I Do Not Understand Why JWs Leave & Become Catholics! (page 14)

NanaR

AK Jeff:

I wanted to stand up and cheer when I read this:

One of the things we did as Jw's was constant attack on other religions. I am happy to see so many xjws here willing to defend a religion other than Jw's against attack. The arguments/counters are less significant to me than is the fact that we have become more willing to reason on matters like this.

Any statement that begins “I do not understand” (as the OP) should indicate a beginning of a search for understanding. There is nothing to be afraid of in examining various religious perspectives.

Here are a few books that I have enjoyed and can recommend:

First, a LITTLE book written about a hundred years ago that presents a different perspective on the history of the Bible:

Where We Got the Bible... Our Debt to the Catholic Church (Paperback)
by Henry G. Graham (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Bible-Debt-Catholic-Church/dp/0895557967/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210419156&sr=1-2

Next, a very interesting read regarding the Early Church Fathers:

Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words (Paperback)
by Rod Bennett (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Witnesses-Early-Church-Words/dp/0898708478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210419236&sr=1-1

The best explanation I have ever read of the Orthodox (a very ancient and beautiful religion) approach:

Sweeter Than Honey: Orthodox Thinking on Dogma And Truth (Foundations Series, Bk. 3) (Paperback)
by Peter C. Bouteneff (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Sweeter-Than-Honey-Orthodox-Foundations/dp/0881413070/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210421150&sr=1-4

A beautiful book by an Anglican Christian:

Mere Christianity (Paperback)
by C. S. Lewis (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210421326&sr=1-2

I have included Amazon links so that you can investigate the books further. I'm not a book salesman (ANY MORE!!) If you are near a good library, you might be able to get them there.

Maybe others can list reading selections from their perspectives.

Pax,

Ruth

http://nanaruthann.blogspot.com

minimus

Flyin' said," I should add that there would be many happy priests if the celibacy rule were ever to be lifted". And I think there would be many less pedophile priests and homosexuals too.

It simply is not a "healthy" environment for a man to be in, one who has normal sexual desires and wants to be with a woman for companionship and marriage. The natural desire in most men is to be sexual with those of the opposite sex. If a man had less feeling in that direction and simply was not at all that sexual (which some people are), then they could be a good candidate for a single lifed ministry.

StAnn

Min, there are several reasons a priest does not marry. Yes, it is in part financial, as was mentioned earlier. However, the Church considers marriage to be a sacrament and a vocation to be lived out very seriously. Priests generally get up at 4:30 in the morning to begin their morning prayers and get ready for morning Mass. My priest usually doesn't get to bed until between 11-12 midnight. He's busy all day with the needs of our two parishes. I've never known a Catholic priest who would have the time to be a proper husband or father. I've heard Lutheran ministers complain that they missed their kids' birthday parties because they had to attend meetings at their churches. Families of Protestant pastors often suffer from a lack of attention from their pastor husband/father because being a proper pastor is such an involved job. The Catholic Church feels a man can't serve his parish well and still be a good husband and father. If you take marriage seriously, you have to take your role as a spouse and a parent seriously. No priest I know would have the time to do that. My priest doesn't even have one day off during the week. There are about 100 married priests in the U.S. who were ordained pastors in other denominations before coming into the RCC. As a general rule, though, it wouldn't work very well. The Catholic Church takes family life much too seriously to risk mixing it with the priesthood.

And I can also tell you that other denominations (such as the JWs) have as high or higher of an incidence of sexual misconduct, despite the fact they allow their clergymen to marry. Our local Episcopal church was shattered when it was discovered that the married priest was having an affair with a married female parishioner. A married evangelical pastor in a town about 30 miles from here was recently convicted of sexually abusing over 20 young boys. Less than 1/2 of 1% of all Roman Catholic priests have even been accused, let alone convicted, of sexual impropriety. That means that 99.5% of them are doing their best to uphold their vows. I think the whole issue of celibacy is blown out of proportion. There is more to us as individuals than just our sexuality.

