Catholic guilt?

[Felixfox]

I only went to catholic school for 3 years (first 3 years of school) and I am CONSTANTLY feelingly guilty . Is it the school or just me? It was a terrible place. I remember one of the fathers coming into our classroom just as a pupil was leaving as he was feeling sick. Father promptly sent him back to his desk for us all to pray, this boy was physically sick but we had to carry on with the prayer. His parting shot was a question. To a bunch of 6 year olds. Do you all pray before bed at night? We all mumbled yes. To which he replied,’Good, because otherwise you will go to hell.’ It scared the crap out of me. V complicated story with parents and my brother and I going there. My mother was a nun and left
’God will never forgive you’ and so maybe to usage some hideous and unfair guilt from that was to send us to a catholic school. The point is, I am nearly 50 and I still feel guilty all the time about pretty much anything. Will it go? I’ve tried counseling. What do I do? How do you leave a part of yourself behind?

Indeed so .... state organisations should be religion free. State funded faith schools should be banned.

I don't know how you manage to dredge these things up, Alan. I think you need to visit a local RC Church in 2026 and find out what it's actually about.
You can find anything you want on the internet but I do think you're wasting your time.That thing you've posted has no relationship to everyday Catholicism as its practised in churches.
You've disappeared down a rabbit hole.

Well the Catholics who wrote it seem to think it currently applies.

Who's to know though? According to you there are no eternal truths - it's just what happens to be in vogue at the time. Used to be that crucifixion and torture were necessary paths to enlightenment, now you can get there by singing along to some fruitbat with a guitar. The only constant is that everyone wears sandals.

Dredged up ? It's a catholic church website.

Here is the official Vatican website on the subject different kiou nds of sin:

Part Three Section One Man's Vocation Life In The Spirit Chapter One The Dignity Of The Human Person Article 8 Sin III. The Different Kinds Of Sins (vatican.va)

Are you telling me the Catholic church is wrong about what they say about what they call sin?

If that makes sense ?

That actual Catholic Church publications lie about what the Church says ?

If God proves He exists then faith becomes redundant. Maybe read what Jesus said to Thomas. Doesn't suit you? Fine move on.

I know the Bible pretty well. And you can't use the Bible as proof for the Bible being true.

And of course God popping in to say hello does not negate faith.

Give it a rest, Alan! Get outside and enjoy the weather. Let the Catholics look after themselves. 🌞

Well if only they would!

If they would stop indoctrinating children and forcing the inhabitants of poor countries into constant reproduction and poverty then I guess we would all be more than happy to leave them alone ....

Give it a rest ?

Sure thing. When the Churches stop preaching and stop trying to enforce their rules on everyone, I will lean back and sup a nice cold beer in celebration.

Something about this post doesnt seem to ring true, I was at a Catholic school and this is very different to my experience. Tho I appreciate we all have our own experiences.

Are you in the UK, op?

The idea that Catholic schools seek to burden infants with guilt or scare them about hell, is frankly nonsense.

The schools are very diverse, accepting ppl of all faiths and none. The faith manifests not as a list of rules to be followed, but more in the inclusive environment and the standards expected of pupils (in terms of behaviour, respect for others, doing your best etc).

This is why the schools are so popular with non Catholics.

Its absolutely not about brainwashing anyone (secular society has that covered). Practicing a faith should be a positive choice, not a fearful one or as a result of programming.

Most ppl who go to Catholic schools probably do not go on to practice that faith, nor display any psychological issues as claimed by op.

I would be tempted to file the incident of a vomiting child being refused help in the category of things which didnt happen 😆

In fact God did do exactly this, 2000 yrs ago.

He could do it again just to please you Alan, but then in another 2000 years another Alan would be on here saying he doesnt believe it 😆

Confession is still very important, but a lot of mainstream catholics today are very superficial.

What God did what God do 2k years ago ?

If you mean some some fella said he was the son of a God, well, that's not evidence of any God is it ?

DH is like that - feels guilty when he is not actively doing stuff - has to be busy all the time. If someone asks him to jump he says how high. Goes off to help at this that or other organisation. All because of what was drummed into people at Catholic church and school.
There is one voice he is deaf to though.

With respect Alan, this post shows you do not have a firm foundation on these topics. Lots of basic errors here.

You need to better understand:

-what is the Christian Church

• the relationship between the old and new testament
• the place of the Bible vs the teaching authority of the Church, which significantly predates it. Ppl seem to view the Bible as a big magic rule book and often think it is the supreme authority, a protestant error.

-what Christian morality is actually based on

For example, you mention 'gay sex'.

The Churchs opposition to homosexual acts isnt based on Leviticus from the old testament.

Leviticus was a code for the ancient levites, a jewish tribe. Why would Christians today adhere to it?

The Church's opposition is actually based on natural law, that is in this case, biological science. Ie what our bodies sexual functions are for and how they work.

Its not a surprise that the Levites agreed, but basing any stance purely on what it says in a book is not a convincing argument.

Things will be a lot clearer if you get the foundational concepts correct. 👍

The problem is that old testament ideas have been taught as fact to generations who lived in fear of this irrational vengeful deity.

Lovely post from someone who knows what they’re talking about .❤️
I was hoping someone knowledgeable would post.
I don’t consider myself to have a thorough knowledge of Catholicism really.
However, I sure can recognise anger and obsession and will try to argue against the spread of misinformation and disinformation , 💯

Do only Catholics feel guilt. Explains a lot

Wait a moment. I make a post about the new covenant of Jesus, and I say I wonder how some Mosaic laws were kept, and some were dumped, and you reply by saying I made a lot of errors and that I need to understand.

Then, you mention Leviticus re gay sex, say the Church ruling is nothing to do with that, but it is a natural law of some sort that is the reason the Church calls it a sin.

Quote : " The Church's opposition is actually based on natural law, that is in this case, biological science. Ie what our bodies sexual functions are for and how they work."

What is this natural law. What does science say about gay sex that it is wrong to do it ?

And you say this : "Ppl seem to view the Bible as a big magic rule book and often think it is the supreme authority, a protestant error. "

So it's not about the Bible then ?

For me it is all very simple.
Humankind needs to free itself from the ancient religions and all the misery that these have brought.
By all means hold a private theist belief but this needs to be yours and yours alone.
The rest of society - education legal systems, government - need to be based on kindness and humanity and scientific progress.
This harms no-one, believers and non-believers. All are free to hold their beliefs, but the society in which they live is not gratuitously constrained by any particular faction.

If only it could be that simple. Our society is inextricably bound up with the Christian tradition which is a sophisticated expression of our societal morality. Our idea of ‘kindness’ cannot really be separated from our societal morality ie Christian values, like it or not.

Indeed. Would that this inextricable link could be broken.
The value of the concept of "christian values" is debatable .... humanists seem to manage just fine without it.

Do they ever feel guilt if they don't live up to their own standards?

They feel disappointed in themselves I am sure. We can all only do our best.

I don't consciously know any humanists but I assume they have appropriated Christian values without acknowledging the source. I don't think it is possible to make up moral values alone . Moral values are those shared by society in borad terms.