Voting with our feet .. (Main Forum)

by gemstones , Sydney, Sunday, May 08, 2011, 22:40 (746 days ago) @ Macbee

Hi Macbee,

I really do feel for you, and for all the others who have the Church ingrained in their psyche.

I was born into a nominally Presbyterian household. My mother had gone to a Calvinist boarding school, and was OVER religion in big way, so we never went to church. My brother and I were forcibly baptized by the local minister when he learned that we hadn't been "done" yet. He came to our home one Sunday night, when I was 10 years old, and sprinkled us there and then.

Due to complicated circumstances, I was sent to the local convent school, with instructions that I was to avoid religious classes at all costs, but of course I joined the choir, and we sang at benediction, weddings, etc. Loved that part of it, but the catechism lessons were a big turn off, so when I left there, it was with a fairly negative attitude towards the Irish, and Catholics in general.

Years past, and at university, I went on a retreat, where the priest was a smart, intelligent, good looking young Franciscan, who opened my eyes to an entirely different religion than I had known at St Leo's Convent!

I was hooked - got instruction, joined the Church, was very happy for many years, then it all came crashing down round about the time of Humanae Vitae*. It was downhill from there, and eventually, cutting out all the gory details, I stopped making myself miserable about it, and left.

That was a few years ago, and nothing will ever drag me back.

So, unfortunately for you, my situation was quite different. I didn't grow up in a Catholic household, didn't believe that I was born in sin, never really believed in hell or purgatory, and I never believed that priests had a special relationship to God. I loved the Eucharist, but came to realize that it wasn't worth the pain of all the rest of the guff.

So, dearest Macbee, in answer to your question, I was never really "Catholicized", so it was a lot easier for me to walk away. I don't think this little story will help you, but I really do share your pain. Getting out was the hardest thing I ever did, but now I look back in amazement that I ever got involved.

*For anyone who wants to believe that I fell out over contraception, just know that I have hever used any kind of birth control in my life. It was the sheer stupidity of Humanae Vitae that broke my spirit, and led to my eventual departure from the Church.