Please help me...?

Question

I want to switch my religion. I don't want to be Catholic. My parents go to a Catholic church, so I can't really go to any other church. Can you please help me? For a little while, I was Atheist. But today, I changed. I've realized the God IS there when I need him. He really is. DO NOT tell me to become Atheist. Don't tell me how you are a proud atheist and I should go back to that, because I don't want to. Please help me. Are there any websites to help me? Any teen christian sites? I don't want to be Catholic, either. I'm not comfortable with it. Any help would be fine.

Answer 1

As an Atheist I can only tell you that you need to make that choice yourself.

Answer 2

There are many different Catholic churches, and you will find that each one has its own focus. You may find that another Catholic church is more to your liking. You should at least try some different catholic churches before giving up all together. But really, any kind of legit christian church is OK. I mean, it has to be the same Jesus right and the scriptures are the same. The histories and traditions are a little different, but don't give up on christianity though. That is important. Don't go like Unitarian or something. I mean don't be to vague about it. Go for something that takes a stand. Jesus was a real person, and was the son of God. That's a pretty big stand.

Answer 3

This may sound silly but there is a site:
www.beliefnet.com. On this site is something called the belief-o-matic that you can get into through the menu at the top of the page. It asks you some questions and depending on the answer it shows which religions seems to appeal to you the most. Perhaps if you do it it can give you a start into which religions you might want to look into.
All I can suggest is be open-minded. Don't just assume something isn't for you, read about it and get to know the beliefs of the religion. When you find the right one you will know. It will just feel right. I was a Catholic for over 20 years and now I'm a Pagan and have never felt more comfortable and happy in my beliefs. This is how it should feel.
Good luck.
Blessings

Answer 4

So let's see, you can't go to any other church other than Catholic, but you want to switch religions. How exactly is that going to work? Will you only switch in your head, but still go to Catholic church services? If so, why do you need our help? Find a religion you approve of, whether it's Judaism, Islam, some Christian sect, Hinduism, Buddhism etc, read up on it, and start considering yourself a follower of THAT religion.

You say 'God is there when I need him', but you didn't say WHICH God it was, or how you even KNOW which god it might have been.

Trust me, no atheist who really is an atheist is going to tell you to 'become atheist'. Atheism isn't like that. If you believe in a god or gods, you're not atheist and cannot be as long as you believe that way. Don't worry about that.

Have you considered Unitarian? Very open-minded, very accepting of others, very accessible. Give them a look-see.

Answer 5

Wow, difficult question. Without knowing your age and circumstances, I can't give you a simple answer...but I'll try to give you something that might help you.

First, if your parents still provide for all (most) of your support (especially if you live at home), you need to honor them by obeying their rules UNLESS those rules go against God. Attending a Catholic church isn't against God so if they insist that you attend "with the family", you should do so. When you are on your own, you can make the decision to stop attending. My own father left the Catholic church when he married my mother (she was So. Baptist and wouldn't become Catholic so they could marry in the church). However, whenever his parents visited us or when we visited them, we always attended mass with them out of respect!

Having said that, if you aren't comfortable with the Catholic church or, more importantly, if you don't think it is able to help you develop the relationship with God that you want to have, you should certainly pursue other ways to find what you need.

I have a suggestion for you that might be just the ticket. My church launched an Internet campus on Easter weekend. Two of the previous messages (sermons) are available online. Go to http://www.reallifeconnect.org/mediaportal/ and click the link for "view our videos". If it doesn't start playing automatically, click the link on the right for "Lifeguards Part 1..." to see the first message in the current series. It is an awesome message and so is the second one...more videos including the Easter service (the best Easter message I've ever heard) should be available over the next few weeks.

On Saturday evenings (7 PM central time) and on Sunday mornings (11 AM central time) you can attend services with other people from across the country and the world (we've had visitors from Hawaii, Virginia, Florida, Bahrain, Belarus, and France!). We meet in the lobby chat room before and after to chat about the service...some of us even chat during the service! The "live" services also have elements you don't get from the archived videos...the service starts with worship music and the online pastor prays and shares other information at the end of the sermon. We even have weekly small group meetings online (called lifegroups)...I co-lead one on Monday evenings.

