Quote:
Originally posted by harry
Hi!
I'm a Roman Catholic on paper, allthough I never really believed in God or any supernatural being. I have always been reluctant to officially leave the Church - im an Austrian, so maybe Catholicism is in my bones or something.
For me being a Christian is more a matter of philosophy than religion. I am convinced the world would be much better a place if everyone lived by the rules that Jesus taught his followers. I try to share what I have, I accept others the way they are, I commit myself for what I think is right. I try to be a good person and the New Testament gives me a set of rules on how to do that.
If other people need some incentive (i.e. eternal live in heaven) to do the right things, thats okay by me, though I suspect its just wishfull thinking. Nonetheless I'll be pleasantly surprised if it all turns out to be true.
So I guess I'm a confused catholic agnostic. Shoot me.
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I guess Im in the same situation as harry. Sometimes i get conflicting ideas about God, and I often question the Catholic Church. Sometimes its hard for me to understand how, if there is a God, does He/She (or whatever) allow so many awful things to occur in the world. There's so much pain and suffering, and destruction. But then I think (and I know its kinda off) that destruction is also a source of creation. Now I know im stretching the concept a bit, but it somehow applies....
I often hate the way the Church doesnt live up to its purpose. I live in a third world country, where there is an ENOURMOUS amount of poverty. And it makes me wonder, what is the church doing for all those unfortunate people? Giving them hope that they will go to heaven if they are humble and live by God's rules? I think im getting a bit political here, but I see the Church too often siding with the rich. I also dont agree with some of the traditions, I see them as useless and out-of-date. I also hate the way in which the initial conceps of religion have been altered, and made so restricting. I mean, any religion, during its beginnings, must have been very simple, and through the times, constructs have been added, and added, and added, to make it more complicated than it actually should be.
I'm aware that a lot of shit has happened in the name of religion. I dont think any religion encourages violence in any form, so I dont think any religion is to blame for those actions. It is actually a minority of people who 'bend' concepts a little here and there in order to justify their actions.
I am also quite tolerant to other religions. I hate all these fanatics who think their religion is right and the others are wrong. How do we know that who is right and who is wrong? I must admit that im nnot very knowledgeable about my own religion, but i read somewhere that catholics say that if you die without being baptised you to straight to purgatory.
And it makes me wonder: how is that fair to the rest of the people? God must be really screwed if that happens, because if a buhdist or someone who doesnt get baptised like we do goes straight to purgatory and yet he lived a better life than most people, how is that fair? Personally, I dont think that if there is an afterlife, and we get judged after death, that we will not be judged upon our social constructs.
Sorry if this post was a little hard to follow, but there's so much in my head, and has been there for so long, that its hard for me to put it into words...
