[Mike Oxlong]

I was raised Catholic as well in a fairly religous family. While I do still consider myself Catholic although not a practicing one I have a lot of issues with the Catholic Church.

I do believe in a God or a creator. However I think many aspects of religion including Catholicism are man made.

I tend to avoid religious issues on here because they turn in to a gong show real quick and I feel they are somewhat disrepctful to the people who are religous and their beliefs.

Back to Catholicism - They do get a bad rap in a lot of cases and some of it is well deserved especially in the case of priests and the molestation of young boys. However they have also done a lot of good throughout the world particulary helping the less fortunate. That aspect of the religion is often overshadowed by the negative press.

I guess my main issue with the religion is how they seem to be stuck in their ways and the rules that are hundreds if not thousands of years old. Times change and with that I think religions need to adapt. With the birth control and contraceptive issue do they really belive that our God wants people in Africa to continue to reproduce at alarming rates and spread AIDS to each other and unborn children? What kind of God would that be?

There are TONS of other issues I disagree with.

For me if you live a good life, treat other people with respect and decency, help those that are less fortunate than you and are thankful for what you have then you are doing fine. We don't need to live by a bunch of rules that men made up thousands of years ago that just simply don't apply today. Maybe that is an easy way out for me so I can make it convenient on myself and follow the rules I want to but that's how I feel.