Religion as an institution

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I am so disappointed with the Catholic Church, I have come to think its better for me to worship God and follow my faith away from it. It all started a while back when I was in high school. I belonged to a youth group in a local Church where the parishioners were mainly Hispanic. It was great I even prayed out loud and danced to the music. Then the church got popular and more and more people started attending. The priest became "famous" and was now on TV all the time. Before this he used to be a friend to me, after he got his 15 minutes all he cared about was how good his hair looked and to make sure he shook hands with the right people. I decided to change churches and decided to go to an English speaking church. It was nice, until I decided to get married, they wanted to charge me like $500.00 to give me the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. WTF? So I pay them their money and remain attending Mass there, until one x-mass day; We went to hear the Gospel and they just gave us a two hour lecture about how we need to give $$$ to the church. After that I didn't go as much, but every time I went there was something about $$ in the sermon. And don't even get me started on the fact that the church would hide the fact that they had child molesters among them. Actually the priest from the first part of my story, the guy that did my confirmation, is no longer a priest due to molestation accusations.
Wow, that turned out longer than I expected. So what do you guys think? I have come to believe Religion should not be an Institution with politics and Economics and it should be practiced at a personal level.

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@JEB007,

That's almost exactly how I feel. Except I was raised church of christ, so you know, that whole dancing and whatnot means you're going to hell. :p

My church is really just a bunch of old white people who talk bad about each other behind their backs. It took a while for me to realize it but now that I do, it sickens me and I haven't been to a church on my own accord since the day I moved out of my parents house.

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@JEB007,

I understand where both of you are coming from. I have seen it a lot. But not all churches are like that. I grew up at a church back home, over 10 years we went there. My entire family was largely involved, my mom alway volunteerd with the youth group, was practically the events coordinater for it, I was on the student leadership committee and drama team, my dad did the sound there forever, and designed and built the entire sound system in both the youth building and sanctuary, and was even 1/2 of the interim youth pastor in transition. Anyway, I think you get the point. Well, we left that church as I left for MI. We were not happy with how things were. Now, stuff happened, but it didn't turn me off to churches completely. My parents found another church and really love it. I don't know if I will or not, we will see. What I am saying, is with the multitude of churches out there, you will most likely be able to find one that fits your beliefs and preference of style. I like my worship to be more conemporary, full band ect. If you visit other churches, I bet you would be able to find a church that you are pleased with. Churches are run by people under God's guidence, and, unfortunately, human interests, greed, ect., interfere and block out His guidence. But I promise you, not all churches are bad.

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@JEB007,

But that's another thing that bothers me. There's a church for everybody. They can't all be right.

I believe not all churches are bad. I don't think God meant church to be "fun". My grandparents were Church of Christ forever, and a year or so ago they left their church (over the same problems I mentioned I had with the CoC I attended) and found another church. Yeah, their new church is a lot more fun, I enjoy going. But I don't believe they are 100% scripturally correct.

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@ndjs,

ndjs wrote:

But that's another thing that bothers me. There's a church for everybody. They can't all be right.

I believe not all churches are bad. I don't think God meant church to be "fun". My grandparents were Church of Christ forever, and a year or so ago they left their church (over the same problems I mentioned I had with the CoC I attended) and found another church. Yeah, their new church is a lot more fun, I enjoy going. But I don't believe they are 100% scripturally correct.

ok. let me clarify. I agree with the "There's a church for everybody." thing, thats not exactly what I meant. I suppose what I was going to was the style of worship. I want to go to a church that is scripturally accurate, yes. But I like worship to be a little more contemporary. No where in the Bible does it say that worship has to be ritualistic and traditional. God loves worship in any form, as long as it is true, and I find, for me, I worship best in the more contemporary setting, rather than the traditional. So I guess what I meant was, find the church that is scripturally accurate and with the worship style that suites you.

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@JEB007,

^ That makes more sense, but I still feel that there are churches for anybody. No matter what you want, there is a church for you. And they aren't all scripturally accurate.

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@JEB007,

And Jesus said " wherever 2 or more of gather in my name"( paraphrasing ) , so that is my belief . I don't go to church , raised Methodist , wife is Catholic , but neither of us like the structure of church , meaning the modern way of big churches with all the frills even up to Mega-churches on TV .
I dislike them always wanting more money to build a bigger church than the one down the street .
I just believe in God and worship by being a good person in His eyes .

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@JEB007,

The city I grew up in is in the Guinness book of world records for having the most churches per capita in the world.

I know exactly what you mean Curmudgeon.

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@JEB007,

I agree too, I am not a huge fan of the huge churches, its very impersonal IMO, I know exactly what you both are talking about. There are good churches out there, unfortunately, there are also bad churches.

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@ndjs,

ndjs wrote:

That's almost exactly how I feel. Except I was raised church of christ, so you know, that whole dancing and whatnot means you're going to hell. :p

My church is really just a bunch of old white people who talk bad about each other behind their backs. It took a while for me to realize it but now that I do, it sickens me and I haven't been to a church on my own accord since the day I moved out of my parents house.

Oh god I can def relate to you there. That is basically all my church is. I only go because I am dragged there and could really careless. I can please my parents for 1-2hrs a week... my Dad is all about going to church and if you dont your going to hellz.

