Becoming Catholic?

For years I have had the idea in the back of my mind of learning about and maybe even becoming Catholic! Any thoughts,ideas, suggestions,etc about it? It's really weird because for years I was a Southern Baptist and then fell out of church and then became interested in the Occult and then eventually decided I was an atheist/agnostic. So....yep....I'm strange.....I guess. I must admit that I feel like the Catholics are serious about their faith, and they (for the most part) are not stupid. The Church acknowledges scientific evidence and doesn't try to deny obvious conflicts with a literal interpretation of the Bible. To become a Catholic one must go to RCIA and get a sponsor in the Church and accept Church dogma and practice. Seriously....any thoughts? Yea or nay?

 

Personally, I don't think you need the help of the church to practice and learn faith. In my opinion, churches are too restrictive to a thinking person. If you do it for fellowship, I feel like that's a different reason all together.

 

Why?

 

Honestly, I really don't know! I don't! But the idea is a nagging one and it comes and goes. I am 49 years old and so it might be middle age craziness! I think one part of it is attraction to the rituals and etc.

 

I agree. One thing that gets me is that I have,for all practical purposes, been an atheist for I guess years now! Weird huh?

 

I would have to say nay here. Just like (I suspect) not all southern baptists have conflicts between scientific evidence and their religion so do not all catholics all acknowledge scientific evidence. Also, lots of catholics do still interprete the bible too literally, but yes there are many sensible ones. In short, stupid people are everywhere. Southern baptists and catholics as well of course have kind of a bad rep. But if one feels drawn to a certain religion for sincere spiritual reasons they should not refrain just because there are some stupid people part of it too. Or that there were some scandals with certain other dubious members. I'm sure that happens in reality though, as it is the reason scandals are preferred to be swiped under the carpet. With which I, if I was part of a religion, would have at least as big of a problem with as with just the scandals itself.

Not that weird. Lots of 'born again christians' went through an atheist stage.

edit: spelling

 

There are many very smart Catholic intellectuals. No doubt they have a kind of progressive view in terms of their beliefs, and don't have a problem with science. But there are millions of Catholics who are not like that, and who do take the Bible at quite a literal level.

That said, I quite like Catholicism as far as Christian denominations go. It seems to me that Catholic spirituality is something quite broad - they have the Marian cult for instance, and believe in Saints. There's also traditions of contemplation and meditation within the Catholic church.

However there's a downside too. I think the idea of compulsory celibacy for priests is mistaken and leads to all kinds of problems. I'd also like to see women given a greater role in the church.

Taking an optimistic view, maybe Pope Francis will have some impact in terms of reforms and overcoming the scandals that have rocked the church over the last years. Certainly I'm impressed by his stand on the environment and capitalism.

I'm not a Catholic BTW, nor even a Christian, although I do acknowledge that it is a genuinely spiritual thing.

 

I thought about doing RCIA just for a lark (Being October it's probably too late to start now). Another thing that snags me is my wife,who is a lot like me, but considers herself an "agnostic". She's a;so very "progressive" or likes to think she is about LGBT stuff and liberal ideas,etc. I mean Catholicism means that abortion is a no no. It means that "practicing" a homosexual lifestyle is a no no ( If I understand it right, the Church sees homosexuality as a reality and does not condemn the gay person but says, in a sense, "you may be gay but you must not BE gay......ie have gay sex!) The Church teaches the reality of sin and different types of sin (Mortal sins and Venial sins) and the existence of God, the Devil, angels, demons, and Heaven and Hell,etc. So....my new spiritual "hobby" might cause some friction?

 

Does even thinking about this make me less "hip"? :beatnik:

 

I'd say just follow your instincts. Only you know the answer to that and you'll have to come to a conclusion anyway.

 

I was in love with the girl. Beautiful Portuguese girl. Nice as could be. We talked about marrying up. Then a discussion of signing a paper came up. I "had" to sign a paper of some kind saying that I would raise any children we had ---in the Catholic church. Since I think children should be old enough to make their own decisions and have always felt that way---
-----bye-bye. You are certainly old enough to make a decision concerning what you want to do regarding religion. Sooooooo---I say if it makes you feel good and is important to you--do it. Religion serves many people and as a fellow human---I wish you well in your decision.

 

It sounds like you've already made your decision and have decided to become a catholic; though it sounds like you just want the community and the rituals, and aren't actually convinced regarding the metaphysics that are the real meat and potatoes of any religion.

If you're after community and rituals why don't you join a club or volunteer in a hospital. The world doesn't need more catholics, let alone more catholics who don't even believe the tenets of their religion. There are far more moral and useful ways to use your energy, and you will be rewarded much better for your efforts. Say no to tribalism, please. It sounds like you already did a long time ago but now some allure is drawing you back in; resist it. remember why you are an atheist.

You're impressed because the church acknowledges scientific evidence? You know who else does that? Scientists. Rational people.

They acknowledge just enough to appear sophisticated to certain people but not enough to actually examine their own beliefs in the hard light of evidence.

 

It sounds like you're a mirror to Catholics and are an Atheist Missionary, and you should allow people to follow their own path.

 

Oh, so you're talking about yourself?

 

I would recommend perhaps also checking out the Apocrypha and especially the Gospel of Thomas...if you want to get the full scope of what Christ was really all about. He wasn't so much a nice guy as he was a real Rebel for his times, and also pointed towards finding your own Enlightenment, which is conveniently left out of Catholocism. He spoke in ways that were misunderstood, and then the Catholic Church decided to morph his story for their own sense of control and dominion. Check out the Gnostic Gospels and the Gospel of Mary as well. But I would say follow your intuition.

 

That is an important point.

 

If you're after ritual, become a Wiccan.

 

Sage advice.