I want to be excited and comforted by God again...

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pghguy

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I'm Catholic but the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I am with our church. It's almost as if you're on a tight rope and one misstep could end in a tragic death. I have all but lost any joy or enthusiasm I once may have had for mass and it's been replaced by anxiety and indifference. For example, when I would go to confession in the past, I'd come out feeling renewed and comforted. Now, I don't feel that anymore but rather that I simply fulfilled an obligation. there is no comfort, no relief.

Right now, I feel like I have to be mister goody, goody every waking moment. And, in a way, I feel this is eating away at any chance to experience life to its fullest.

I can't imagine God would want this.

I'm even to the point that I'm considering other religions, specifically non-creedal or non-dogma based groups. I want to feel happy and excited about God and wonder if that can only be found elsewhere.

I'm going as far as considering hypnotherapy to try to more or less shut off certain parts of my brain so that I don't feel that living a basic human life is a terrible thing.

If you can offer any insight, I'd really appreciate it.
 
pghguy said:
Right now, I feel like I have to be mister goody, goody every waking moment. And, in a way, I feel this is eating away at any chance to experience life to its fullest.
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The mistake (IMHO) is to think that experiencing life in the fullest somehow contradicts being good or involves doing more.

Merely being alive means you will experience life at the fullest. No matter what you choose to do, you will experience it. You can't make water wetter. Water is water. Life is life. Experience is experience.

There was a Buddhist saying that goes something like, "Even if I was encased in a walnut shell, I'd still have the universe at my disposal."
 
citizenzen said:
The mistake (IMHO) is to think that experiencing life in the fullest somehow contradicts being good or involves doing more.

Merely being alive means you will experience life at the fullest. No matter what you choose to do, you will experience it. You can't make water wetter. Water is water. Life is life. Experience is experience.

There was a Buddhist saying that goes something like, "Even if I was encased in a walnut shell, I'd still have the universe at my disposal."
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I see your point but don't completely buy it.

I mean, if I'm in a constant state of anxiety which will not allow me to do things that I might enjoy or like to try, I'm essentially missing out on life and not experiencing it to the fullest.
 
pghguy said:
I see your point but don't completely buy it.

I mean, if I'm in a constant state of anxiety which will not allow me to do things that I might enjoy or like to try, I'm essentially missing out on life and not experiencing it to the fullest.
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Right. That is what CZ is trying to tell you. There isn't much chance you can change religion but you can change your ideas, perceptions and attitude. How you feel is your responsibility and your best opportunity to live a full life.

I think it was Ghandi who said: "it is easier to put on slippers rather than carpet the entire world"

I don't always agree with Citizenzen but if you listen to what he has to say you will undoubtedly learn something useful.
 
pghguy said:
I mean, if I'm in a constant state of anxiety... I'm essentially missing out on life and not experiencing it to the fullest.
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You are experiencing it at its fullest, it's just that the fullest includes constant anxiety... which I understand isn't the most pleasant way to experience it.

Removing your anxiety won't change the amount you experience life... just your enjoyment of it.

What do you think is the cause of your anxiety?


Paladin said:
I don't always agree with Citizenzen...
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Neither does my wife. :(
 
citizenzen said:
You are experiencing it at its fullest, it's just that the fullest includes constant anxiety... which I understand isn't the most pleasant way to experience it.

Removing your anxiety won't change the amount you experience life... just your enjoyment of it.

What do you think is the cause of your anxiety?




Neither does my wife. :(
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That's an easy one - fear on damnation.
 
pghguy said:
That's an easy one - fear on damnation.
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Something atheists never have to worry about. :D

Seriously.



I've said before that despite being an atheist, I believe that overall religion has been positive for humanity.

Then a post like yours makes me reconsider.

Do you really feel as if you're damnable? As if God will condemn you to an eternal Hell?
 
citizenzen said:
Something atheists never have to worry about. :D

Seriously.



I've said before that despite being an atheist, I believe that overall religion has been positive for humanity.

Then a post like yours makes me reconsider.

Do you really feel as if you're damnable? As if God will condemn you to an eternal Hell?
Click to expand...

I didn't used to think so. Now i'm not so sure.
 
citizenzen said:
Something atheists never have to worry about. :D

Seriously.



I've said before that despite being an atheist, I believe that overall religion has been positive for humanity.

Then a post like yours makes me reconsider.

Do you really feel as if you're damnable? As if God will condemn you to an eternal Hell?
Click to expand...

