the Catholic church does alot more good than harm, so I won't be to critical, but I have a hard time believing that God could simply let billions of people simply perish and burn in hell for eternity over doctrine. I have trouble buying into any absolute, and having an ex-HItler youth as the mouth piece of God an the planet is a tough pill to swallow for anyone. Still who am I to judge, we do what we are able, the rest is up to God.

Answer 4

Never doubted the existence of God, but disagreed that a man (the pope) could be infallible, in light of some of the historical rulings of some of the popes. I have the highest regard for John Paul II, may God rest his soul. I've not yet decided about this new pope.

I also had doubts about "original sin". How could a God which is most just and merciful assign sin onto the soul of a child who has never committed a sin, and indeed isn't even able to sin? Why should anyone be held accountable for the sins of their ancestors?

Furthermore, without original sin, which doesn't fit in at all with the Christian view of God as loving, just, and merciful, there is no need for a scapegoat, Jesus (pbuh).

My family is still Catholic, and I have respect for their viewpoints. My mother tells me that the Catholic Church no longer requires its members to believe the pope is infallible in religious rulings.

Answer 5

My uncle was a priest. His friends included monsignors, priests, bishops and a cardinal.

I was raised in a pretty tight Irish Catholic household :-) Even thought I once had "the calling."

The problem was that I felt there was too much pomp; too much hypocrisy. When I was a kid, I studied Jesus' words, particularly in such passages as his teaching his disciples to pray, I was struck by the humility and the sheer elegance of an intimate conversation with God.

It was when I understood his reasons for his dislike of the Pharisees that I began to wonder if the Catholic hierarchy had not, in effect (and of course, by mistake) replicated some of that culture of holier-than-thou hypocrisy.

Obviously, I never went to seminary. I prayed. And I never fail to "talk" to God and express my gratitude for his love.

I didn't attend church for years. It was only a few years ago that I took a little time to read Martin Luther's theses. In there, I saw some of the very questions that had troubled me.

So... poof! I'm a Lutheran :-) And glad of it. And, FWIW, I've found a lot of "RCs" (recovering Catholics) at my church.

Peace.

Answer 6

I personally was appalled when the church I want to join after I moved here, wanted me to pay $5000 up front, then so much of my paycheck a month! THey told me I could not JOIN unless I paid. I'm disabled and on a very small paycheck. I have kids to raise. What kind of God would want me and my kids to suffer so that I can help pay from a brand new church?

Then there was the fact my oldest son couldn't be baptised because my husband wasn't here to go through "classes" with me. He was, at the time, deployed with the military.

Plus, all of my years in Catholic school and nobody could ever give me a straight answer about the bible, the catholic faith itself or other questions I had. They were like politicians....always going around it and never answering it.

Answer 7

during my eighth year of school, we were preparing for Confirmation. Confirmation, as you know, is a re-affirmation of the vows you swore during baptism (parents acted in your proxy) as a catholic. I asked questions regarding my faith that the church dismissed and treated as trivial affairs (things like why the church would sell passage into heaven through the sale of Indulgences). The more questions I had and the more they refused to answer, the more I began to question those behind my faith. Things like prohibiting birth control (knowing full well that sex will happen...it makes ALOT more catholics than can be converted). The 'church', being an institution of men, is inherently flawed and corrupt. I chose to stray from an organization that did not have my spiritual mortality in it's best interest and one that was instead trying to gain a power over other men, blinding leading them to believe that the misfortunes that the church itself cast on you will make you a better candidate for eternal life. Cut out the middle man, have faith in whatever you wish, but the 'House of God' that Catholics praise is nothing more than a cheap motel where anyone with the right coin can get out of the cold. The true House of God is not of this world, it is of us.

I have nothing against God....it's the organization of faith that I'm opposed to.

Not sure if that's what you were looking for, but I somehow feel better about myself. Thanks

Answer 8

The hierarchy enforces antiquated rules.
We can think for ourselves and make our own decisions.
We can confess and commune with God without it.
It practises outmoded ideas re childbirth.
Priests can't marry.
Too many priests are pedophiles and can't be trusted.
The services are boring.
Lay parishioners are treated like children.
The money could really help the world's problems.
They expect us to be robots and believe everything they say without debate or question.
Priests sexually abuse women.
They are medieval. They do not teach our children how to live in the modern world.
They continue to teach that Mary was a virgin and that Jesus had cousins not brothers or sisters. This is against natural law.

Answer 9

<--- fallewn away catholic(far away). The reason for it, it didn't work for me. Do what makes you happy, it made me miserable. Do what the declaration of independence says and pursue happiness. A theological motive for me is that no one practices what they preach. They are going to be rude, ignorant, snotty, helpful, kind, or whatever no matter what. People are people and you can't explain why, it just is. I am going to follow my path and god can kiss my flaming a$$hole.

Answer 10

The main reason I left is that I started studying other religions. I realized how little I knew about my own. Also, in actually reading the bible, I realized how little I knew about it. I noticed that reading about Taoism brought me a lot of joy, something the “church” deprived me of. So I walked away. Now I’m between religions, but still looking. No one missed me, which is okay because I don’t miss them either.