I need some help in deciding whether or not to break away from my faith.

I need some help, guys. r/Christianity didn't give me anything substantial (this isn't a cross post, I just asked a couple questions there), so here I am.

As the title states, I am totally torn here. I was raised by devout Catholics, in a family of devout Catholics. Up until freshman year of high school, I never doubted my faith for a second. But when I made it to high school, I began to become exposed to ideas I, thanks to my parents, have always dismissed as totally wrong. One such concept was atheism.

Over the course of the past couple years, I hate to say it, but the only two things that have kept me from breaking away from my faith are

1.) Fear of being wrong about the nonexistence of God

2.) Fear of breaking everyone in my family's heart and causing them to practically disown me.

Besides that, I've been thinking a ton about atheistic ideas. I could list them all, but the two biggest ones are how untrustworthy the Bible is (ridiculous fantasy notions in the Old Testament and no historical evidence of actual events in the New Testament) and how primeval religion is in general (what makes my religion right and not, say, Greek mythology?).

I'm tearing up as I'm writing this. I'm getting confirmed into the Catholic Church two weeks from now. I will feel really guilty if I get confirmed, but I can't help that. What if I'm doubting God, but he really is real? I feel like my entire life has been set up to make me feel guilty for this moment. Does this mean my grandfather actually isn't watching over me?

I would devastate my dad if he ever found out. He's constantly giving me talks about all of the ways God has helped him, without God he would have no reason to live, etc. He's just so convinced that God is at work in his life. What if he's right, but the only reason I don't feel the same way is because I don't pray for an hour everyday or whatever?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I'm obviously new to this sub, so I'm sorry if it doesn't belong here (although I read the rules.) And please try and give me as much of an unbiased response as possible, although it's fine if you don't, because that's unrealistic. Thanks!

Edit: You guys are the best.

Posted Feb 22, 2016, 5:29 AM UTC · edited

58107
Loading comments…