Religion/denominations - what made you walk away?

[aephi alum]

I was raised in a very strict Catholic household. My father, in particular, is a very religious pre-Vatican II believing Catholic (like AOIIalum's father).

Rightly or wrongly, I have always perceived the Church as very closed-minded. That has been my experience with the Church, an experience underlined when I got kicked out of CCD for asking a question.

I knew better than to question my identity as a Catholic while living under my father's roof. But once I left for college, I really began to think about things, and realized that Catholicism was not the right choice for me. Some years later, I realized that Judaism was the right choice for me... and now I am Jewish.

[kk_bama]

I'm currently a very skeptical United Methodist.

My mother was raised Catholic, and graduated from a Catholic high school. My father was raised Baptist. Both have a lot of negative feelings about their childhood faith, though my dad converted to Catholicism in order to marry my mom.

We moved around a lot when I was a child, so I wasn't baptized until the age of 13. I was baptized and confirmed within two minutes of eah other at my United Methdist church in Georgia.

About the time high school began, church youth groups became very cliquey. It was the Baptist crew, the Methodist crew and the Catholic crew. The Baptist kids were the most annoying of all. I think to this day those kids were brainwashed. I went to a Wednesday night youth group meeting once, complete with rock'n'roll band, but what they said always haunted me.

So anyhow, once these little church groups were formed, I felt uncomfortable about going to church at all anymore, even though in previous years I was at Sunday School every Sunday and sang in the children's choir.

So basically it was the cliquiness of the area churches, put together with my parents' distaste for their own childhood faiths and my own skepticism that drove me to how I feel today.

Honestly, if it were up to me, all Christians would all be one thing: Christians. No denominations. But that's wishful thinking, of course.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by aephi alum
I was raised in a very strict Catholic household. My father, in particular, is a very religious pre-Vatican II believing Catholic (like AOIIalum's father).

Rightly or wrongly, I have always perceived the Church as very closed-minded. That has been my experience with the Church, an experience underlined when I got kicked out of CCD for asking a question.

I got kicked out of CCD many a time.

[Imperial1]

Originally posted by Dionysus
If you're of a different belief now...

What made you walk away from a specific religion/denomination or religion in general?

I never had a religion to walk away from. But I NEVER walked away from God and never will.

Imperial1

[Tom Earp]

Was a So Bab.

Little Old Blue Hairs mad cooing noises about my Blonde Curly Hair. Screw that. No Where for 6 years.

Went to Anglican Church service.

Found what I wanted..

Catholic, it means Universial. Check Dictionary.

There is a difference in Roman and Anglican Catholic in essence.

But, like horse shoes, close!!!!!

Now, Christian could mean something to some but not others?

[oceanphi01]

I grew up in a Baptist family. My grandfather is a Baptist minister, so from a young age my mom and dad took me to church. My dad actually converted from Catholocism for my mom. For a while everything was fine until high school. I had already started to drift away from the church even though I was baptized. Then we got a youth minister that wasn't accepting at all. When the church was choosing her, I had met her once and got strange feelings about her (ie didn't like her). I said these at the meeting before she was asked to come to the church and the church not only pushed me away but pushed my family away. After she left my family went back, but I developed my own take on religion.

My beliefs now are more simple. More like Judaism but not really. I still like the meaning of Christmas (ie giving and receiving, helping others, the REAL meaning of the Christmas tree, simple stuff like that). I go to church occasionally when I go home, but only to service because I don't like Sunday School at all. The whole telling me I'm wrong for what I feel thing usually happens.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
I guess you could say I've walked away from traditional Catholicism - I'm a neoThomist and I'm an Americanist,

Neo-Thomist I know, but may I ask what is an Americanist?

Oh, I guess in the spirit of the thread I should add that I've always been Presbyterian, but I've also pretty much always been an ecumenically-minded Presbyterian, willing to learn and draw from other traditions like Catholicism, Anglicanism and Orthodoxy. Just like some Episcopalians would identify themselves as Anglo-Catholic and some Lutherans would identify themselves as Evangelical Catholics, I could probably be described as a Reformed Catholic. (And just so no one has to post asking what I mean by "Reformed," "Reformed" or the "Reformed tradition" refers to the Protestant churches, usually called "Reformed" in continental Europe and "Presbyterian" in Britain, that have their roots in the Calvin and the Geneva Reformation.)