As an athiest, aren't you ever worried - what if I'm wrong?
 
pghguy said:
I didn't used to think so. Now i'm not so sure.
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Try to be sure.

The most ridiculous and hateful thing a religion can do is to convince people is that an all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving God sends people into eternal Hell.

That has nothing to do with God. It has everything to do with people trying to control other people here on Earth.

What? You get one life-time to learn all that needs to be learned and if you don't you receive eternal damnation? What kind of God would do that? How does it make any sense?
 
pghguy said:
That's an easy one - fear on damnation.
Click to expand...

As a former christian I can understand the anxiety very well.
It is a very real and palpable fear which is a prime motivator in all christians lives.

It is also a damn lie.

I have gotten into it at length here and am a bit too tired from work to do so again, but just reason it through for yourself, apart from the dogma, just set that aside for a while and look at the basics as if you have never seen them before.

God is said to be a loving, compassionate being whom we should consider as a father....ABBA.....right?

(side point to add.....are you a parent? If so this will help with this exercise.)

God is said to be our creator and as any maker of anything knows, the responsibility for any built in flaws are the fault of the maker.

People are born into a condition of ignorance and have to trust the vagaries of their circumstances for their knowledge and what they learn could be a whole bunch of lies and misinformation...and how would they know?
They have no benchmark to test it against...But we are told that we are just supposed to trust our elders, with absolutely zero proof.

God is said to be omniscient, meaning He knew before any one was born just what they would turn out to be.

Given these basics, how could a loving parent construct a place of eternal torment to toss a life into ........forever, and still be considered compassionate and loving?

Hope that gives you a bit of grist for your mill.
 
shawn said:
As a former christian I can understand the anxiety very well.
It is a very real and palpable fear which is a prime motivator in all christians lives.

It is also a damn lie.

I have gotten into it at length here and am a bit too tired from work to do so again, but just reason it through for yourself, apart from the dogma, just set that aside for a while and look at the basics as if you have never seen them before.

God is said to be a loving, compassionate being whom we should consider as a father....ABBA.....right?

(side point to add.....are you a parent? If so this will help with this exercise.)

God is said to be our creator and as any maker of anything knows, the responsibility for any built in flaws are the fault of the maker.

People are born into a condition of ignorance and have to trust the vagaries of their circumstances for their knowledge and what they learn could be a whole bunch of lies and misinformation...and how would they know?
They have no benchmark to test it against...But we are told that we are just supposed to trust our elders, with absolutely zero proof.

God is said to be omniscient, meaning He knew before any one was born just what they would turn out to be.

Given these basics, how could a loving parent construct a place of eternal torment to toss a life into ........forever, and still be considered compassionate and loving?

Hope that gives you a bit of grist for your mill.
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Thanks to you, and citizen for giving me some stuff to mull over. But before I do, I guess on arguement is that of a judge, as that God is also attributed to this role. While a judge will not condemn unjustly, he or she will rule that a punishment fits the crime. And, some would argue, not to do so would actually be a lack of love.
 
It's also like a parent - and no I'm not a father but work with kids. But if the child disobeys, we would expect the parent to discipline (punish) that child. This however in no means tells us that the parent does not love the child.
 
Ah, the big question.

Well, mainly sex related stuff. Porn, masturbation and a few things a bit worse.
 
pghguy said:
Well, mainly sex related stuff. Porn, masturbation and a few things a bit worse.
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Eternal Hell for looking at titties?

And as the saying goes... 95% of the men in the world masterbate... and the other 5% are liars.

Pretty tame stuff in the annals of crime if you ask me.
 
citizenzen said:
Eternal Hell for looking at titties?

And as the saying goes... 95% of the men in the world masterbate... and the other 5% are liars.

Pretty tame stuff in the annals of crime if you ask me.
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I thought so too until recently.

As far as the other stuff goes, my first time years ago was one I paid for. It was horrid and I was terribly sorry for it, confessed and took a long time to get my head straight. It involved an infection which wasn't fun either.

I've basically paid for strip shows too with some, lets just say, intense touching.

That would be a little less tame for sure but probably much less than most.
 
No interest in dudes and it's very hard to find somebody these days, especially for somebody like me - average. And I'm not into having a ready made family (girls with kids) or somebody with something I'm gonna need medical treatment for. Been there, done that, not fun.
 
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@ pghguy

Work on developing whatever talent you have and put it to service of a higher cause/ideal.

I noticed people have been posting quotations, well, there are more quotations to support this advice then any other, probably.
 
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