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Lina did convert to Catholic


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Methinks Lina would be better off searching for her truth from the couch in a therapist's office than a confessional.

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My mom had a mail route client once that had been Catholic (I think), then turned Jehovah's Witness and then became Mormon. My mom always wondered what religion this woman would turn to next.

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Lina is one of my favorite fundies.

I wonder what TT asked for that "shocked and disgusted" her so much that she left the marriage. Anal? Mwahaha

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My instinct says a threesome, but it was probably something like having sex during her period. For someone who used to follow strict purity laws, that would be halfway to blasphemy.

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Lina is one of my favorite fundies.

I wonder what TT asked for that "shocked and disgusted" her so much that she left the marriage. Anal? Mwahaha

To me it sounded more like he asked to have an open marriage. I know Lina is flighty, but I feel sorry for her. I can't imagine how hard it was to deal with the upheaval in faith, the collapse of the marriage, all while having a very young child.

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My mom had a mail route client once that had been Catholic (I think), then turned Jehovah's Witness and then became Mormon. My mom always wondered what religion this woman would turn to next.

I new a guy who's parents started off Catholics, then converted to some brand of Evangelical Christianity, then converted to Judaism. The family was essentially split down the middle, with the oldest children considering themselves Christian and the youngest children considering themselves Jewish.

Methinks Lina would be better off searching for her truth from the couch in a therapist's office than a confessional.

I've seen people convert to another religion because they think it will resolve some issue that is better left to a therapist. It usually doesn't last long, and can lead to people getting hurt.

When the son of a family friend met his now-wife, she was estranged from her family. After they got engaged, she decided to convert to Judaism. When they got married, none of her family came to the wedding. Not long after, they got pregnant with their first child. She didn't want her parents to miss out on being with their grandchild, so she was finally able to forge a connection with her family. That was great for her, and clearly what she needed. However, once she connected with them, it was suddenly like her conversion to Judaism never happened. When the baby was born, she wanted him baptized. Now she's fully intent on raising the baby as a Christian, and is hostile to the idea of him even visiting the Jewish side of the family for Jewish holidays. That's such a drastic change that I'm not sure how any marriage can survive it.

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Lina is one of my favorite fundies.

I wonder what TT asked for that "shocked and disgusted" her so much that she left the marriage. Anal? Mwahaha

I'm guessing something more along the lines of open marriage/polyamory. It wouldn't be a stretch for a first class dbag like TT and whatever he's doing, he's still like Lina in that he seems to be extremely draw to the fringes.

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When I read Lina, I feel like stabbing my brain. She is searching *so hard* and failing sososo much to find that for which she is looking. It is frustrating to read her writing.

She had to become Catholic because transubstantiation? She got a free rosary so she started praying it? Birth control is evil and the RC church is the greatest because it always disallowed it? FFS, she watches EWTN!

I went to school with a kid whose mother converted. She wouldn't use herbal remedies until she had written to the archbishop to see if it was okay. That's when I learned converts are a bit more...zealous than how I had been raised.

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Truthfully, I think there are personalities that are drawn to strict religious rules, strong authority and following a rigid, prescribed faith. Those are the people that I think are most vulnerable to cult activities in the first place. They are also a segment that is safe within Catholicism or Orthodoxy. For someone like Lina, I would much prefer her remain in the folds of Catholicism or Orthodoxy than following all of the fringe paths she has followed, searching for those charismatic leadership she craves.

I'm not Catholic or Orthodox but I actually have one of my children I gently encourage towards that branch of Christianity simply because she has that naïve, trusting, searching personality and she would be safe in those branches as opposed to falling into a cult.

Of course, I have another child I encourage that it's okay for him to be atheist as his brain and his academic pursuits call for because that is his personality as well. I'm an equal opportunity religions mother. But, given that I have one very much like Lina that I worry could end up in a cult exactly like Lina did, I truly feel like some people just don't have the personality to be without the comfort of religion of some sort.

Imagine how crazy Abigail would be if she didn't have the strict parameters of Catholicism and instead was grasping at every religious whim that she encountered.

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I'm a Catholic convert (2 years ago now, after being raised Lutheran and spending my 20s in evangelical churches). In defence of converts, not *all* of us are nutbars who take the Church's teachings to the extreme. Some of us were just looking for a deeper expression/experience of spirituality and ended up in the Catholic church. Some of us (me!) wonder how we ended up where we did....