[Dionysus]

Originally posted by KillarneyRose



PS: Dionysus, is your deleted post count accurate? Only 1 in an entire month? Girl, you must be getting boring in your old age! Either that or I'm not paying enough attention

It is still 1. I'm getting boring in my old age.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by MysticCat81
Neo-Thomist I know, but may I ask what is an Americanist?

Americanism (nutshell definition) was a big controversy in the 19th Century because American Catholics such as Archbishop John Ireland and Cardinal Gibbons (along with some of the CUA faculty) felt that the European Church was too inwardly focused. It basically delt with Isaac Hecker's question of "How can religion be made compatible with a high degree of liberty and intelligence?"

There was a big debate about Americanism at the Third Plenary Council. If you want, I can recommend some readings on it.

[MysticCat]

Thanks for the info, GeekyPenguin. I get the idea now.

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by 33girl
...Much to the amusement of many on this thread I'm sure, I find myself being pulled toward Catholicism, but I think it's more of a way to honor my grandmother and great-aunt than anything. The Lutheran church (or maybe it's just my home congregation) seems to be pushing evangelizing more and more, which I do not feel comfortable with. That and losing a lot of tradition. Call me shallow but I do not like to see paper signs made by 3 year olds hanging in the nave - it's TACKY!! The church I go to downtown is much more traditional and has more of the Catholic/Episcopal feel (i.e. wafers, intinction communion and Stations of the Cross on the wall).

Give up that hippy liberal ELCA Lutheran stuff and join me over on the LCMS side!! We're waaaaaay more traditional. (But not as crazy as those LCWS loonies. We do allow our women to vote and hold office.)

We're cool! I promise!!

[aurora_borealis]

Originally posted by ISUKappa
Give up that hippy liberal ELCA Lutheran stuff and join me over on the LCMS side!! We're waaaaaay more traditional. (But not as crazy as those LCWS loonies. We do allow our women to vote and hold office.)

We're cool! I promise!!

My ELCA church in San Francisco (the mecca of hippy liberal) has wafers and intinction. My farm town has pita bread and the pastor said in his sermon last Sunday "Jesus is ready to get the party started". I miss my home church with dark wood, stained class windows and no contemporary worship music. Are you talking about the WELS people? I heard they don't let people drink or dance, boo to that.

I left the church for a few years. I questioned my faith a lot. Sometimes people in a particular church are enough to make you leave. I don't need a building or other people to have a relationship with God. I was always told if you question your faith it makes it that much stronger.

[_Q_]

Has anyone read "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller? I thought he had some very interesting things to say. It talked about his life and experiences with Christianity, and I didn't subscribe to everything he said, but the book was still worth reading (IMHO).

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by aurora_borealis
Are you talking about the WELS people?

Yeah, I always get that acronym wrong. Wisconsin Synod--the one our crazy pastor defected to when we kicked him out of our home church.

Sometimes I feel the rural churches feel the need to overcompensate their "contemporary-ness" as to not be seen "backwoods."

Give me a true pipe organ, the old red Lutheran hymnal and a Pastor that doesn't hail fire and brimstone and I'm pretty happy.

[33girl]

Originally posted by ISUKappa
Sometimes I feel the rural churches feel the need to overcompensate their "contemporary-ness" as to not be seen "backwoods."

Give me a true pipe organ, the old red Lutheran hymnal and a Pastor that doesn't hail fire and brimstone and I'm pretty happy.

I TOTALLY agree with you & aurora - this is exactly what's going on in my home church. "We're 80 miles from a Limited, but dad gum it, we're going to make this church DA BOMB DIGGITY, DAWG!!" Next thing you know we'll be singing that old classic hymn How Great You Are.

And I understand the concept of making the church more approachable and welcoming to children, but there is such a thing as going too far.