To Non-Catholics who have left their church, please explain why you left?

Question

I used to be a Presbyterian Protestant before I became a Catholic.

Answer 1

Too much dogma and hypocrisy.

Answer 2

As a child when you're a catholic, you get baptized with no knowledge or choice. This is a 2000 year old tradition, baptize and leave no choice, print this child as a catholic, as you grow, like school, they take you to study at the church about all those fairy tales, if you want to or not, you go because your parents say so, so you take first communion, and feel very proud of yourself, then, since you're catholic, chances are you're hanging out with catholics and get a catholic girlfriend and get married with all the catholic ceremony, all this time you're doing what you think is right, what your parents have thaught you, you've been brainwashed and you don't know it, you have kids of your own and you follow the exact same footsteps with your kids as they did with you, and your parents, and grandparents as you keep going back you arrive at the time of the inquisition when you had no choice but to believe if you wanted to keep living, you believed by the sword, afraid of being burned alive, whole countries were made ''christian'' in this manner, and that is why this religion has prevailed for 2000 years.
Now to me...as i grew up i had my doubts, i know you're not supposed to doubt being catholic, that is why faith is blind, you believe in whatever they throw at you and whatever else they can't explain is ''dogma'', it requires severe brainwashing as a child to keep the chain going, in my case as soon as i turned 12 i had enough knowledge to be sure that there was no santa clause or any of the other fairy tales. I have taken the bible exclusively for historic reading and no more, the miracles described are not real. So i woke up from that brainwashing quite early and kept doubting and asking myself, pondering, and now my kids wont have to follow a chain of fairy tales.

Answer 3

My family use to bring me to church just about every sunday. My parents also made me get confermed as a catholic. I was extremely against this but the only reason i did it was so i could get a cell phone. Now that i got confermed, my parents let me decide if want to go or not, and i have completly stoped going. I left the church becuase i dont believe in one thing that it says. I think that the whole story of Jesus rising from the dead is not true. And i do not think that there is a god on this earth. There is no way to prove it. And i defentally dont believe in heaven or hell. Those are just there so when close family members die you can make your self feel better by saying there in a better place now.

Answer 4

I used to be Catholic and I left the Catholic church - I am therefore a non-Catholic. I left it because the church has so many hypocritical and/or harmful statements, actions, and people, and has throughout history, that I couldn't find truth in its teachings anymore. I left religion in general for similar reasons but on a wider scale, and also because I find religion logically incoherent. To put it simply.
That's the short answer, anyway.

Answer 5

I feel sorry for you, your question backfired and now everybody is telling how they left the Catholic Church but, I know for a fact that the Catholic Church is growing like there is no tomorrow. It is phenomenal because whole churches are coming into the Catholic Church now that so many denominations have gone to the Women Bishops and the openly gay couples being Pastors and stuff. They are flocking back to the Church as they are seeing where the lack of good firm leadership has lead their church and they see the Catholic Church standing firm against homosexual acts, abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia. etc.

Answer 6

I was born and raised a christian and am now just spiritual. I left for a few different reasons. The first being that there was a lot of sexism in the churches i went to - a man has his job and a woman has hers - litterally! A woman in a former church of mine was turned down for the usher position because that's a man's job. Also I can't see myself worshipping a god of such violence. The scare tactics were horrible - at one point i thought everyone i knew was going to hell! also ownership - you can do anything you want be a horrible person and you can go to a do nothing paradise simply because you asked for forgiveness - but you can be a great person with nothing but kindness and love for others and go to hell because you don't believe in what you can't see.

Answer 7

I lost faith because of all the hypocrisy... In spite of the fact that my parents had been married for 21 years and had raised 4 strictly catholic children, the church did not allow them to take communion because they were not married by the church (only legally.)

When I came to Bali my faith in God was renewed because I saw how people who do not have such a regimented religion can still remain the closest I have ever felt anyone was to God. I converted to Hinduism when I got married and I have never felt more at peace with myself and God.

Answer 8

I stopped attending services at my church mostly because of the gossip train, most of me and my friends were part of some nasty nasty rumors. Stuff you couldn't even imagine church members making up. I think it's disgusting people go to church to make fun of people than to worship.

Answer 9

I didn't like the way Sister Jenkins was beating my fragile, nude buttocks with her 3-foot ruler, in front of the class.

Answer 10

MY MOTHER GREW UP A VERY DEVOUT CATHOLIC, AND A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO SHE SWITCHED TO BAPTIST, SHE SAID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH GOT TO BE TOO TRADITIONAL, AND SHE FELT LIKE SHE WASNT ABLE TO CONNECT WITH GOD, NOW SHE FEELS HE IS MORE HER FRIEND THEN SOMEONE READY TO PUNISH HER, SHE IS VERY HAPPY NOW. I DONT UNDERSTAND EITHER, HOW PEOPLE CAN BE SO DEVOUT AND THEN CHANGE RELIGIONS, I MET A CATHOLIC THAT WENT PENTOCOSTAL AND SHE WAS VERY RELIGIOUS.

Answer 11

mainly because every time we asked questions, the priest never answered it. And because most catholics only obey when it is convenient for them.