Want to know why I stopped going to church? (Yeah, I know, that’s what you’ve all been thinking about.) I’m a very religious person, and yet I hate the Church. Most people don’t understand how I can separate one from the other. This might give you a little insight into my thought process.
The priest of my church during the time of my confirmation left the church not long after I decided to stop going to church. Not long after he left did we find out that he had gotten married and, oh, had embezzled funds from our church while he lived here.
Then today I’m watching my prime time TV and I see that the top headline of the 11 o’clock news is that the Bishop of my district (who just happened to have confirmed me) is now accused of sexual molestation.
Does this make anyone else sick? For just about eighteen years of my life I went there to hear about how we should help others and be a good neighbor, only to see the people around you who’ve shaken your hand spread vicious lies about other members of the community outside of the church. The same people who headed up the charities are the meanest, nastiest people you’d ever meet outside of church. You’ve got the same people spreading the message of love all of mankind denouncing unwed mothers, unmarried couples living together and homosexuals. Want the latest town gossip? Look no further than these church pews. Here you can find the biggest bigots, and the loudest hypocrites. Maybe this is why I feel such an affinity for Dante. He had no problem telling it like it is. Who needs a support group like that?
Want to feel like shit about your fellow man? Just join me in church Sunday morning.
Personally though, I think I’m doing just fine loving my fellow man on my own, thank you.
C'est Non Un Blog 
And Sara rants too
Yes, that does make me sick. Horribly sick. But let me just say something:
There’s a difference between being religious (i.e. believing in God) and subscribing to a certain belief system. You can have as many theories as you’d like, and as many beliefs as you’d like, without belonging to a certain denomination. If you don’t believe in the ritual, tradition, practices, and (most of all) the teachings of the Catholic Church, then leave it and say whatever you want about it. If you still have the urge to practice, then find another church. Don’t blame, for your priest’s and bishop’s sins and hypocrisy, the entire system they supposedly represent. The system did not create them or any of the other bad priests (or the higher-ups who protected them); they created themselves. For every hypocrite, I promise you there are thousands of true men and women. As for your congregation, their hypocrisy is their own business; your religion is your own. Don’t be swayed by them, and don’t judge them either.
Maybe others’ hypocrisy is a perfectly fine reason to leave your church; it’s a bullshit reason to leave (or hate) the Church.
If you want to love your fellow man, that’s great. If you want to believe in God, that’s great. If you want to stay in a church (whether Catholic or not), also great. If you don’t want to go to church anymore, that’s fine too. Obviously you can do whatever you want. But as far as I’m concerned, don’t point your finger and call hypocritical a church that doesn’t deserve it and hundreds of thousands of believing people that don’t deserve it.