Let's talk about how and why a child born into a Catholic family can end up changing religion or getting involved in the occult and the dark side as an adult. I for one did not grow up in a devout Catholic home. Nobody in our clan is religious at all except a sibling of our grandma. Unfortunately she wasn't a faith spreader/evangelizer so that didn't help much.
Of course I've never lived in any country other than my own but I think if it's happening in one place, it's the same in others. But hey, I might be wrong so let me know if what you'll be reading applies to your country as well.
So what are the likely reasons why someone ends up leaving Catholicism, Christianity or any religion? From my experience, here's how it goes.
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1. Lukewarm or Irreligious Parents / Family / Clan 👫
'Nuf said right? 😂 That's the simplest answer. If the parents aren't practicing Catholics/Christians (or worse, irreligious!) why would the children even think about following God's commandments? 😆 Who would even inspire them if even the cousins, aunts, uncles or grandparents aren't into God as well? Imagine if not even one of the friends or neighbors of the mom or dad are pious, do you think the child will have any idea about getting closer to Jesus?
Oh but of course the millennial "patron saint of the internet" Blessed Carlo Acutis is one of the exceptions. At the other side of the coin is Matias de Stefano, the poster boy of the irreligious family. The two are the best examples of the opposite ends but generally everyone is in the middle and none the wiser.
In my case, despite a parent's solid Catholic education from elementary to high school, one ended up marrying a non-Catholic person. Oh boy. The result was a non-religious household with absolutely secular children. Only when a family crisis happened did that one parent partially return to the faith, bringing the youngest child along. Still we didn't grow up being religious at all.
2. Lack of Catechism = Ignorance of Morality ☠️ + Disappointments 💔
This happens at home with the family, in school or any environment the child grows up in or are exposed to. If no one is around to share the Good News, do not expect the child to know how to live morally.
In a predominantly Catholic country, the basic catechism is available to all children, even secular public schools. In grade school, the students are educated on the basics of Catholicism in order to go through with the Sacraments. First is Confirmation then comes Holy Communion and lastly Confession happens in high school (early teens). Well at least that's been my experience, same with my peers.
After that, nothing.
If the child did not get educated in any Catholic school at all then all the more reason to grow up ignorant and lukewarm in the faith. No catechism = no knowledge about how to live following the 10 Commandments of God. Meaning the child will steal, lie and do many other immoral things regularly without remorse.
Unless the adults teach the kid that doing those are bad, the child will think doing sinful activities is acceptable and normal. Imagine the havoc such a young person will cause in their school or other youth groups. Like, what if a whole community of children is like that and then get spread to other villages? Eventually masturbation and premarital sex will come up in teenage years. Oh boy. What will happen to the whole town or the entire country when they become grown ups?!
If people cannot even follow the law of the land, what more if we are ignorant of God's laws? Now do you know why there is corruption in this world?
We see all kinds of greed and other sinful behavior in the government, in private corporations, even in religious organizations. We complain, we cry out, we get bitter whenever injustices happen to us but what are we doing about our immoral behavior?
If you accept and believe that sinful activities are the right thing to do then why do you feel hurt/pain when somebody wrongs you? And then you get disappointed with God when your demands are not met or when you are so downtrodden that you decide to become an atheist, etc., instead. Clearly suffering is caused by you and me
3. The Less Religious You Are, the More the Devil Will Entice You towards the Magical World of Occult/New Age, Sexual Immorality and Other Religions 🔥
Look! The Magical World of Occult/New Age
Oh wow, what's that shiny thing over there? Ohhh, everything is sparkly, magical and exciting! Love potions, ghost sightings, incantations, abracadabra! 🌟
Horoscopes, aliens, indigo children, past lives viewing, twin soul/flame, reincarnation and the akashic records. Whoa! Come on you'd rather just watch horror movies all the time, the scarier the better, right? Ouija board seems fun and look, so many superstitious beliefs to do, faith healers and witchdoctors to meet, reiki and kundalini power to have. Oh hey there's Feng Shui, yoga and meditation too plus some crystals/stones and talismans, good luck charms for financial abundance.
And what's that, animal spirit guides and ascended masters? Oh hey look, there's the third eye and voila! Psychic abilities! Wait! Tarot cards, mediumship, curses, white magic, astral projection and even tantric sex?!? What is going on?!
Yes, YES you are on a high, the highway to hell but you don't see it at all because WOW, EVERYTHING SEEMS FASCINATING AND AMAZING! 🤡 IT'S MINDBLOWING like I WANT SOME MOAR. Like, "who needs a God when you can do magick!" 😂 Yes, learn more ways to get farther away from the God who created and loves you and (even died for us all!) whom you don't even bother knowing and thanking. (Oh yeah, I've been there, done that.)
Admit it, you think those are all harmless. Why would you think otherwise when you don't even know much about your religion. (I was guilty as charged too.) Remember, if you did not grow up knowing much about God or Jesus then you will think doing any of the above is not wrong.
Say hello to the 1st Commandment: "I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before me."
This sinful behavior has been going on since the Old Testament and yet people still persist on doing the abovementioned things. Okay, some do it out of ignorance and just going with the flow of the world. For others it is peer pressure or FOMO: "Everyone's doing it so why don't I do it too?" 😂 And there are those who deliberately choose to do such despite knowing it is against God's commandment! Heck there are even loud and proud Satanists now, unlike decades and centuries ago.
Sexual Immorality or Sins of the Flesh
And of course you know, the rainbow tribe is here to stay. The covenant sign of God to man, the rainbow, has been distorted and is now being used to represent something God considers an abomination. Aside from that, porn addiction is rampant, prostitution, adultery, living-in, masturbation and premarital sex, etc., is all around us.
FYI, sexual immorality is the top reason people go to hell according to saints and Mama Mary. And that was revealed in 1917 to the three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. It's now 2024, go figure.
Other Religions, Cults, Sects
Oh but wait, there's that someone you met on the street asking you if you've been saved. Like huh? You haven't been going to Sunday mass for some time now, and have not gone to confession for years so random strangers from other religions keep popping up. Have you ever heard about God being a woman/mother too? Clearly you haven't been paying attention at church or reading the Bible if you find all that interesting.
Or have you read that book saying the "real Jesus" is not who you think He is, that he had brothers and Mama Mary is not a perpetual virgin? My oh my, the evidence of lack of catechism is right there especially if when discovering things like that will make you feel intelligent and fascinated. You'd think like, "How have I been ignorant my whole life?" (Yes, I've experienced such thoughts too and believed learning false teachings made me smarter than ever. Tsk tsk.) How indeed when the internet is such a vast resource and yet all we do is TikTok or Reels the day away with useless nonsense. 😂
Heck I'll also lump in atheism and agnosticism, etc., here. Also if you don't know history and religion go hand and hand then that's another reason people become irreligious.
Church window art showing Jesus carrying the cross on the way to Golgotha. | image source
For lukewarm Christians, when you suddenly hear about Jesus, you will find Bible teachings from any Christian denomination interesting because they seem to know more than you. You who are a cradle Catholic, or you who were born and baptized Christian yet do not even practice much of anything of the religion will be fascinated and begin to study their religious teachings instead of checking on your own religion first. That is the reason why cradle Catholics leave the faith. Ignorance is not bliss but the path away from the Truth.
Are these people doomed or what?
Well... any idea? If you've been reading my previous posts I'm sure you can answer this question. (Here's a clue.)
Care to share what you think? In case you have no clue or haven't read any other post of mine then feel free to also share your thoughts in the comments.
Or can you add more reasons aside from everything I mentioned? Were you aware of these things before?
XOXO,