I look at Lina and Jen of Conversion Diary and Cam of A Women's Place and wonder if we actually attend the same church. :S Their expression of what it means to be Catholic and mine are completely different.

I definitely understand that some converts go off the deep end in their search for perfection and fulfilment. I believe this is a personality trait issue, not a Catholic convert issue.

My intention with this post is to dispel the myth that Catholic converts are zealots. It is true that many are. My experience is that most of us are just trying to find our way in life.

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Curly Girl, I agree with you completely. The super zealous converts are the loudest and most out there, so unfortunately they're the ones we hear from and notice.

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I'm a Catholic convert (2 years ago now, after being raised Lutheran and spending my 20s in evangelical churches). In defence of converts, not *all* of us are nutbars who take the Church's teachings to the extreme. Some of us were just looking for a deeper expression/experience of spirituality and ended up in the Catholic church. Some of us (me!) wonder how we ended up where we did....

I look at Lina and Jen of Conversion Diary and Cam of A Women's Place and wonder if we actually attend the same church. :S Their expression of what it means to be Catholic and mine are completely different.

I definitely understand that some converts go off the deep end in their search for perfection and fulfilment. I believe this is a personality trait issue, not a Catholic convert issue.

My intention with this post is to dispel the myth that Catholic converts are zealots. It is true that many are. My experience is that most of us are just trying to find our way in life.

You remind me of my dad, who was raised Baptist (his Italian Catholic parents converted when he was very young, along with many other Italian families in the neighborhood). When he and my (Catholic) mom got engaged, she did not want him to convert, because she respected his right to his own religion. But he was drawn to the Catholic Church, saying he found a "warmth" there that he hadn't found in the church of his youth. He was a regular Massgoer, but never a zealot.

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I sympathize with the seekers. I used to wish I could just try out all the religions for a while. There's something about rules and rituals that really appeals to me (I also have OCD, which I suspect is related), so some of those religions interested me. I ended up realizing I didn't believe in any of them, though.

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You remind me of my dad, who was raised Baptist (his Italian Catholic parents converted when he was very young, along with many other Italian families in the neighborhood). When he and my (Catholic) mom got engaged, she did not want him to convert, because she respected his right to his own religion. But he was drawn to the Catholic Church, saying he found a "warmth" there that he hadn't found in the church of his youth. He was a regular Massgoer, but never a zealot.

Thanks, Hane. :) My priest would say your father's feelings of "warmth" is the feeling of being drawn to the Eucharist. I really respect the non-judgemental attitude found in mainstream Catholicism, where there is the understanding that we are all on our own journeys and we would all do well to follow our hearts and mind our own business. It's the zealots, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc., who create all the problems.

The reality is that even the fundies that we snark on most are the extreme of their various religious communities. They have a lot of the same root issues - insecurity, perfectionism, control issues, fear/paranoia, etc., and religion is just the mask they use to try and hide it.

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Another convert here I converted in 2010 I'm on the laid back liberal side and the same goes for some of my friends I've met through church. The most indepth we get is dicussing when mass is or life matters over drinks. I just hope Lina and TT don't discover Opus Dei or even more extreme Society of Saint Pius X which is so extreme they are cut off from the Catholic church.

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Thanks to the OP for finding the blog. It's funny how Lina is such a polarizing figure. I really like her, and find her such a fascinating character study, but only at a distance - I can see how if she were my friend IRL, she'd be driving me nuts with her flavour-of-the-month sanctimonious beliefs.

In my opinion, the compulsion Lina has to seek out and learn about other faiths could have been be a productive thing, in the right circumstance. If this impulse were channeled into intellectual ventures, Lina's diligence and passion for learning would take her quite far. But for her to combine this impulse she has with her tendency towards dogmatism is quite harmful. She harshly judges people who believe the same things she used to believe only months ago. She harshly judged Catholicism before she became a convert and regrets it now. I think her impulse comes from a sincere desire to figure out the "true" religious path to salvation, but by hopping from religion to religion, she never gains anything close to objectivity on her situation. True, none of us can really be "objective" - we are shaped by upbringing, choices and life circumstance. But belonging to three religious systems in the span of a few years is a bit ridiculous. From the little I've read of her conversion blog, it sounds like when she and TT tried to take a break from religion, she missed it so deeply she had to find a form of religion to shape her life; she was incomplete without it. It's too bad she didn't hold back and allow herself to study religion for awhile before committing. It's a little like she's a teenager and religious systems are boyfriends she's dating and breaking up with; it's like when she learns enough about a religion, she's already fallen in love and can't help but commit, even if it's too early.

