I never went to Church again after graduating high school. I value a lot of aspects of my Catholic education and up bringing but also recognize the deep-seated, hypocritical nature of the teachings and the political and internal machinations of the institution. I do think it engendered a spirituality in me that I have cultivated and developed in different ways… I think the path is still revealing itself to me in lots of ways but I would say the most profound spiritual experiences I have had have been shamanic in nature and have opened me up to a kind of earth spirit, and plant spirits that have taught me a lot.”
— Zachary Quinto telling Attitude magazine that he never went to church again after coming out privately after finishing high school
Thomas Ross
I stopped when I realized I had a brain 🙂
Alexander R. Rodriguez
How mature
Mark Reimer
Yes, I DO understand.
John Kuehnle
That had nothing to do why I stopped but it’s partly why I don’t go now.
Juan Torred
I don’t have nothing against the faith (Catholic) but I do have a problem with the ppl running it my personal relationship with God is my own or any other faith at that we’re all individuals and so is the relationship with what you consider your savior. â?®
Todd Michael Simmonds
http://Www.bohindy.com a very welcoming and affirming congregation in indianapolis. All people can attend and be a part of service and leadership.
Sidney DaviesWinter
I stopped going to church when I realized it was a bunch of organized bullshit to steal your money and brainwash you.
Carl Cordell
Didn’t most of us?
James Williams
That’s logical.
Sweetie Pie
When I realized I liked dick I started going to Mass on Wednesday evenings and would stay for the coffee hour…after a few weeks I was staying for confession…on my knees
chaddyboy6
I love my Catholic faith…The Church is wrong about homosexuality…so what…does not mean i am going to stop going to Mass because their view is incorrect…a million other things I love about my faith…and being gay is only part of who i am…..
Mike McDonald
I know that feeling all too well !!! It’s been decades for me.
GayEGO
Well I left the Mormon church when I was 17 because I disagreed with many of their teachings. The best one I agreed with was – “God gave us a brain and expects us to use it.” which I did. There are too many great people who are not Mormons that are loving and inclusive, regardless of their religious/non-religious views.
Xzamilio
I stopped going when my grandmother gave me the choice. She told me that once I turned 18 (which came before I graduated high school and left her house) that I had the choice not to attend the Kingdom Hall, and I haven’t stepped back in one since. By 22, I didn’t believe in any kind of god based on Christianity, and by 26, I was a full on atheist.
onthemark
“the most profound spiritual experiences I have had have been shamanic in nature and have opened me up to a kind of earth spirit, and plant spirits that have taught me a lot.”
Far out, man. I can dig it, man.
(said in Cheech & Chong voice)
Kevin Stoneking
I tried to pray my gay away for 6 years in the church. I left when I turned 21. Best thing I ever did for myself.
Craig Bankert
Imagine that.
Rimmington
If an actor says it, it has to be true.
Peter McKinney
At what age did he realize that he was gay?
Hank Trout
I stopped going to church long before I figured out I’m gay! And boy oh boy am I glad I killed my imaginary friends at the age of 9.
Paul
I practice Buddhist mediation now. But I left the Catholic Church in high school when I realized there is no Gods or Godesses that control my actions, my life, or my death.
Ryan Dunkin
I stopped after I took a mythology class…
o.codone
@chaddyboy6: I love Catholicism as well. Faith has nothing to do with politics. Separation of church and state and all that. It is so hard to be a Queerty member and try to have a discussion of a faith-related issue because the other members trash me and verbally violate me in such an offensive way, I swear, I feel like my gay brothers are my mortal enemy. This aggression coming from a community which has a history of being bullied, beat-up and sometimes literally left for dead. I guess that old adage, about how those who were abused become the next generation of abusers is true. It’s too bad that American gays are so hostile and negative to their own kind. It’s brutal here, really it is.
Duke Marine
Good! I stopped when I realized they were all idiots in there.
Alistair Wiseman
@o.codone:
Yes, the intolerance of those who profess tolerence. The lack of self-awareness is mind-boggling.
Xzamilio
@o.codone: “This aggression coming from a community which has a history of being bullied, beat-up and sometimes literally left for dead.”]
