Catholic Aspies?
I don't like being Catholic. When we went to Catholic schools the nuns were mean and while I don't remember much my sisters do and it was horrible for her. I don't know of a Catholic priest who is not a grouch and if he was not, he's "extremely busy" Yet they say HI to everyone and why do that if you don't have time to talk at all? Catholic mass is mostly boring. and they always ask for money but what does all this money buy? If I have a question about religion it gets answered with another question. Also, most of the Catholic church is centered around the kids and having kids so if you are not a parent you are kind of left out.
Try an Orthodox Church, or maybe a Byzantine Catholic Church. Orthodox priests will ramble on forever and ever about religious stuff, at least mine does, he's quite knowledgeable, but shares the Aspie trait of rambling forever. Plus, the "crowd" at an Orthodox Church tends to be pretty nerdy, they're not much on trying to be hip and relevant and cool.
I don't know, it's something you might wanna try. I'm a recent convert, though, used to be Evangelical Protestant, and yeah, it's a big switch, liturgical service and all that. That and like, my former Evangelical friends all basically view me as like apostate now, which isn't fun. So it's like the Catholics, who as Evangelicals we usually didn't even view as "saved" have become a bit of an ally to me, as there's some similarity in our churches, and we used to be the same church until the Schism. I don't know, the Orthodox switch definitely doesn't help me not be a weird person, oh well.
There's not a lot. I've seen a lot of former Catholics though.
Perhaps aspieness commonly leads to atheism/agnosticism? It's hard to have faith when you think of everything in literal terms. Though that said, religious aspies do exist; the ritual aspect of religion can be very comfortable.
For my son, faith fills in the existential gaps of logic in how things are or why. I think it helps that we, his parents, are pretty flexible in allowing him to apply faith his own way, and I don't think it is true in many families, which could be why so many kids leave it.
There is an overall societal trend away from faith, I don't think it is just Aspies, but I wouldn't be surprised if the trend were stronger with Aspies, we just don't know, that statistic does not exist.
Faith requires care and feeding, which I'm finding difficult in this busy world.
_________________
Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).
I agree that is hard to feel one belongs in the Catholic church when you don't have a family of your own.
As for the money, those beautiful churches don't exist for free, maintenance costs are huge, the priests need to have their housing and food et al paid for, most churches have paid staff, and the Catholic schools are heavily subsidized but the diocese - tuition is only about half the actual cost per child. if you don't care about these things you don't chip in; if you do care, then you try to do your share.
_________________
Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).
You are right, I do not have a family of my own so I don't feel the need to "chip in". I just don't understand why some people pay thousands of dollars to receive no benefit at all, in fact, some priests are mean and more than a few are doing sex scandals that I don't need to pay for their porn habit.
McDonalds spends a lot of money on their restaurants. If you don't like McD you don't buy their food. You also would not go there if the staff yelled at you. If you do go there, hopefully you will like the Big Macs and pay the money which is not thousands (though I agree that fast food is overpriced) they will be polite, it will be clean and you will come back. If I find out the managers are watching porn on the store computer, guess whos not eating there. In fact, I try to avoid fast food because why should I pay for people's "career path"?
I find one thing I do not understand is that many people have gone to Catholic schools which were strict and yet, they can kind of laugh about it. I just can't. I would think some of these "great beginnings" just had to be traumatic.
I don't really like the idea of confessing individually to a priest.
Honestly, I think it's one of the few truly useful traditions the church has. It can be very liberating, when feeling overwhelmed by guilt or shame, to just admit your faults and misdeeds to someone you trust to keep their mouth shut about it.
Raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools, now agnostic.
_________________
If life's not beautiful without the pain,
well I'd just rather never ever even see beauty again.
Well as life gets longer, awful feels softer.
And it feels pretty soft to me.
Modest Mouse - The View
artrat
Veteran
Joined: 6 Nov 2011
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,269
Location: The Butthole of the American Empire
I was raised Catholic but am not any longer. I asked questions and nobody gave me answers so I am appropriately a skeptic,
_________________
?During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act" ~George Orwell
"I belive in God, only I spell it Nature."
~ Frank Llyod Wright
I don't really like the idea of confessing individually to a priest.
Honestly, I think it's one of the few truly useful traditions the church has. It can be very liberating, when feeling overwhelmed by guilt or shame, to just admit your faults and misdeeds to someone you trust to keep their mouth shut about it.
Raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools, now agnostic.
I don't know about that. Confession always scared the crap out of me because it was so creepy to go into a dark closet, have the priest open the "screen" and give the silent treatment and when you tell your sins, get a long silent treatment and a creepy voice. My dad was upset with me because when I was young, I was terrified of confession. Could this be because of asperger's?
There's not a lot. I've seen a lot of former Catholics though.
Perhaps aspieness commonly leads to atheism/agnosticism? It's hard to have faith when you think of everything in literal terms. Though that said, religious aspies do exist; the ritual aspect of religion can be very comfortable.
Most theists don't visit PPR
So very, very true.
I saw the light later in life, sadly.
I was 22 before I enlisted into hardcore atheism, and proud of it also.
AnonymousAnonymous
Veteran
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 70,100
Location: Portland, Oregon
I was an altar server for three years, but realized I was too old for it when I was 16.
I was an usher for six years, but quit three years ago because I was getting tired of being treated like a celebrity by fellow parishioners and being looked down upon by others as inferior because of my AS. In fact, during the six years as an usher, I began believing that attending Mass was like being in high school all over again!
{A reason why feeling out-of-place at my old parish was because of so many cliques! Cliques are counterproductive to the message of Christ because if someone is in a church clique, it makes them arrogant and immature. }
In late 2017, I began attending Mass at a nearby Catholic church and many who I have met so far at my new parish have been kind and welcoming. In fact, I signed on to become a lector {person who reads Scripture} as a means to combat my fear of public speaking and also signed on to become a Eucharistic Minister.
To close this, I will say about my old parish is that a few years ago, my family and I were experiencing a period of crisis. Rumors began immediately and many {including the priest} refused to show sympathy.
Some said "Oh...that odd family brought the crisis on themselves because they don't behave in the ways God wants them to."
Some said, "Finally! That dumb family are being punished by God!"
Even though my family and I have survived the crisis {the duration was about two years}, I view the idea of getting revenge against people from my old parish very tempting.
However, people I have met at my new parish have been understanding and some have asked me to bring my family to my new parish, but knowing my family, they will decline in part to not knowing anyone at my new parish and the belief that my new parish will be no different.
Since it has been about 18 months since I joined my new parish, I am actually glad little to no awkward situations have happened between me and people from my old parish. IMO, if people from my old parish want me back, they know where to find me.
_________________
Silly NTs, I have Aspergers, and having Aspergers is gr-r-reat!
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
How can I help this relationship be good and last?(aspies) |
22 Jan 2024, 12:29 pm |
Finding other Aspies at college? |
11 Mar 2024, 2:30 pm |
Accommodations for Aspies in Court Litigation |
11 Apr 2024, 3:32 pm |