From the Shadows
Offline I have stood in the shadows watching for long enough. I have joined in and hope to be a productive member of this thought experiment. By way of background, I was raised in a Catholic household and became a Jesuit priest at 21. I, then, went to law school (yes, the jesuits paid for it) and gained a summa juris doctorate. At 25, I left the order because I started to recognize that a lot of dogma was serious garbage and discovered that women were a more interesting pass time than praying. So, having turned in my beretta, I practiced law and found Existentialism to be a rational examination of reality. Finally, I dumped a bit of Humanism in because it is really hard to be an Existentialist and continue to exist.
So, I am a "fallen" priest who thinks everything is absurdity. TAH-DAH!
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
Welcome, Nero.
Welcome Nero, enjoy the forums!
Welcome Nero!
An ex-priest lawyer Existentialist/Humanist. Wow. That's a mouthful.
As an ex-priest, you'll have a good handle on how to deal with some of the theists that come onto this site because you've been down that road in a big way.
Was it a gradual realization and you finally said "Ooops. Guess I don't have the qualifications any more to be a priest!" or did you doubt, question, study and then have a Eureka! moment?
We're glad you're here!
Rational Responders - atheist, atheism, agnostic.
Welcome! I think you are the first atheist who was once a priest on here.
Welcome. Interesting story. I would love to debate existentialism with you at great length (I am not a fan of it).
I felt increasingly hypocritical. I began to doubt the transubstantiation of the host. As a priest, I was to believe that the host was actually turned into the body and blood of christ. Well, who am I to "magically" change a wafer into Christ? How do I have this power?
That really bothered me, and I knew I was looking at my female parishoners in a way that did not jive with my vows of celibacy. (They were all of age, by the bye.) In fact, I was breaking the commandments due to my views on women. So, I came to the conclusion that I was a really crappy priest.
I had believed that God led me to be a priest, and when I realized I was horrible at it, I realized that either God handed out some lousy advice, or there was nothing there to give advice. I went to an aging Cardinal for advice, and he admitted his views on Existentialism and pointed me to them.
So, I was bad at it and a guy who spent 65 years doing it didn't believe it either. I was out of there. So, now I am happy. I practice law and love the ladies. I haven't even been hit by lightening; so, Non pro Deo.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
Have at you, sir. Trying to attack Existentialism is rather like trying to stab Jello. So, if you enjoy Sisyphean tasks, I suppose this is as good as any.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
Well I generally think it is not a desirable standpoint and disregards the importance of morality in human society. I argue simply that humans need morality and that morality is natural to us. It is there to help us function as a group. I will argue this in greater intensity elsewhere.
There are some dreadful results, I will agree. You will find me Camusian rather than Sartrian or Randian.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
One of the first things that caused me to fall away from xtianity was the requirement to abstain from sexual activities until married. It seems the ancient men who wrote the bible wanted to deny everyone who followed their dogma the simple pleasures of life just so they could see people suffer. Why do dogmatists feel it is wrong to deny human nature? Because ancient men thought they were being told by god to impose these rules on people and because a lot of sheeple are gullible, they will believe just about everything that comes out of a "holy man's" mouth (no offense to you Nero) and it has stuck on society ever since.
Also, welcome. I am fairly new here also.
Your god's silence speaks loud and clear
No offense taken. I never claimed to be a holyman. I was just a cleric.