How Did You Get Where You Are?

[toledo_jesus]

No need to be specific, unless you want to. I'm just curious.

For me, religion was always important and I felt that longing for God. I grew up Catholic and never questioned what the women told me about the Church. Consequently I got the 'liberal' view of how things should be. Naturally I wasn't too strong in the faith after high school. Then second semester of freshman year in college, I met some people who challenged me about my faith and helped me find places to learn about it. One of them being Phatmass!
Now I'm so orthodox my mother can't stand me

[Guest T-Bone]

I wasn't even Catholic, let alone Orthodox untill my adulthood. (But I am orthodox now! )

[Philippe]

my mom cant stand my orthodoxy either

[p0lar_bear]

I drove.



















Oh, you mean in faith....Grew up Catholic, left the Church, came back...

[Andrea348]

I was not always orthodox. In fact I was not always a strong catholic. My dad is a non-practicing episcopalian, but my mom is catholic. She sent my brother and I to catholic school K-12 though. It wasn't until I went on a retreat in 8th grade that I began to be dedicated and interested in my religion. The only reason I went on the retreat was because my friends said it was fun. Since coming to college I began to turn more towards orthodoxy, especially when searching for religious orders. After finding phatmass I've turned even more. My friends at school are in for a shock when I get back to school...this summer has been a major turning point.

[mamalove]

I voted for being orthodox since I was little, but I wouldn't say that my parents made a big deal about it. In fact, religion wasn't really talked about in my home, but it was every day implied in the way we lived and worked and played and prayed. We may not have prayed together as a family, but I know my mother prayed her rosary every night and my dad had his prayer books. Even though it wasn't talked about much, I knew it was important to them, and it became important to me.

I think it also helps coming from a strong orthodox Catholic community too!! Virtually everyone held orthodox beliefs and there was no dissent (at least that I heard of). I wish I could go back to those days!!

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I'm a revert from Catholic Minimalism and Grave Error (but not heresy, because it was due to my catechesis, not my voluntary rejection of the faith).

I used to believe that contraceptives were fine, abortion in the cases of rape and incest were fine, homosexual marriage was fine, certain sexual sins I will not name here were fine, music piracy was fine, etc.

I started discovering the truth when I wanted to defend the faith from people who were even more out there than I was, anti-Catholics. While learning apologetics, I learned that I myself was, in some sense of the word, anti-Catholic, because I was against many Catholic teachings.

So I came back.

I hadn't heard of the Real Presence until...oh...end of eighth grade...

I didn't find out that my above errors were wrong until, oh, October of junior year...




But it's all good now!

[Philippe]

wat micah said

learned it all last year

[toledo_jesus]

very interesting stories so far. Keep em coming folks.

[Scofizzle]

I thought I was orthodox....I thought my faith was strong.....but then I went to college away from my home......Got caught in "the party scene" and lost sight of where my life was going. The next summer I started helping out at my home parish. After attending a Steubenville south conference where I volunteered as a trash guy I really felt God calling me to serve. I decided a week before school started to move back home, and straighten out my life. I am now back on the path to heaven (i hope). A few moths after I mov ed home I was offered a position as assistant youth minister and I took it. And thats where I am now. I have been there for a year and absolutely loving it......

[Lil Red]

it's really a mix between option 1 and 2 for me.

i grew up in a devout home, but fell away, and got a job as a youth minister, and slowly discovered more about the Church until i got more and more orthodox.

[RemnantRules]

Blessed Be God!!!


Great poll, i would say i am a little bit of some of those answers. I was raised into the faith, but had things distract me, but not until i had help and i started learning on my own. So it was really i think a combination of three of those answers that have made me who i am.



God Bless
Jason Gregory

[MorphRC]

I was brought up catholic, for a time. Then when i was 14 came back, practicing, stayed there, then troubles in..2003, and 2004 and back. Seems statistical next yr it will happen again..

[Ash Wednesday]

I wasn't able to select an option that was applicable to me...

I wouldn't say I was ever willfully unorthodox. I held some unorthodox views in high school and college, but I don't recall knowing at the time they were seriously wrong -- like I didn't know it was a mortal sin to miss mass until later in college.

I don't like blaming others for my own ignorance, but I do feel that my CCD education was lacking. I didn't know what mortal sin was until college, either. I voted for Clinton in 96. I didn't really know how serious of a sin artificial contraception was until after high school. I knew that it was "discouraged" and that "saving yourself for marriage" was the right thing to do, but I didn't realize these were things that affect the very state of your soul.

Over the years as I grow in faith, I do less stupid things, too. In high school, and college, I did some pretty stupid things and was a total spazz. You could say that by the time I was 21, I was already jaded and bored with the party scene. I look back at things I've done and I think, [b]what was I thinking?[/b]

I thank God for prodding me to learn more about my faith.

[Carrie]

Grew up Catholic but my parents weren't very orthodox and didn't seem to care one way or the other if I went to Church. I fell away in high school and did alot of stupid things. Came back to the Church while in the latter half of college and couldn't be happier.