What's Wrong with Me?

Erik Bates | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Aaron Shurtleff | April 18, 2005
Well, if no one else will touch this... :)

Are you crazy? I can't exactly answer this question with just the background information given. The picture makes me wonder though...

Religion is a funny thing. I've seen people inspired by religion do great things. But, I've also seen atheists who act in a manner that no religion would frown upon (with the exception of the whole there is no god thing). Religion, to me, can be a tool that can be put to good uses or bad uses. It can lift up a person, and make them better, or it can be a crutch that holds you back. It's really a personal thing.

In short, there's nothing necessarily wrong with you. And if there is, adding religion is not going to fix you, although it could. And it's not going to break you, although it could. I could be more vague, but the cliches are killing me. Good luck!

Anna Gregoline | April 18, 2005
Do you come from a Catholic or Christian background?

Erik Bates | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | April 18, 2005
Familiarity breeds contentment, in my opinion. You might be feeling similarly if you were working in a Jewish environment too - being with people of strong faith will probably be impressive to you regardless of their religion.

This reminds me of something from psychology class - that the more time you spend with someone, the more likely you are to like them - for example, couples that "take a break" often won't get back together because they are not around each other - simply being around another person usually increases feelings for them.

I can't make any comments about what you should do though, as that is a very personal journey and I was raised Catholic and now consider myself Pagan.

Scott Hardie | April 18, 2005
Speaking from my own experience, Erik, you might be motivated by a desire to please. I find that when I encounter new people or new ideas, I often fall into agreement with them quickly, because I (almost subconsciously) enjoy the ease with which it ingratiates me to them. Plus, it's important for my subconscious to feel "right" whatever the position on whatever the topic, and so if I meet new people with new ideas, I feel an urge to take their side because they (knowing more than I do) initially seem more likely than me to be "right." If I were in your place, getting to know a devout Catholic and considering a conversion, I would suspect these urges as my true motivators, independent of the religion itself. I have no idea whether this is also true for you, but hopefully it will get you thinking.

Anna Gregoline | April 18, 2005
Scott might have something there - I find myself non-verbally "agreeing" with people even if I don't agree with them about such subjects as religion. As in, I'll nod and smile when someone says something like, "Isn't that awful? God doesn't want that" when I don't agree with the philosophy or the sentiment or the notion of God they are supporting. It's a desire to be one with the niceness, or maybe it's all that good girl Catholic guilt surfacing making me want to conform, who knows? =)

Kris Weberg | April 18, 2005
Luckily, TC will always have me as an impolitic, antisocial rabble-rouser.

Jackie Mason | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Erik Bates | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | April 18, 2005
I'm not sure that there are good answers to those questions, Scott. I appreciate the need to find something you're comfortable with, but to me each religion or scientific answer just brings up another question (For example, if you attribute the universe to God, then what the heck IS God, exactly? Where did that come from? It just is? Etc.). I think as humans we're not going to ever know for sure.

I'd also like to say I LOVE the spelling of this - Catholisizm. It seems way gangsta.

Jackie Mason | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Erik Bates | April 18, 2005
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | April 18, 2005
Oh ok then.

Catholic!?! Are you CRAZY?!?!? What the heck are you THINKING?

There, is that better?

=)

Honestly, I did have a milder internal reaction similar to the above, but that's because from what you've posted on here, Catholicism does NOT seem for you, but I don't know you well so I internally shrugged. And far be it from me to try and tell people what religion to follow - it's far too personal.

Kris Weberg | April 18, 2005
"I wd. be a catholic if they wd. let me choose my own saints and theology." -- Ezra Pound, A Guide to Kulchur