Personally.. I still dont believe there is a supernatural person watching me type this.........

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@JEB007,

^ That's the only reason I go. I only go when I'm visiting home. I was just force-fed soooo much of it when I was growing up that I know that for now and a while to come, I won't be interested in religion.

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@JEB007,

I guess I was lucky in that my parents never really had to FORCE me to go to church. I always enjoyed church and always chose to go myself. If I didn't want to go, I wouldn't. My parent's may have gotten a little upset about it, but they never forced me to go. When I wasn't happy with the college group at our church, I decided to visit some other churches, and my parents were fine with it, because they understand that forceing it can lead to resenting it. I guess I was just lucky, or something like that.

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@JEB007,

I guess so. My parents always made me go. And they didn't even like me to visit other churches. I knew so little about other churches until I was almost an adult and could find things out on my own. All I "knew" about other churches was more or less they were wrong. They didn't even like me to visit other churches that were Churches of Christ.

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@ndjs,

ndjs wrote:

I guess so. My parents always made me go. And they didn't even like me to visit other churches. I knew so little about other churches until I was almost an adult and could find things out on my own. All I "knew" about other churches was more or less they were wrong. They didn't even like me to visit other churches that were Churches of Christ.

Exactly.... all I knew is Cathlolics and Methodists were "weird" lol

I was brought up Church of Christ, my whole freaking family has gone to the same church since it existed.

I was force feed religion and that has made me resent it just like you. I actually enjoy going sometimes... I go and I listen to what is being said and I do think about it... most of it makes me roll my eyes though... I love sitting there and just watching peoples reactions to what is being said. Some people have their thumb up their nose, some people I see outside of church occasionally and are hardly what they are in church. I make it pretty clear that I dont like being there lol... I do my own thing. I have always enjoyed watching other people to see the kind of actions they take and just the way that they see life... I'm the type that would love to go to the mall and just sit and watch people.... and then some of the stuff that is said is just stupid... mainly the way they put women down without just coming out and saying "You're women, you're below man, be my bitch"

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@JEB007,

Oh people at my church have NO IDEA who I am. I figure if I'm going to go to please my parents, I might as well play the role. Of course, my parents have no idea who I am either.

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@JEB007,

JEB007 wrote:

I am so disappointed with the Catholic Church, I have come to think its better for me to worship God and follow my faith away from it. It all started a while back when I was in high school. I belonged to a youth group in a local Church where the parishioners were mainly Hispanic. It was great I even prayed out loud and danced to the music. Then the church got popular and more and more people started attending. The priest became "famous" and was now on TV all the time. Before this he used to be a friend to me, after he got his 15 minutes all he cared about was how good his hair looked and to make sure he shook hands with the right people. I decided to change churches and decided to go to an English speaking church. It was nice, until I decided to get married, they wanted to charge me like $500.00 to give me the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. WTF? So I pay them their money and remain attending Mass there, until one x-mass day; We went to hear the Gospel and they just gave us a two hour lecture about how we need to give $$$ to the church. After that I didn't go as much, but every time I went there was something about $$ in the sermon. And don't even get me started on the fact that the church would hide the fact that they had child molesters among them. Actually the priest from the first part of my story, the guy that did my confirmation, is no longer a priest due to molestation accusations.
Wow, that turned out longer than I expected. So what do you guys think? I have come to believe Religion should not be an Institution with politics and Economics and it should be practiced at a personal level.

Don't forget that clergy are subject to the same temptations as you. Some give in to those temptations as well. I to had a similar incident when my wife and I were involved with a youth group as older married models. We were in from the start of the group and would have meetings with other much older married couples and various priests. They were not very receptive of our ideas and would always push on us the monetary contributions that we required to keep the group funtioning. They wanted none of our imput unless money was required. Needless to say we were not with them for vary long. Problem was it was a priest that was the hardest pusher. It turned me off from the church for quite a few years till I some what got over it. That and the priest was moved, why i don't know. During that time i found out through other studies that the church was not the big stone building i was going to. But in your soul, you can practice your faith in the middle of the desert with no one around. Or in a crowd of thousands. While i believe you should be giving of your fortune it doesn't always boil down to money, giving of yourself is worth much more. No amount of money can compare if you give of yourself completely, it's worth more then any dollar will ever be worth!!! IMO

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@Curmudgeon,

Curmudgeon wrote:

And Jesus said " wherever 2 or more of gather in my name"( paraphrasing ) , so that is my belief . I don't go to church , raised Methodist , wife is Catholic , but neither of us like the structure of church , meaning the modern way of big churches with all the frills even up to Mega-churches on TV .
I dislike them always wanting more money to build a bigger church than the one down the street .
I just believe in God and worship by being a good person in His eyes .

Amen!

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@JEB007,

just to play devil's advocate, which is a favorite at my parent's church (we are Church of Christ), The Bible does say that about where ever 2 or more gather, but it also says "Thou shalt not forsake the assembly."

Thoughts on that?

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@JEB007,

Depends on interpretation , does "do not forsake the assembly" mean one MUST go to church in a building or large gathering led by a preacher , rabbi , mullah , or priest ? If so , I disagree - back to the "wherever 2 or more gather " scenario for me .

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@JEB007,

I just kinda decided that the assembly is the gathering of 2 or more people.

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