I can sympathize with Lina and what she's gone through, but only up to a point - it took me about five years to switch from Protestantism to agnosticism, so obviously we don't share the same timeline for religious conversion/deconversion processes.

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But Judaism is a faith that is meant to be lived out in a community. My husband and I, unfortunately, were not a part of any community, nor was that an option for us as non-Jews. Hence, we began to experience severe burn out. Observing the Torah began to feel burdensome and isolating. We could not accept any dinner invitations nor eat out at restaurants, unless they were certified kosher, and in the summertime we couldn't go swimming due to the laws surrounding modest dress and conduct. In short, we were suffocating under the weight of the Law.

The stress this was causing us was too much, so together, my husband and I made the decision to take a break from religion.

Translation: Being observant faux-Jews was difficult, so we quit.

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I'm a Catholic convert (2 years ago now, after being raised Lutheran and spending my 20s in evangelical churches). In defence of converts, not *all* of us are nutbars who take the Church's teachings to the extreme. Some of us were just looking for a deeper expression/experience of spirituality and ended up in the Catholic church. Some of us (me!) wonder how we ended up where we did....

I look at Lina and Jen of Conversion Diary and Cam of A Women's Place and wonder if we actually attend the same church. :S Their expression of what it means to be Catholic and mine are completely different.

I definitely understand that some converts go off the deep end in their search for perfection and fulfilment. I believe this is a personality trait issue, not a Catholic convert issue.

My intention with this post is to dispel the myth that Catholic converts are zealots. It is true that many are. My experience is that most of us are just trying to find our way in life.

I completely agree. However, the loudest converts are usually the ones who find ways to be more Catholic than the Pope, so they are the ones we talk about. My FIL is a convert, and while he truly believes with all his heart, he has never been a zealot in the way that some are.

Have you heard of Scott Hahn and his wife? His theological writings are great, and make the beliefs of the Church accessible, but he and his wife are *very* strict believers. His wife wouldn't even use NFP.

I think it can be hard for converts to the Church because there's all of the things that we have grown up with and taken for granted that a lot of people are struggling to understand and work into their lives in a way that works for them. It's just a different journey.

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Thanks, Hane. :) My priest would say your father's feelings of "warmth" is the feeling of being drawn to the Eucharist. I really respect the non-judgemental attitude found in mainstream Catholicism, where there is the understanding that we are all on our own journeys and we would all do well to follow our hearts and mind our own business. It's the zealots, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc., who create all the problems.

The reality is that even the fundies that we snark on most are the extreme of their various religious communities. They have a lot of the same root issues - insecurity, perfectionism, control issues, fear/paranoia, etc., and religion is just the mask they use to try and hide it.

Both of your posts remind me of my mom. She was raised Episcopalian but also was Evangelical Christian in her teens. Her story is similar to your dad's, Hane, is that she married my dad (Catholic) before converting and he didn't pressure her to convert. She converted when I was a young kid and I remember her coming to church with me and my dad but just not going up for communion. If anything I think her experiences with other branches of Christianity made her a little more relaxed in her faith. Both of my parents are involved with their church but aren't zealots. I do like the non-judgemental attitude that Curly Girl described and that's what I grew up with. That was what most of the members of my church were like growing up, but having moved to the Bible Belt, maybe it's just my specific city but most Catholics here are really conservative, to the point where I almost feel like I grew up in a different religion.

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I completely agree. However, the loudest converts are usually the ones who find ways to be more Catholic than the Pope, so they are the ones we talk about. My FIL is a convert, and while he truly believes with all his heart, he has never been a zealot in the way that some are.

Have you heard of Scott Hahn and his wife? His theological writings are great, and make the beliefs of the Church accessible, but he and his wife are *very* strict believers. His wife wouldn't even use NFP.

I think it can be hard for converts to the Church because there's all of the things that we have grown up with and taken for granted that a lot of people are struggling to understand and work into their lives in a way that works for them. It's just a different journey.

