different thoughts on my religion?

Question

hi everyone. i'm a 13 year old catholic, and im already having some "thoughts" about my religion. i want to stay catholic for the sake of my family and generations on, but i think the whole idea of god is ridiculous. please understand that i dont worship the devil. i just believe things like,

adam and eve - give me a break. evolution, duh. noah's arc - impossible. moses - the red sea occasionally dried out.

i feel like im letting these facts get in the way. but at the same time, "god punishing you" for calling somone a dork is just a coincidence. what should i do? i dont want to be atheist but i dont believe a LOT of catholic beliefs!

Answer 1

I never understood why anybody would want to label themselves after some religion that they don't believe in. Even if people are in situations where they have to stay in the closet due to fear of being ostracized by parents or bosses, or living in a country where certain religions are illegal, etc., you can at LEAST be honest enough with yourself and know where you truly stand.

Having said that, I think it's worth pointing out that Catholics are not biblical literalists. There are plenty of Catholics who accept evolution. Hell, my biology teacher in high school was a Xavieran Brother.

As for not wanting to "be atheist", well geez it's not like that's the only other option out there. There are hundreds of different religions. Go research. That's what I myself did when I was 13 and getting fed up with Catholicism.

Answer 2

Whatever you chose to believe or not believe, base it on some realism. Yes some of the things mentione in the Bible happened. But is that all? The Council of Nicaea took years and to decide which books would be included in the Catholic Bible to create a uniformed church body. Interestingly enough, many of the books that were written in Aramaic, Christ's own language were disregarded while those written more than 100 years after his death were included. What to believe? Is it church propeganda or where they really directed by divine intervention to use stories that were not written when Christ was still fresh in everyone's mind.

Did you know that there is a Christ story, identical by most respects, that is 1000s of years older than the Biblical tale?

Believe what your heart tells you to believe. Find ALL the references to prove it or disprove it. If you can't do either, feel free to take it on faith. That's what religion is.

Answer 3

Depends on the subjective definition of "religion". I'd say practically no one on the planet has the same beliefs as any other person so YES you could argue that there are 6 billion different religions on this planet. Apparently God's "plan" of dictating the universal truths in the bible didn't work out very well. Kinda strange considering he's supposed to have infinite power...

Answer 4

Hey, I'm a former Catholic. The process of learning can be challenging, especially when your family and friends don't seem to question their own faith.
But you can read, you can learn. You may decide to just keep your questions a bit to yourself. Or heck, I don't know, you can do what I did when I was 14: my mom took me to see the preist because she was "concerned" for me. I asked the priest, "Can God create a rock that he himself cannot lift?" The priest could not give me a straight answer (because there is no straight answer). And the priest also had trouble just understanding the value of my question. Anyway, I didn't get in too much trouble. But that was my first serious step out of the shadows and into the light.
You can do it, too. Just use your own eyes, your own ears, and your own mind and you'll be fine.

Answer 5

Well, it all depends. I think you should research more on these things before you go out and say they're ridiculous though, especially the comment on the Red Sea. We discovered the Red Sea splits on its own a few times a year. It splits far and long enough for anyone to walk across it. Anyway, I think you should go and believe what YOU think is right. Don't believe in something because you feel pressured into it.

Answer 6

I think it's fantastic that you are learning to think for yourself. We are meant to question these things and find for ourselves what the truth is.
I was Catholic a LONG time (born and raised) until I was 17 and really started to question it and do my own research.
At this time you may be better off to just follow the spritual path your parents have laid out for you. Read the bible, ask lots of questions and do your own research too. Your exposure to it will help you better decide later down the road what you believe. The catholic/Christian faith does have a lot of good things to teach so now is a time for you learn those things. Eventually you will be in a better position to choose for yourself what truth is.

Answer 7

Good, you're wiling to explore...Religion and religious belief is a CHOICE. Just because you were born Cathiloc you don't necessairly have to remain one. I would suggest you look at other Churches (attend a few services if possible) and decide which fits your beliefs best. Should you arrive at the conclusion I did that there isn't a religion that doesn't have rules and regulations I don't agree with than I suggest checking us out WWW.UUA.org. A religion that is based on the realities of life and addresses the need for spirituality without rules and regulations. PEACE!

Answer 8

*shrug* Whats so wrong with being atheist? It just means you can stand on your own without a religion holding you up with their annoying little puppet strings. Thats what you are when you are part of a religion, a puppet, and don't let them convince you other wise. I am glad to see that young people today are beginning to think for themselves.

By the way if you don't believe everything a religion tells you, you are not of that religion. Its called "faith" for a reason, you believe it or you don't there is no 50/50 margin or at least thats what they told me before I realized they were giving me a load of bull. Matter of fact I was only a year older then you when I dropped religious lies for logic and intelligence.

