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Originally Posted by MarchHare
I was raised in a Catholic family -- baptized, confirmed, served as an altar boy, the whole deal.
I became an atheist when I was 16 or 17 for two reasons. First, I learned about the scientific method in high school, and I couldn't reconcile my faith in God with a lack of observable empirical evidence (and I'm aware that's entirely the point of having faith, but logic won out over superstitution for me).
The second reason why I abandoned the Catholic Church is because I started reading about the atrocities it committed over the centuries -- from the Crusades and the Inquisition right up to inexcusable and intolerable actions that continue to this day. The Vatican, even in the 21st century, has blood on its hands. In Africa, where the Church is still viewed as a trustworthy authority figure, Catholic officials are actively discouraging the use of condoms and spreading misinformation about their effectiveness at preventing the spread of AIDS (even going so far as to say that condom manufacturers purposely lace condoms with HIV). This horrible and misguided abuse of trust will directly lead to the deaths of thousands -- if not millions -- of Africans.
Or perhaps you recall a more recent case of a nine-year old Brazillian girl who was sexually abused by her step-father and became pregnant with twins. Her doctors confirmed that there was no possible way she could survive carrying the fetuses to term, so they performed an abortion to save the young girl's life. The local bishop, upon hearing of the abortion, excommunicated the doctors and the girl's mother. The child-rapist was not excommunicated. I want absolutely no part in any organization that would sanction such a great perversion of justice.
Like you, I went through a pretty severe case of Catholic Guilt since I'd been indoctrinated in the Church's teachings pretty much since birth, but I eventually got over it. Ultimately, losing the faith was the most spiritually liberating event in my life.
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I was confirmed, alter boy, everything as well. Although, my problems are not with the authorities of the church themselves, but with the beliefs of the church.
I got in to a debate with my cousin a couple weeks ago about the sacredness of human life, and when we got to the scientific part of it, I asked him simply, what makes human life sacred? His answer was based on cognition, which seems to be a common answer among Catholics. My answer, was that cognition only develops around the age of two years old, so therefore Human life is only sacred after you turn two. That debunks the possibility of human life happening at conception, and therefore opens up the abortion can of worms...
I also argued that the 16 year old toddler in the news recently does not appear to be cognitive... is she human?
His answers ran in circles and didn't really come to any kind of intelligent end, and what was most astonishing to me, was that he was studying to become a preist for two or three years before deciding he wanted to have a family. If he studied for that long and couldn't answer my questions, then where else can I go?