I think I've found god, Veeky Forums

Backstory. I'm 20 years old and in college. At birth I was baptized Catholic, as I come from a predominantly Italian and Croatian Catholic family, but I was never religious. I only go to church on Christmas mass, and I never really went to church with my family other than that.

Recently, my mother mailed me a leather pouch labeled 'Medugorje'. (A town in Herzegovina where Mary was allegedly appeared in 1981) I opened it and it had a wooden rosary in it with the same lettering on the cross. She says it was a gift from my grandmother to me when she went on a pilgrimage in 1981 through Croatia and Bosnia, who had died when I was 12. I loved her very much.

The thing about my grandmother was that she was a VERY devout Catholic. She had Christian symbols and crosses all around her house, and wore many necklaces with the cross wherever she went. Upon death she received 4 or 5 blessings, and I always loved going to her house in the country side.

I thought it was a very nice gift, and put it on my desk. Every night when I've been coming back to my dorm, It piques my interest. I stare at it and hold it, sometimes even putting it on. It has an alluring affect on me.

During class and free time, even stranger still, I find myself thinking about God and Jesus Christ constantly. Thinking about them as individuals. Every night when I come home now, and hold the rosary in my hand, I think of Croatia, God, and my grandmother, and sometimes chills run down my spine.

The thought of becoming religious has always intrigued me, but I always saw myself as becoming a Buddhist or something similar, never Catholic. Plus, I masturbate often and have had premarital sex in my life, which makes me think twice about committing.

This is pretty much the only place I've ever seen people really talk about religion without getting too freaky so I just wanted your thoughts.

That isn't literature you faggot.

I figured it relates to the Bible so it counts. And it's a religious ideology, which is present in many examples of literature.

Also as I previously stated, I see people talking about religion and shit all the time here, so I assume it's no biggie.

>The thought of becoming religious has always intrigued me, but I always saw myself as becoming a Buddhist or something similar
cringe

>Backstory. I'm 20 years old and in college.
Why would I listen to someone my age about anything

He hasn't told you anything has he?

goo goo gaa me likey jebus

>The thought of becoming religious has always intrigued me, but I always saw myself as becoming a Buddhist or something similar, never Catholic. Plus, I masturbate often and have had premarital sex in my life, which makes me think twice about committing.
Kaj ti ovo znači? Ako ima katoličkog Boga oprostit će takve stvari (barem koliko znam). Ako ima katoličkog Boga doista kriva stvar bila bi spoznati njegovo postojanje a onda ga ne štovati.

read Jung's thoughts on Christianity, and Catholicism especially. I went through something similar to you a few years ago when I was in uni. You have to find a way to integrate religion with your existing worldview, which is almost certainly materialism since we live in the modern world. Realize that spirituality is a metacognitive structure that has to be approached differently than material logic. It's inherently subjective but no less true. I think exploring religion is always worth it personally.

There're people that would call basic religious precepts objective/reasonable things as well, though I'd agree that spirituality in particular is more subjective. Granted, I was raised and stayed Catholic and got a lot of philosophical education along the way.
Anyways, OP, being Christian is... not something to do for the sake of the ideal of it. I would encourage you to look into it philosophically and intellectually, but make sure that you're not just wanting to be convinced. There is a lot of romance to the idea, particularly (in my biased opinion) in Catholicism, but that isn't quite enough for belief as I'd define it- though it is a great reason to learn more about it, by talking to people, going to Church, or reading. I'd be glad to recommend some authors/works if you'd like more analysis of it.

Also, yeah, only recently here as well and Veeky Forums seems an astonishingly good place for religious or philosophical discussion as well as for literature in general. Had never expected Veeky Forums to be like this.

Hey I'm neither one of you two, but I want to say I found God my self, and it changed my life for the better, I feel childlike again and everyday is a new day, and I love the infinite potential each days hold.

I'd chase the flow up, but don't force it.

I can recommened you a book if you are serious, called The Gleam.

Goodluck finding the book tho

don't you know that religion is the reason your part of the world gets fucked up all the time? Steer clear of it lest you feel an urge to round up the muslims again.

> don't you know that religion is the reason your part of the world gets fucked up all the time? Steer clear of it lest you feel an urge to round up the muslims again.