Answer 9

You are 13, and most adults still don't have all the answers-You hav etime to learn and decide on your own what it is your belive-Here are some things to think about though.

The old test-Not inspired by Jesus-the rules and laws of the old test-for a Christian (not a jew) are now gone.
So do we take th estories at face value? I don't know.
You can think of the stories like parables-Jesus gave many of those in his life, and he didn't want ppl to take them literally.
Lessons about how the world and God works in a way we can or could comprehend.
Did you know that those geniouses in th epast who were ahead of their time were persecuted or waved away as though they were crazy? Because the times were not right for the new knowledg to come in.
Darwin discovered evolution, b.c the time was right for it-Others had discovered it at the same time he did..so it wasn't that he was just a genious-He was in a lifetime that was ready for that knowledge. I don't want to get too complicated on you, so that's put simply.
If Let's say, God inspired a full version of how the Earth was created-with him creating the big bang, or him starting off from the dust and turning into cells and then evolving up-would we understand in those times? Absolutely not...
We were not wise with knowledge, we were like children-who needed a story to understand it all.
Yeah, Adam and Eve-may have existed-but maybe they cam eto be from the process of evolution-with 7 million years of evolution (or whatever) We obviously don't know God's time-7 days could be 7 years or 7 billion years...
So we are given a concept that teaches us that Yes, God created it all-in a simplistic manner, that yes we came from the Earth, yes we have a soul, and yes we wanted to search for knowledge-and therefore needed to know good from bad.



Noah's ark, is amazingly a story known to each culture around the world! Not now..back then!!!
They all had different names, but the concept of the flood and the boat are still present-Remember- the different cultures had NO WAY to communicate this to each other No newspapers, no telephones, ppl didn't travel by ships on expaditions...nothing..yet they all passed down this story-So is there truth to a worldly flood?
ooooh possibly!!! How the story is told and what the peoples names were are not as important as the message God was trying to convey.

The red sea, well- ever wonder if God can work with the natural laws he created? God would have made it all possible..would have known when the sea would be able to dry up-Though, that wouldn't explain why the pharoes army was drowned in the water after-possibly a miracle from God we need to have some faith in.

God doesn't punish us, we pass judgement on ourselves, and must live with teh consequences of our own actions. Calling people names creates negative energy-and will only harm ourselves in the end. Our actions create our own consequences-God's laws at work in the natural world.
You don't hav eto believe anything... believe what your heart tells you is true. Reject what it doesnt-Maybe you are rehecting the interpretations that flawed persons can give-and maybe you should be reading it and seeing your own or researching the thing syou don't quite understand.
goodluck

http://www.theoutlaws.com/unexplained10.htm

here's some more info on noah's ark.

"Scholars now know that the story of a Great Flood is not confined to the Bible. Many cultures share a similar story. According to Greek myths, the gods flooded the world and destroyed the human race because of its wickedness. The Egyptian god, Osiris, was murdered by his brother, his body locked in a wooden chest and set afloat on the sea on the seventeenth of the month, the same day as that given for the beginning of the Biblical Flood. The Babylonian poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, tells of construction of a great boat to protect both people and animals from the destruction.

All these ancient legends appear to have a foundation of truth. In fact, over 200 different cultures scattered around the world share the same basic story: a great flood covered the earth. For scholars to find proof of the Great Flood, however, was like trying to solve the greatest mystery story ever known. Nevertheless, some scholars believe they have solved it."

Answer 10

Read, Noah's Ark a Feasibility Study...sure the Red Sea might have occasionally dried up but if that were the case WHY would they people have grumbled against Moses? It clearly could NOT have been in a 'dried up' state when they were there to cross it or they wouldn't have said that Moses brought them there to die! Evolution, duh...Molecules to Man NEVER happened...You've gotten your 'facts' messed up. Read, A Case for a Creator. Read, A Case for Faith. Read, A Case for Jesus. But most importantly.....

READ your BIBLE!!


You are right to question your religion, however God wants to have a relationship with YOU...He wants YOU to run to Him like your earthly dad and throw your arms around His neck. He wants YOU to talk to Him, to read His words, to come to Him with your questions, your problems, your concerns, your joys.

PS. Your family will NOT be there with you when you stand before God Almighty!! Don't follow a 'religion' based on anyone else's 'sake' because when it comes down to it, it will be you and you alone standing before God. I am a non-denominational Christian...I believe what the Bible says. Read it for yourself and NEVER let anyone tell you that you won't understand it. Start with the book of John in the New Testament. Also read Roman 10:9 and 10. God's not going to punsih you for calling someone a dork but you might miss out on a reward that He has for you.