this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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Can you tell me why? I have a friend who was atheist and one day converted simply so,to ultracatholicicm (he's not pushy about it, just very... definite), and I suspect that he had a sort of bad trip. I'm pretty sure he's hurting himself and his wife in the long term in the process, and he won't tell anyone what caused his sudden change.
It’s a strange story really. I was tripping balls and I started to think back on all the bad things I had done in my life up to that point. I felt this intense guilt and sense of despair and idk why but I tried praying for the first time since I was a little kid. I felt this instance relief and a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I tried praying a few times after that while sober and had the same feeling that I consider to come from a spiritual experience.
After that I started reading the Bible but I just considered myself a generic Christian. I didn’t go to any church or really have an idea of what the different denominations believed. I ended up reading more into the history of Christianity and from there came to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is a continuation of the church established by Jesus (not trying to pick a fight with any Protestants, I’m just explaining my personal spiritual journey).
As for your friend, maybe it’s a passing phase. I was super zealous when I first converted but chilled out over time. I have to ask, does he go to Latin mass? There’s this weird subset of Catholics who attend these masses that are kind of crazy. Like to the point they don’t believe there’s been a legitimate pope since the 60s or earlier
You felt relief without actively doing anything to right any of the wrongs you thought about. That sounds like repression. How is it moral to offload your wrongdoings of others onto a diety instead of attempting to make amends with the offended?
Assuming you’re asking in good faith, I’ll try to answer. Part of being a Christian (at least a good one) is repenting for your sins. It’s not just asking for forgiveness and forgetting about what you did, although I’ll admit some might see it that way. There has to be an actual will to do better and pay back your debt to those you’ve wronged
That's just being a good person. No god required.