>when I try to meme correctly

My argument: blown out of the water

> my argument

It was a statement, you weren't arguing anything you brainlet.

become Catholic

I was arguing that it would be a bad idea for a Balkan lad to take up Christianity, silly mongoose.

Read Augustine's Confessions. Call me a pussy but certain parts of it made me cry. Book 8 was particularly powerful to me, when he was faltering on the line of going full Catholic but finding it hard to depart from all his wordly desires which e recognized only brought him misery and made him unhappy. Maybe reading his autobiography of conversion could help you find your own understanding, not simply of God but the position you find yourself in in your own life.

what a pussy

No, you implied it in your statement. Maybe instead of insulting the religious you should religiously study the English language.

No, you're just being obtuse. Now I'd like you to find where I insulted the religious, or was that also implied?

Your insult was woven into your implication, that religion brings violence and death ( in this case to the Muslims of the region ). To a religious person this would be insulting because it's nothing more than a straw man of the effects of religion.

>Your insult was woven into your implication
oh, so it was implied. Just close the tab and come back in a couple of hours so you can forget about this embarrassing episode of your time on Veeky Forums.

I am genuinely repulsed by this picture

Why is Jesus sucking a cock on that painting? That shit it's not right.

From the catalogue it looks like Jesus is in the midst of giving a sensual blowjob

it does too

>You have to find a way to integrate religion with your existing worldview, which is almost certainly materialism since we live in the modern world
This.
It is very hard to explain this concept to most people who aren't religious these days: they would rather convince themselves they are superior for not believing in fairy tales while entirely missing the point.
Even skimming the replies, which are about 20% shaming for making this thread, there is never a good reason brought up for one to abandon their personal beliefs over having none at all. Whether in person or online, it always amounts to the same two arguments: 'it isn't true' and 'some other Christians were bad once so you will be too.'
It surprises me how people can scream for a live and let live mindset but turn around and tell me I am living wrong

Religion is usually portrayed in an extremely simplistic way that emphasizes the supernatural. Or you see megachurches that are like malls, or preachers using their platform to push mundane political goals. At least this is my experience with Christianity in the US. If it’s not focused on the supernatural, it’s about charity, which is absolutely worthwhile but not an exclusively religious undertaking. Not hard to see why so many are turned off of religion entirely.

I know this is not all of what religion is, just pointing out that when people look around them, this is what they see.

no bully pls

I had the same experience at the beginning of last year, and can honestly say that becoming a Christian has been the greatest thing I've ever done. My advice is start practicing the faith--weekly mass, daily prayer, avoiding sin, etc. You could also meet with your local priest and talk one on one about becoming a Christian. God bless :)

Sve osim grijeha protiv Duha Svetoga može biti oprošteno, ali oprost ne oslobađa od vatre pročišćenja u čistilištu.

Catholics in Croatia continually shit on Yugoslavia's legacy and the incredible achievements of the working class, and support right-wing movements in the guise of religion and nationality. Eastern european Catholicism as a whole is fucking cancer, Bozanić is a piece of shit that makes me nauseous whenever I'm forced to hear him speak.
I went through a religious phase in my early 20s too, but the appeal of the Catholic tradition is nothing more than a fancy shell with no substance, it's an institution with blatant political and economic interests that keeps on limping only due to cultural concerns.

By all means read things like the scholastics and worthwhile natural theology, but don't make the mistake of falling for the scam of supporting the CC.

Schopenhauer already BTFO you disingenuous tards in the 19th century. Read his dialogues on religion.

The stuff about Balkan Catholicism is true, but though I have my own criticisms of the Church, and though I don't think it can ever be an "answer" post-death of God, I appreciate it's contined survival - I would genuinely mourn it's absence. There is a lot of moral timidity I dislike in the Church, but there is also incredible authentic moral and intellectual vision almost utterly absent in the whole political spectrum of modern liberal democracy. The world needs more men like Karol Wojtyla than it realises.

Regarding Medjugorje - it's a miracle discredited even within the church. The whole thing is pretty ugly and opportunistic... very morbid, very political. It attracts a lot of gullible people.