FlyingHighNow

The priests I know who were once Roman and have left and become Anglicans say that if the Vatican would open up the priesthood to marriage, there would be no shortage of priests as there is today. I asked father Mick if Rome did allow priests to marry, would he go back and he told me no. He should not have had to leave the church to become a priest. He still takes communion when he goes to the Catholic church and he still wears his miraculous medal though.

FlyingHighNow

And I can also tell you that other denominations (such as the JWs) have as high or higher of an incidence of sexual misconduct,

Proof please.

merfi

I'm going to answer this without having read all 7 pages.....

I'm marrying a [lapsed yet don't challenge him. lol] Catholic. I don't know if I believe in God or not. I'd like to. But I don't know.... Anyway, I've attended a few Masses and for me, it's the ritual and the very old traditions that I find fascinating. I also like the sense of community that my town's Catholics have. I've attended a Methodist and a couple Lutheran services and found them silly. Maybe silly isn't quite the word, but it just didn't taste right. As well, the Lutheran minister got up and told the congregation to boycott a movie. Not long out of JW, that totally irked me. So much for leaving Control behind.

I realize my church/religion-seeking is pretty minimal and thinking about going full-in with the Catholics might just be a lazy move..... But I feel comfortable there. And maybe a weird reason -- I want to know where and how my funeral would be if I died tomorrow. Not planning on it as I have a million other things to do, but who knows? Right now, I'm not JW, I'm not Methodist (my up-bringin's religion) and I'm not Catholic. I don't like limbo much.

I don't agree on the "do this or you're gonna buuuuurrrrn" crap in ANY religion and I know the Catholics have their own version of that. But I think the good things about it outweigh the bad and the BS.

~merfi

cabasilas

I don't know of any comparative studies off hand. Perhaps someone will post one. I do know that in the area where I live there have been about 6 incidents where public school staff have been involved sexually with school children over the past 15 years. (I know of one situation personally where it was decided not to prosecute.) I do not know of any cases of abuse involving Catholic clergy in this area. This is not to minimize where abuse did happen. I'm just relating comparative situations locally.

LearningToFly

I would like to share an experience I had very recently. I am volunteering at a hospital in my community, and had a remarkable experience while visiting for the first time the Catholic Chapel in the hospital.

I walked in, not thinking anything other than that I was viewing a place of worship. The moment I stepped into the doors, I felt something I cannot describe. It was beautiful, and lovely!

I can say that prior to this visit, I had no desire to belong to any religion at all, and I still feel the same way. But, upon walking into this beautiful Chapel I had an experience I cannot forget.

I felt beauty, peace, and some sort of higher power. I cannot name what it was, but I felt it. From my experience, I have come to the conclusion that their is a higher power somewhere, and I believe the same higher power that each individual religion, sect, believes in.. is the same higher power that everyone feels. Who or what it is, I do not know.. but I do now believe there is something out there. Not the God that most of us were raised to believe in, but something bigger. I truely did feel it.

I am not going to go out and become a Catholic, nor join any other religion due to this, but it was a true eye opener for me.

LTF

hillary_step

Learning To Fly,

I walked in, not thinking anything other than that I was viewing a place of worship. The moment I stepped into the doors, I felt something I cannot describe. It was beautiful, and lovely!

I am not a believer but I have to say that the closest I ever come to belief these days, apart from when I listen to a sublime piece of music, is when I am wandering in some of the great cathedrals in Italy. There is a breathless shift from one life to another in the contemplative atmosphere and stunning creativity of such buildings, which was of course their purpose.

HS

BurnTheShips

Proof please.

Here is a great deal of evidence FHN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_sex_abuse_cases

Abuse within the Catholic Church is not higher than in other institutions.

BTS

I Do Not Understand Why JWs Leave & Become Catholics!

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