If you are brought up Catholic....?

Question

are sent to a Catholic school, are confirmed aged 14, go to church every Sunday until you are 18, when you leave to go to University and suddenly stop going to church and realise your life doesn't change when you stop going, and pretty much give up on the whole idea, to what extenet do you think your Catholic upbringing remains in you? I mean, if you haven't violently rejected the religion, just don't practice it or are apathetic towards it. Is a person like this likely to be affected in some way by their religious past? It'd be good to hear the perspective of some people who have been through this. Thanks.

Answer 1

i know lots of catholics who were away from the church and the faith for a long time...


they always come back..and i have yet to hear one say they regret it..

Answer 2

I was brought up in a Catholic home and environment. It was nice when I was a child and even till I was a teenager. After I was married at age 25 then I started to miss the Masses etc. I felt guilty about this and soon became involved with another couple of Christian Churches. Well summing up I got out of Religion all together and my wife did also. I studied religion for some time with books and when I got a computer I used this to find information
I feel cheated that Religion spoiled many parts of my life, even my sex life was doomed. This started when I was first masturbating and the guilt still remains to this day.
I have been betrayed by Religion as they feed on our weakness and give us guilt and they all reap a fine profit. At 71 years today I have been free form Religion for about 23 years. So this is my story and this was how I dealt with it. The world would be better off if there was no more Religion.
Wayne

Answer 3

If you don't experience an adverse affect for nonattendance, then you are not experiencing one. This is not to say that there won't be any behavioral review years later for whatever you decide to do during your nonattendance years. Remember, Christian practice and belief (Catholic included) is based on free will. That is Jesus' doctrine, no matter who's Bible you consult. It's the only way that your behavior can be evaluated in all you do.

I believe that with any religion, if one adopts a view that is antagonistic towards it (say, pro-choice), then there will eventually be negative feedback, which one must be prepared to defend and accept. People can even drop you as a relative or friend if they feel strongly that your views are not acceptable, whether this is appropriate for them to do so or not. But, I believe that when one 'goes away to college' or until one is 21 years of age or so, that our society in general allows one to experiment with living as long as you don't break rules or the law or harm yourself. That isn't always as good as it sounds--there's a lot of stuff out there and this can get confusing!

The Bush administration, especially since 9/11 has succeeded in creating a renewed and increased interest in the Christian religion. Deciding not to attend services may draw criticism in larger circles as well (depending on whether your school is a secular setting or you plan to enter a type of work where this would/would not be a factor), otherwise questions about religion don't necessarily have to be answered and can be illegal.

Answer 4

Many persons drift from the religion they were made to practice while growing up once they go to university and technically become grown up. They may drop religious observances or adopt new ones. I was also raised a Catholic, I became very involved with it during my teenaged years, but became interested in other spiritual philosophies when I got into my early 20s. I persisted with interests in eastern spirituality until I was in my mid 40s. Now, I'm almost 50 and have taken an interest in esoteric Christianity and western occultism of all things. I never thought I'd find these things so fascinating, but I do now. So, the moral of the story is, as you grow--you grow. The great thing about being a human being--that no one wants to tell you--is that you can think anything you want and shape your life accordingly no matter what people told you that you had to do and think while you were growing up and under their authority. Change, individualism in thought, and reinvention can be the mark of superior intelligence.

Answer 5

I generally have been God-fearing most of my life, but as a Catholic I learnt really little Bible truth. I was at a Catholic boarding school (with morning mass, Way of the Cross, Rosary recital, the works) and took up catechism class 3 times, but kept on dropping out mainly because of the three things I was always told when I asked for clarification on certain points:
1. "It is a mystery of God" (Fine enough, but how did YOU know it?)

2. "You cannot understand" (An insult to my intelligence- I was an ace student, none of my teachers had ever told me that I couldn't understand anything in my entire school life)

3. "You are so argumentative- just like a Jehovah's Witness!" (Now that was the greatest insult to me at the time. How ironical- I wish they could see me now.......)

Anyway, my point is that you don't really get to build any foundation for your faith, you never know where things are found in the Bible, anyone from another church could beat you hands-down at defending your religion, not to speak about the lack of a firm moral guide (I know first-hand what was going on in the Father's House and the convent)

That's my experience. I just thank my Catholic background for implanting the idea in me that there is a God. (Though he was nameless- that's another story)

I became a Witness before I went to university, so I had different standards by then, can't talk about that from a Catholic point of view.

Answer 6

"train a child in the way he should go....." I think you will come back to church. If you just started at a University I think you are just at that age (late-teen, early 20) that you are doing everything different and "your way". You are trying to figure out how you want your life to "be", but life and perspective change with age, so what "fits" now and what will fit when you're 30 or 50 will be so much different. You will probably be taking your kids to church (until they are 18!)BTW if you still believe - practice or not- you are still Catholic.

Answer 7

This is the natural progression of your faith, whatever your faith may be. You are raised to be one thing, get out on your own and begin to wonder if you really believe what your parents taught you or not. Then you continue on in life without giving it much thought until the next major event in your life, usually marriage or the birth of a child. That is when it will all come back to you as you decide how you want to guide YOUR family. How do you want to raise YOUR children? You'll either get back into full force or change religions/belief systems. One day, if you become a parent, you will have to answer the question, "What happens to us when we die?" and you'll have to be able to provide an answer of some sort because, "I don't know" is a very fearful answer to a child that believes that mommy knows everything!

Answer 8

The Parable of the Sower (also known as the Parable of the Four Soils) is found in Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:2-9; and Luke 8:4-8. After presenting this parable to the multitude, Jesus interprets it for His disciples in Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; and Luke 8:11-15.

The Parable of the Sower concerns a sower who scatters seed, which falls on four different types of ground. The hard ground “by the way side” prevents the seed from sprouting at all, and the seed becomes nothing more than bird food. The stony ground provides enough soil for the seeds to germinate and begin to grow, but because there is “no deepness of earth,” the plants do not take root and are soon withered in the sun. The thorny ground allows the seed to grow, but the competing thorns choke the life out of the beneficial plants. The good ground receives the seed and produces much fruit.

Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit (Matthew 3:7-8; 7:15-20).

To summarize the point of the Parable of the Sower: “A man’s reception of God’s Word is determined by the condition of his heart.” A secondary lesson would be “Salvation is more than a superficial, albeit joyful, hearing of the gospel. Someone who is truly saved will go on to prove it.” May our faith and our lives exemplify the "good soil" in the Parable of the Sower.

Recommended Resource: Parables of Jesus by James Montgomery Boice.

Answer 9

I was brought up in the Catholic religion, catechism, confirmation, Sunday mass.....I was totally disillusioned by it, when I was old enough to make my own choices, I quit going to church. I felt lost after a few years of not going to church, not caring what I did, until I found this great non-denominational church where I finally realized I needed to be. I have learned more in the past year of church than I did for 18years in the Catholic religion. I am so glad I found a church that would explain, really explain religion to me.

Answer 10

You don't need to go to church to be considered a "good christian". This happens to a lot of people once they go to collage, my husband was one of them. He doesn't go to church, except holidays, thinks a lot of what the Catholic Church believes is wrong, but he still believe in GodWhile I'm not religious in any way shape or form, we both believe that God is everywhere and not confined to a Church, as the Catholics oh so like to believe (that whole you NEED to be married in the catholic church is total BS!) As far as it affecting you I think it will serve you more as a moral compass than anything else.

Answer 11

Was raised a Srtict catholic for my first 18 years, until I became a Christian at age 18.

Brought nothing with me from the Catholic church-it had just been nothng but boredom.

I grew up, when the Catholic mass was still in latin.