I am 13 years old, I go to a catholic school, and people think I believe in God but I don't?

Question

Okay, so I was born into a Catholic family. My parents sent me to a Catholic school, and I go to church almost every Sunday. I've also been baptized, confirmed, and I also received my first communion. I am 13 years old. I honestly can not believe in God. Religion seems pretty idiotic to me. I don't believe that there is anything. I disagree with a lot of things Catholic people say. What annoys me the most is people praying. They expect to ask for something and then get it? Why can't they just solve problems on their own? To me it seems like begging something to solve their problems. Also, they expect you to go to church every Sunday and say you're a bad person and you have sinned if you don't. There is no way I'll believe in that made up stuff. I will never believe in God, angels, heaven, or hell. It seems stupid to me! Especially when people are sacrificing things for 'God'...it's like wow...So what should I do? Do I just keep faking it and acting like I actually believe in God?

Answer 1

Wow a catholic school education was surely wasted on you huh! All those catholic school years served me a world of good. The kindness all the nuns showed me, they were so loving towards me. I'll never forget and will always be grateful to my parents for the sacrifice they made in paying the tuition for 12 years. Catholic school planted the seed, I'm born again and free. God is good and you'll find out how wrong you are. It's hard to believe you would be good at faking that you believe in God because true believers are kind and wonderful people-- you sound bitter and ungrateful. Besides it's not a religion we follow, it's deeper than that. Jesus Loves you anyway.

Answer 2

You shouldn't fake it. Honestly, if you think it's wrong, there is no way you should be doing it, too.

But how do you know it's wrong? It sounds to me like you don't get Catholicism.

I don't pray to get things from God. I pray so that my heart will be in the right place and I'll grow closer to God.

I do strive to solve problems on my own, but once you get a little older and your problems become more complex, you'll realize that not all problems *can* be solved on your own. Sometimes you need help. Sometimes you need the courage to ask for help. Sometimes you need the wisdom to know who to ask for help. And sometime you need to learn to live with the situation as it is. Do you really have a problem with another person going to God and asking Him to provide courage, clarity and the ability to cope?

Yes, we expect Catholics to go to Church every Sunday, but not to say we're bad. We go to Church to *worship* our God. The fact that you don't know that tells me that either you were very poorly educated in the Catholic faith or you weren't really paying attention. Confession is when you reveal you failings, and that's not on Sundays or Holy Days.

As for whether or not you've sinned, give me a break. Of course you sinned this week. So did I. So does everybody. We all sin and, as the Bible says, "fall short of the glory of God." If you think you're not sinning, you don't have a properly formed conscious. Not paying attention in religious class is one sin, but how about all the others. Did you always do what your parents asked you to? Did you tell any lies? Did you listen to or repeat any gossip? Were you selfish, vain, prideful? Were you lazy? Did you bother to do anything that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, shelters the homeless, ministers to the sick, frees the oppressed, etc.?

Get real. You're only 13. You don't know everything just yet. You should take some time to learn before you make blanket statements like you will NEVER believe or do anything.

I say, stop faking your participation in church. Go to Mass with your family out of respect for your parents, but don't receive the Eucharist any more and be honest with them about WHY you aren't. And then don't sit around on your butt thinking you're the smartest thing in the world. Many, many, MANY brilliant people in the history of the world have believed in God. You're not smarter than they are, believe me. So you should find out WHY they believe and see if it makes sense to you before you chuck God altogether. It may take years, but at least when you're done, you'll have support for your argument. Right now, you don't.

Answer 3

Only you can know the situation and really what's best to do. Go with your gut. I became an atheist at 14 or earlier - I didn't divulge that information until I was 15 though.

BTW - at age 40 I ended up having the other problem - admitting to people that I had found God (more accurately, that God had found me).

My family wasn't very religious, so I had the opposite problem - I had a harder time coming out with the fact that I was now a Catholic.

Best of luck to you on your journeys - these things are never easy.

Answer 4

You know whether or not your parents are people you can talk to. If you can talk to them, do so. If you aren't comfortable talking to them talk to another trusted adult. This is a heavy burden to carry on your own.

If you talk to your parents, respectfully tell them that you find it hard to believe and what your concerns are. However, don't attack things that are precious to them. Just state that you disagree. If it is true, it will also help your cause to tell your parents you will respect their religious practice as long as you live in their home (You should always respect other people's religious practice unless it harms you and others.) Do not mock, merely let them know what your concerns are.