Oh my goodness, yes! Being a convert is hard. I feel like I (unintentionally) commit faux pas all the time because I just don't know things. From what is a traditional first communion gift to how friendly is too friendly before Mass to who to be close to and who to avoid in the Parish. I feel like I am playing real life wack-a-mole some days. (On bad days, I just want to run away...) A lot of cradle Catholics have NO IDEA what it is like to be a new person in a Parish or even figure out a new set of traditions, and thus, they lack empathy for just how hard it is.

For my own sanity, I deliberately avoid most things Catholic. I pray using the Liturgy of the Hours, not other random prayer books written by who-knows-who. I rarely read books on the faith, and I never read them if they aren't recommended by people I trust. I don't read Catholic blogs or forums. I just can't handle the crazy when I am still trying to sort out what is true and what is just nuts.

I have heard of Scott Hahn, but, but reasons listed above, have avoided him. He was recommended to me by a friend who is a member of Opus Dei (who I like a lot as a friend, but never talk about faith with, for obvious reasons).

Back on topic: Elizabeth Esther is another Catholic convert who has gone off the deep end. See elizabethesther.com/2014/01/im-a-bad-catholic-and-the-catholic-church-is-right-about-all-the-things-and-i-dont-mean-that-in-a-cute-trendy-way.html

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Oh my goodness, yes! Being a convert is hard. I feel like I (unintentionally) commit faux pas all the time because I just don't know things. From what is a traditional first communion gift to how friendly is too friendly before Mass to who to be close to and who to avoid in the Parish. I feel like I am playing real life wack-a-mole some days. (On bad days, I just want to run away...) A lot of cradle Catholics have NO IDEA what it is like to be a new person in a Parish or even figure out a new set of traditions, and thus, they lack empathy for just how hard it is.

For my own sanity, I deliberately avoid most things Catholic. I pray using the Liturgy of the Hours, not other random prayer books written by who-knows-who. I rarely read books on the faith, and I never read them if they aren't recommended by people I trust. I don't read Catholic blogs or forums. I just can't handle the crazy when I am still trying to sort out what is true and what is just nuts.

I have heard of Scott Hahn, but, but reasons listed above, have avoided him. He was recommended to me by a friend who is a member of Opus Dei (who I like a lot as a friend, but never talk about faith with, for obvious reasons).

Back on topic: Elizabeth Esther is another Catholic convert who has gone off the deep end. See elizabethesther.com/2014/01/im-a-bad-catholic-and-the-catholic-church-is-right-about-all-the-things-and-i-dont-mean-that-in-a-cute-trendy-way.html

I've seen her blog. Her story is really interesting.

Yeah, Scott Hahn is nearly as fundamentalist as you can get, but his theology is sound.

I don't read books written by laypeople, usually. I mainly stick to the Rosary and reading the writings of the great saints, like St. Teresa's Interior Castle.

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She might be a bit nutty, but is seems she has embraced mainstream Catholicism. After some fb stalking, it seems she and TT have become normal people, and grew out of their phase

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I've seen her blog. Her story is really interesting.

Yeah, Scott Hahn is nearly as fundamentalist as you can get, but his theology is sound.

I don't read books written by laypeople, usually. I mainly stick to the Rosary and reading the writings of the great saints, like St. Teresa's Interior Castle.

Elizabeth Esther's a catholic now?! What is it with Catholicism being in vogue for crazy people?! I used to read her back when she was an semi- atheist and having some kind of meltdown upon realizing she was an introvert and not an extrovert (apparently meyers briggs was her religon du jour at the time)

I think it's kind of bizarre and sad how people need a religion to inform their identity. I think that being a reform Jew is part of who I am but it's not my entire identity. I think Lina needed to have religion to give her life meaning. I'm curious to see if she sticks with Catholicism or jumps ship in a few years. Probably the latter.

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I actually like this blog. I wish more fundie girls would question some of the things being forced down their throats, but I know that nice fundie girls don't question anything.

elizabethesther.com/2013/01/virginity-new-improved.html

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I like this Elizabeth Esther post: elizabethesther.com/2010/01/how-to-talk-to-someone-living-inside-an-abusive-church-cult-group.html

I don't think I'd heard of her before or she slipped from my memory. What cult was she in that she said imploded?

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