Honestly, long story short, I'm kind of religiously on the fence.

My girlfriend and I have discussed joining a church once we marry and start a family. I'm agnostic, but crave a sense of community. I've always had respect for religious people (at least the ones who practice what they preach) and have told myself that if a community accepts us, I will have an open mind to what they have to share.

I will admit I have been leaning towards raising our future children Catholic, and it's why I've started to lurk here the past few months. My girlfriend prefers Episcopal, but I can't help but feel that they worry more about what popular culture thinks of them rather than what God thinks.

When it started to become clear that this kid was a victim of fake news, it really struck a cord with me. You can see my post history, I've spent hours and hours over the past few days trying to clear his name. The kid has gotten death threats and hate from all over the world.

I've been in quite a few debates over this. It has been made even harder because I keep hearing "how can you defend him when even his own priests have denounced his actions?!".

The fact that the clergy succumbed so quickly to the pressure of non-believers and denounced one of their own, A CHILD, has left a very sour taste in my mouth. When will the Catholic Church realize that they can never pander to these people enough to get them to believe?

If we're going to choose a church, I think the Catholic church is still at the top of my list. I can't really say why, but it seems that, at least, the Catholic rank-and-file tend to truly believe, and I really respect that. But if this is the kind of path the clergy continue down on, my children will likely grow up as lost as me.