Raised Roman Catholic (devout ethnic Italian flavor) in Brooklyn, NY by primarily Italian-speaking immigrant parents. Educated in Catholic schools from kindergarten through undergrad degree. Masters from a secular university. Was an altar boy, and a member of a church-sponsored Boy Scout troop. Many Catholics in the neighborhood. Basically, I was raised a Catholic bubble, but I always was somewhat of an independent thinker. I was aware of diversity within the overall big catholic tent, and I also was aware that, based on peoples’ beliefs, values and behaviors, Catholicism wasn’t quite what it officially was cracked up to be. In other words, Catholics overall were morally average at best, and probably below average when looking at people I actually was aware of in my local bubble.
But I did buy into the claim that, all-in-all, Catholicism housed The Truth.
I’ve been gradually moving on since high school. If the Internet were available back then, I no doubt would have moved on much more rapidly.
Raised-Catholic.com 