I attend the Saturday night service...my handle is "KarenL" if you want to stop by and chat sometime! Go to http://www.reallifeconnect.org for more information about the online campus of Real Life Fellowship!

Answer 6

i am christian, but i'm not about to say "hey, be christian!" haha... but i DO think that

1) ur quest in seeking what is Right and Good for you is a GREAT tool for you, whether or not u choose Christianity or go back to Catholicism. God created us the way we are, so that we will Seek what is out there, what made us, etc etc. questoning ur religion (i've done that many times) doesn't mean u are "not a good catholic/christian"

2) in order to figure out, u need to do some research. study. find some new churches around ur area, better yet, go with Friends around u that attend different types of services. find a place where u feel Comfortable, Happy, and most importantly, u feel that ur mind is Open and Challenged and u are learning something that makes u feel Good about urself and what u are doing. that happened to me.. i stopped going to chruch all thru college, and i went to a few churches here and there w/ a friend. but i finally asked a friend specifically what church he goes to and if i could check it out, and i now have a "home" church. it's the tiniest thing, w/ only like 7 - 10 members, and i LOVE it. i've grown much more there than in my whole childhood to h.s. in church.

good luck~ the quest is what will lead u to the right path :) continue seeking and learning what is Good, Positive, Healthy, Helpful, and Good and u will find it

Answer 7

I'm not an atheist nor am I Christian,Jew, Muslim or any other traditional religion. You need to make that choice on what denomination you are comfortable with. The only way to do it is You have to do it. Go to different churches and talk to the ministers. They will e happy to explain how their church works. After you go to a few and have thei info, make your choice.
Try Yahoo Groups. In the search put in Christa in teen groups. A good place to start. The ministers can also help you with that.
Be careful of fundamentalist fanatics. They give all religion a bad name. As you get older and wiser you will find that a person that wants to share their religious beliefs with you rarely if ever wants you to share yours.

Answer 8

It's going to be tough as a teen. I was raised a Catholic and changed to an atheist (probably more agnostic), to zen buddhist, then God finally caught up with me...

You probably need to get a hold of a Bible (the Catholic one would be fine) and start reading. For the time being, I believe you should attend mass with your parents (if they go), and as you pray you will be led.

Hopefully, some other answers will have the web sites needed for a "teen christian site".

Answer 9

I'm in a similar situation. My mom is Catholic (kind of, she like to switch churches a lot). Anyways, she's Christian, and I'm looking into more Eastern religions, like Islam and Sikhism. I've found that Beliefnet.com is pretty helpful, but since I'm almost 18 and out of the house, I've decided to put off my conversion. It's also some more time to think and decide if this is really what I believe. As for explaining to my mom why I'm reading the Qur'an over and over again, I say I'm interested in the philosophy of it, rather than the religion itself.

P.S. what religions are you looking into? that can make quite a difference depending on the parent.

Answer 10

Why are you uncomfortable with being Catholic? Have you been taught anything about the Catholic faith, other than church mass and through your parents? Have you attended any formal classes or teaching?

Why don't you talk to your priest, maybe there is a teen support group at your church. I am not sure what education you have received about Catholicism, but before searching elsewhere, you should be sure you understand your own faith, by studying with others like yourself.

If after fully understanding, or at least getting some answers you still wish to pursue another faith, then you can do that to.

Parents do not always understand their own faith, as well, and sometimes you have to go straight to the church to get the real answers.

It is possible that what you don't like about the church, may not even be part of the church teachings.

Answer 11

The bible is the only way to know what God wants of you--otherwise you are taking some mans word as the truth. Trust no one--no one with your eternal soul other than God. The church that is talked about in the bible still exists. Study the word and don't take people's explanations for what they believe and practice as different interpretations of the Bible. The Bible is not open to interpretation--it says what it says and man can either obey or not. The Catholic church believes that the church has the final say in religious and spiritual matters, but their actions and inactions prove otherwise--along with the Bible itself stating that it is the truth. If the truth is the truth and does not change, then all but one church is in error. The church that obeys, believes and practices what the New Testament says is the right and only church. Shop for churches if you want, but remember not to look for what you want, but for the truth. Bible answers are needed, not doctrine or popular belief. Email me if you desire further help.