Right now, you may be too young to appreciate this, but you will later. Your parents have the right to raise their children in the faith of their choice. That means they can (and should be able to) make you go to church against your will until you are 18. If they choose to do so, go as willingly and cheerfully as possible, understanding that they are only trying to be good parents. Not to ruin your life or trash your opinions.

Also try to understand that while you may not believe, your parents probably do. When you tell them you don't, they will imagine you in hell. Because they love you, this breaks their hearts. Naturally, they will try to bring you back. Respond to their efforts with loving submission, because you depend on their care, even when it is obnoxious and seemingly restrictive. In other words, don't fight. If they can't accept that you are different, agree to disagree and don't keep beating the dead horse.

When you are 18, you may decide. Until then cooperate with the people who care for you. After you are 18, it would be nice to go to church with the family when you visit to keep the peace. What I am trying to say is don't make your beliefs a barrier between you and your parents. Also don't use your lack of belief as a weapon.

Please remember there are things you have yet to see and experience. Keep your mind open. Don't shut any doors you may want opened later.

Answer 5

Hello, You are at the age of question. What makes you think that when people pray they are asking for something? You can't know what someone else's personal prayers are. When I pray I talk to God and THANK HIM. If you think that you don't believe in God you should not be in Catholic school.You are wasting your parents money and taking a privilege that a true believer should have. Just remember, even though you do not want God he always wants and loves you. When the day comes that you desperately need him he will be there for you.I hope you work out your conflict.Please have a heart to heart talk with your parents.Good Luck Psalm 40

Answer 6

i m 15 n i don't believe in my religion... but m waiting patiently 4 e right time 2 come so that i can have a good talk with them... But unfortunately, my parents are not the type of people who would agree with me and let me do what i want... So i really got to wait 4 a few more years in which i'll reach the age of independency to talk with them... if nothing works, then there is nothing i can do except go against them...

Answer 7

Have you tried going to a baptist church? I am a baptist and let me tell you something: us baptists know the true way to God. Through Jesus the Son. You should go to church every Sunday, but you aren't evil if you don't go every once in a while. The baptists don't sing a bunch of chants and stuff. We sing gospel songs that are atually fun to sing. You don't need to say the rosary, but instead, pray to Jesus and love him and worship him. If you don't like the way catholics do things and want to be a baptist, pray to God for help and trust that he will guide you. God exists. And he loves you beyond measure. He is watching over you. Pray to him and ask him to help you.

Answer 8

Thinking about it is good. It's what you've got your brain for, and if God exists, he'll be pleased your using it, and that you've worked out what nonsense organized religion is.

It's especially commendable to have worked it out if you've been brought up in it.

You might have a tough time if you voice such opinions around others who are deeply into their faith.

Really what you think is not their business if you don't want to share it with them.

If you don't think you've committed any sin then you don't need to confess any, and you can just sit thinking whatever you want while they pray.

You needn't discuss it with anyone else until you want to, and I'm sure if you want to, you'll find plenty of people here from all kinds of persuasions who will be pleased to discuss it with you.

The discussions will doubtless include some preaching but I suspect you'll be able to deal with that.

Which is most gratifying. Some troubled teens who seek help here really worry me because they might take on board the rants of those who follow rigid doctrine.

Answer 9

I’ve asked myself that question before and at one point wondered the same things as you. I said, “I’m an intelligent person. I can take care of myself and my own problems. Why do I need God?”

I struggled with this for a while. Eventually the answer came to me. Without God, why would I care to overcome my sins, or suffer through anything in this life?

Think about it. We suffer and give of ourselves for what motivation: love. Suffering itself is not a natural act. It means placing someone else’s needs above our own, for another’s benefit. In nature, where survival of the fittest counts, suffering would mean we wouldn’t survive for long, because it means we would sacrifice ourselves for another even to the point of death. Why would I do anything that would threaten my own survival? Why would I do anything that wouldn’t benefit me first?

We go to work and deal with people we don’t like; we do things for our family members even when we don’t want to; we go to school and put up with people we can’t stand. We make all these sacrifices for others, to our own suffering, for what motivation? Love. And from whom does love originate?

God.

When people pray, they are seeking communion with Him that is love. They’re trying to draw strength so that they can continue to show love to others, continue to sacrifice themselves for another’s benefit. Isn’t this what Jesus did? He was perfect and sinless. Why would He need to sacrifice Himself for us? Of what benefit did He gain from this? There is only one answer and it is THE reason why we know there is a God and why we give ourselves to Him:

Love.

God bless.

Answer 10

Keep an open mind. Things look way different at 23 than they do at 13. And at 33 and at 63. Don't think "never."