Hello, from an Openly Autistic Priest

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How about monks/friars/religious brothers?

What do you think of the Legionaries of Christ? Just curious about your personal opinion; I've heard various different stories on them.

Hello, I'm Autistic and Christian as well (it's almost like a special interest to study theology and religious history).

Do you feel that the story of Jesus and Christian theology in any way resonates with your experiences as an Autistic man?

(I'm Eastern Orthodox btw.)

AutisticPriest, what are your experiences of God, Jesus, angels and saints? I'd like details please.

I'm a Lutheran (ELCA) but have a number of Catholic friends. I probably have more friends who are Catholic than friends who are Missouri Synod Lutherans, but that's probably because there are far more Catholics.

If I was to switch to another church, it would be easier for me in some ways to become a Catholic than some other protestant religions.

For example, there are some religions that believe you can only be baptized as an adult and you may need to be baptized multiple times.

Another is the practice of altar calls. I detest the practice. There is absolutely nothing Christian about it.

For years in my area, the local mainstream churches have taken turns in hosting certain public events. For example, we have a community Thanksgiving service the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Also, there is the Baccalaureate service the Sunday night before high school graduation.

A few years ago, many of the local non-mainstream churches joined the group so that they could hold the services, too. And they invariably include an altar call. My reaction is to get up and unceremoniously head for the nearest door.

I've heard that some churches will even do an altar call at a funeral. That is entirely inappropriate. If I am ever at a funeral and they do that, the funeral will be over at that point as far as I'm concerned and I will leave.

I've been to a number of Catholic services including baptism and they do baptize infants and I've never seen them do an alter call.

Toward the end of the service, the preacher calls for those who want to rededicate their life to Christ to come forward to the front of the church. It came out of the revival movement in the 19th century.

As far as I'm concerned, it's nothing but an exercise of using peer pressure.

That said, a friend of mine who is now a judge loved them when we were kids. He would go to every revival he could find and wait for the altar call. When they gave the altar call, he'd head for the front of the church all worked up. I asked him why he did that. He said that most of those who go up were girls who were our age and he loved to be surrounded by all the girls in a worked up spiritual state and who would often hug him or put their arms around him.

^ The husband of a high school friend of my wife is a Missouri Synod pastor and had part of his theological studies at a Catholic university. There he became familiar with devotional prayers such as the Rosary and the Divine Office. He said the similarities between the Missouri Synod and Roman Catholicism are such that he has entertained the thought of becoming a Catholic priest or if not, he has acknowledged that the idea of doing so is a theoretical possibility for him.

I did have a next door neighbor for about three years who was also a Missouri Synod pastor. He was in no way anti-Catholic, but he seemed less embracing about celebrating the similarities of his faith to Roman Catholicism.