You leave out the part where the Catholic Church played a big role in that history. Not ALL Catholics and not ONLY Catholics, so no need to strum up that red herring. I’m not even trying to be confrontational, but the level of cognitive dissonance is astounding, but it’s not just you; most progressive religious people pluck and weed out the bad things about their religion and try to create this feelgood faith. Good for you… you’re the better face for your movement.
@chaddyboy6: What else are they wrong about? Who says they are wrong? The Church sure as hell doesn’t think it is… and doesn’t the Pope have the G man on a direct line? No call waiting for Francis lol
Xzamilio
@Alistair Wiseman: Yes, the paradox of intolerance. How dare we be intolerant of intolerance? In my view, it just gets old being told what a religion is or isn’t when A. You’ve researched and studied the religion yourself to know what it entails and B. So many contradicting ass interpretations of the same religion, but no one can really justify their position because faith allows you to believe anything, including your own personal view of a religion.
The Catholic Church has a rich history of intolerance, so let’s not pretend the hostility is not unfounded. And furthermore, if you want to profess your faith, you should be able to defend it without just saying “You’re being mean to me because of my belief!!”
money718
FINALLY! Someone who I can agree with.
Gerald GeeLocke Panuthos
me too
Jimmy McKinney
Whether you’re gay or straight is no reason to stop going to church.
Daniel Alvarado
i stopped when we stopped going to hometown buffeet
Paul Ricard
I never stopped and I never will!
Brian JC Kneeland
I have to agree that the RC churcch is not only hypocritical but also hate filled with such negative language about LGBT people!
Rudy Infante
Catholicism is poison
SeeingAll
@Brian JC Kneeland: Ho hum. You also believed Haakon Gisvold.
SeeingAll
Zachary Quinto sounds like a self-hating dago.
SeeingAll
@Paul Ricard: I sort of admire your sentiments (as I do the Pope’s) when it comes to the issue of providing haven for Syrian refugees. But you religious types can be too goody-goody about such issues and…I think….can unwittingly endanger us all. But I do know you mean well.
Patrick Crawford
Same here
Ronald Wei
And truthfully, that’s why there’s always the Episcopal Church.
Scott Barrett
i wonder why?
Donna Balser
Let them abuse you and use you then let us see where you stand in the days ahead of you…
alphacentauri
Why is this news? Most people who are Roman Catholic either stop going to mass weekly eventually, or they stop being a practicing Roman Catholic; but very few actually go through the effort to actually leave the church.
JessPH
No self-respecting person would be a Catholic.
Atheist for ten years. Rejecting theism in favor of logic & reason is the best decision of my life.
David Thierry
Good man
1EqualityUSA
In the mid 1960’s, my mother got mad at the Pope and yanked us out as children. Thanks, ma.
Sluggo2007
Religion is pure BS anyway. There are too many people (especially Southern Baptists) hiding behind it. People need to grow up.
RIGay
Like the majority of the folks here; I stopped going to church when I realized it was nothing but bells and smells and bullshit.
Tried to join the Unitarian Universalists 20 or so years ago; liked the community and the broad range of spirituality, but as soon as you sign the fucking book, you have to give up a third of each to accept the politics in the congregation.
I quit them. Will never join another church again.
4of14
For all of the above:
Say three Hail Mary’s, an Our Father or two, and make a good act of contrition. After that resolve, to do, or never to do it again, and get on with your lives.
DavidTheLeo
I wear a Saint Christopher medal so obviously I believe in SOMETHING!
Billy Budd
The world doesn’t need religion. Religion is totally superfluous. Religion is poison.
footwork61
@Jimmy McKinney:
When the church you go to tells you that your homosexuality (which word the Catholic church discourages) is proof that evil exists, it’s pretty self-destructive to stay in that environment.
When they tell you that your homosexuality is such a heinous thing that you should not disclose it to anyone except close family and your father confessor, it’s pretty soul-crushing.
When they tell you that it is a sin to accept yourself or act in any way in concord with your orientation, it messes with your head at a very deep level.
When you are told that you are condemned to a life of solitude because God made you lesser than other people, that’s a pretty clear sign they don’t want you.
Do I need to go on?