I wouldn't be the person I am without Catholicism though, without the tortured religious reflection I went through for a few years. Periods of deep feeling as well as arid intellectual desperation. Self-doubt. But it's what gave me such a sensitivity for truth, in all its undiscoverable subtleties, and for human existence.

Well, I sort of agree there, there is something undeniably unique about the Catholic experience compared to living in a Protestant country. The uneasiness of Catholicism towards modernity, specifically neoliberal capitalism and forced globalization, is maybe my favorite thing about it. As long as it's not directed towards equally meaningless concepts like ethno-nationalism, Catholic thinkers can lead you towards some good paths. I also wouldn't have been where I was without a long period of reading them. Sadly I think the distinction from the Protestant ethos is growing more and more faint these days.

Sounds like you are naturally inclined to the spiritual and care for your family. Don't reject your roots with a jejune conversion to Buddhism. It's normal for young people to have distanced themselves from their traditions in the modern world, but it is good that you are finding your way back. Just join your family, if you are Italian or Croatian there are many beautiful churches you can attend, which won't hurt you ability to feel the presence of God.

You can't really expect any institution to be free of being used for political/sectarian conflicts, even assuming the doctrine of infallibility. I'm not sure what persistent external political and economic interests you can tie the Church to- plenty at individual points, but there's practically none that characterize it over time.

>I think I've found god
>post on one of the biggest racist forum of the internet

>The uneasiness of Catholicism towards...forced globalization
What? The Catholic Churh is the ultimate globalist organisation - ‘catholic’ literally means ‘universal.’

Please don’t confuse a tender connection with the memory of your grandmother for the presence of God. Christians in this thread seem very excited to convert you back, but it’s perfectly okay to respect and admire your religious grandmother’s memory and even treasure her religious artefact without running back to the church. Grief and nostalgia and powerful things but they are not God as the theists in this threads seem to want to persuade you.

>I figured it relates to the Bible
No it doesn't.

A Roman emperor literally ordered the text "Against the Christians" to be burned, that's the level of theological discussion and free speech allowed at the time. You should think about this yourself, and do what you want, and commit to something by yourself, and so on. At least consider the Tolstoy option.

what did he mean by this

To be fair, my first reply explicitly said this, just also as a reason to look more into it.
You're right that that's not religion, but I would also say it's a bit more in this case than nostalgia for the grandmother. Seemed to me to also imply an aesthetic draw to Catholicism. (For which same advice applies, really)

Well then I’m not really sure what this thread is about. You’ve been thinking about Catholicism a lot lately? Is that really all it is?

How happy are you with your life OP

Sorry I wasn't OP I was at , just saying the christian people (or technically, at least one of) had recognized that point as well, not tried to argue that OP's view of things was religion

Oh right, I lost track of who’s who.

Saberi se. Pogledaj stvari objektivno, privlači li te ta krunica jer je nekoć bila bakina ili te privlači jer osjećaš nešto više? Kad si mislio/mislila postat religiozan/religiozna, je li namjera bila da objasniš neke stvari u životu koje su ti do tada bile nejasne, da se utješiš da ćeš ponovno vidjeti neke ljude i da izbjegneš strah od smrti? Misliš li da je razlog što razmišljaš o Isusu i Bogu tako često zato što dolaziš iz takve obitelji? Koliko si uopće upoznat/a s drugim religijama i religijskim figurama? Pokušaj objektivno razmotriti cijelu situaciju.

a n y

b o o k s

f o r

t h i s

f e e l

Yugoslavia deserves to be shat on

t. son of Yugoslav Catholics

Maybe Dostoyevsky's The Idiot? Might work for the "suffering Christ-figure" aspect.

>being 20
>proufoundness

Pick one

Schopenhauer's idea of "religion as the metaphysics of the people" makes sense in a 19th century context. Today, scientism makes at least as much sense as a "people's metaphysics" precisely because of popular religion's emphasis on the supernatural, which many now consider to be unpalatable.

There are plenty of copies available, but I can't find a good summary anywhere. What's the book about?

Go to a parish and tell the priest you're interested, OP.

why not become and atheist and study the major world religions..

turn your spiritual thirst into comic consciousness quest. you're the universe and should adsorb everything and anything in your life journey.