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Maybe better suited for the culture war thread, but I think I'm leaving the Catholic Church. I converted in 2022 for a number of reasons. I had already felt drawn to Catholic literature/aesthetics for almost as long as I could remember (I loved Silence and A Canticle for Leibowitz), was incredibly dissastisfied with the secular attitude towards spirituality and morality, and was drawn to the simplicity of Jesus' simplification of the Jewish Law: Love thy neighbor as thyself, and Love God. I choose the Catholic Church over other denominations because it was not woke, open to revising stances on scripture (evolution), and concerned more with works over just belief.
It's been three years since I went through RCIA and converted, and a combination of contradictions between the church and my other beliefs about the world has become difficult to resolve. This center around two big areas. The first revolves around veganism/animal rights/environmentalism. Although this certainly wasn't always the case historically within the church (St. Francis and the Benedictines come to mind), there seems to be this attitude at least in my parish that animals and nature were only created for us to do with as we please. This is backed up by an interpretation of Genesis that suggests that God created man to rule over animals and nature. Not only do I think this is wrong ethically, we know many animals have conscious experiences and shouldn't be treated "however we want" (not to say that they should be treated like humans necessarily), but it also seems to have led to disaster in relationship to our environment. Even if you don't believe Climate Change is a serious issue, we have replaced most of the vertebrate biomass on land with us and our (maltreated) farm animals. Certainly there are many in the Church who would see this as wrong (the Pope included), but it doesn't seem to be so in parishes I've been to, and to justify it scripturally it seems like you have to jump through a bunch of hoops.
The second issue has to do with the relationship between divine revelation, philosophy, and science. It's not the church hasn't historically changed its position on things (slavery, evolution, not doing everything in Latin), it's that any change has to conform to certain core dogma and be based in an interpretation of scripture. But the more I read of philosophy, the more I've started to believe that certain tenets of catholic theology don't agree with objective reality and are poorly argued for by the "greats" (Augustine, Aquinas). The problem is not necessarily that these tenets are wrong: more so that they can't be interrogated in a reasonable philosophical manner because divine revelation is unquestionable.
The final unrelated reason that I'm leaving is the people. When I first joined the parish, we had a much more vibrant young adult community that actually did stuff together, had interests beyond theology, and generally was much more concerned with works than beliefs. Through a combination of people moving away and/or leaving the church, it seems the only people really left are trad-caths who I find boring, close-minded, and fail to see the core of what Jesus was trying to say. The Dominicans who run the parish, while being excellent administrators, and kind people, aren't much better when it comes to intellectual openness.
Anyway, I'm open to coming back to the church when/if I move away from the current parish I'm in to more Jesuit-friendly pastures. But without massive reform, both philosophically and practically (being much more concerned with environmentalism and non-human life on this planet), I think this era of my life is over. I'm not sure where to go next spiritually, but hopefully that will come with time.
Others have addressed the theology/philosophy a bit, so I'll speak to the other two.
Re. environmentalism and animal welfare, I do agree that many Catholics oversimplify the genesis story as you describe. FWIW, I've heard some priests and laymen say (and I personally believe) that humanity is something akin to a "father" or "priest" to all animals and to nature. We have authority over the natural world, but we also have an obligation to treasure it, to respect it as a gift, and to leading it to perfection by applying human virtues (charity/mercy, temperance, humility) to our interactions with it. I don't know if that makes sense, but I could try to give examples.
I've thought a lot about this over the last few years, as I am living in Japan, and Shintoism is quite nature-focused. I've heard it said by some here that "ittadakimasu," the one-word ritual word said before meals, mean something like "I will (humbly) take," as in "I will humbly partake of this food given to me through the sacrifice of animal and vegetables lives.". Not sure how many people here truly believe that, but I think it's a good little reminder to be thankful for what I consume, both to God and His creation.
As far as parishes go, some are just not great. I've been living in a rural part of Japan for a few years now, and my family probably includes nearly 50% of the entire population of kids. The median age is probably over 70. The priest himself is nearly as old. I tried to get involved for the first 2 years we were here only to be politely ignored. The level of catechesis here is lower than in America, even among young people, if you can believe it. Ignorance of basic doctrines, so it's impossible to have much of a discussion about faith.l or Catholic life. Zero accomodations for kids. There was a cry room, but the priest asked us not to use it unless the baby was crying, and asked us to sit in the first row instead (!) with our baby and two toddlers and one young elementary schooler.
I was angry the first few years I lived here, but then I realized -- maybe I was not sent here to enjoy parish social life or have deep discussions. Maybe that's not what my mission is. Maybe I'm supposed to be here to be an example of a young family with kids in church. Maybe I'm here to learn that theological rabbitholes and after mass coffee and donuts aren't what Mass is about. Maybe I'm not meant to feel spiritual peace and ruminate on scripture during mass, but instead to do the hard work of showing my kids how to pray, and to show others that yes, it is possible to have more than 1.5 kids and to bring them to church every Sunday. My point is -- consider why God brought you to this parish. Some spiritual work is fulfilling and rewarding, and other spiritual work is taxing and dry, and which is which differs based on the person. Perhaps it might be worth trying to engage with some of the folks you dislike at your parish with a more open mind.
I agree with this. My take (which I guess my dad instilled in me) is that God gave us the natural world for our use, but we are stewards and not owners. So for example, I feel no qualms about eating meat because God put the animals there for us to enjoy. But I also wouldn't butcher animals I'm not going to eat, or kill animals just for the hell of it, because ultimately they don't truly belong to me. I believe that I am responsible for those creatures, and one day I'll be held to account for what I've done if I misuse them.
As regards the broader topic of environmentalism, I have been reflecting recently that my views mean I should be an environmentalist to some extent. I think that people do take things too far sometimes, but I owe the natural world some level of care even as I make use of its resources. What that means in terms of concrete policies I should support, I'm not sure. But I do think that I should figure out where exactly I draw the line between "responsible stewardship" and "overly strict" with some of these environmentalist topics.
I'm skeptical of large society-wide initiatives, there are just too many places to hide graft and ulterior agendas. So I apply my environmentalist principles the same way I try to apply my other Christian principles -- locally, on whoever and whatever is around me on a regular basis. I have a hard time figuring out whether a given political policy actually helps, but it's easy to not waste food or destroy plant or animal life unnecessarily, to "leave no trace" when camping, and to tend the small strip of land around my house to make it beautiful. This is a bit more abstract, but I also think that gifts are meant to be enjoyed, so I make an effort to enjoy the outdoors and say prayers of thanks while doing so. I think that's also part of it.
Good thoughts, thanks. I think you're definitely right that acting locally is a great way to do good in ways you can be sure of the outcome.
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