CHRISTIANITY ALERT. I go to a catholic school and I’m baptist. We had mass today and they talked about Mary and how we are her daughters. Once I heard about Mary I felt like I wanted to trust her. Ocd told me I can’t go to Mary because God would be mad at me for “leaving him.” Even though I’m not, I’d still be able to talk to God, I’d just trust Mary too. So now I’m really trapped with whether or not I should stay baptist, be catholic, or just be both. Ocd says I can’t be both because nobody else I know has done that, and in my head if nobody else did it then I can’t. So I’m really stressed out about this

Hello! :) I am a Christian too (raised a Pentecostal, but currently going to a Baptist church). I too struggle with religious OCD. It’s so tough!! That’s interesting that you felt as if you want to trust Mary too. I am wondering if perhaps the desire to trust in Mary as well as God might be because you often feel as if God is angry/strict/judgemental etc., and Mary seems like she might be more warm, caring and compassionate (as many women/mothers are). For years I have struggled with the idea that God can be angry/unpredictable/judgemental etc., but I believe my OCD reinforces this idea, as well as a bad experience with my own dad. I do not TRULY believe that God is like this - and I want to believe that he is so warm, loving and safe. I’m not sure that I would encourage you to put your trust in Mary (or pray to her etc)., BUT if you have warm feelings towards Mary, and the simple desire to trust in her, that’s okay!! OCD will often tell us that is it bad to even FEEL certain feelings. I think feelings are okay! Does this make sense? :)

Instead of thinking of that experience as a theological shift, why don’t you consider it an option. You could identify with some Catholic principles as well as some Protestant (Baptist) ones. But explore it more! You don’t have to feel guilty/existentially fearful for considering different aspects of the Christian religion. God has a lot of other things to worry about- he won’t mind

That sounds like some religious OCD rhetoric! It’s not God talking- it’s your OCD

As others have said, God won’t hate you. Turning to Mary, however, is wrong. God chose everyone that He works through to do a different task. I won’t deny that Mary fulfilled an important role, but her role was not more important than anyone else doing God’s work. All of our work is equal in value when we work for the King. God says we are to have no other gods before him. That includes other people that He has chosen to do His work, like Mary. I’m not saying any of this to be judgmental of you. I’m just trying to help you clear this up❤️

There are people who are in more than one denomination. My dad calls himself a "Bapticostal Catholic" because he finds truth in baptist, Pentecostal, and Catholic traditions. God will not be mad at you for having a reverence for Mary. There is a difference between reverence and worship.

And I'm unsure what you mean about "trusting" Mary... trusting her for what? Salvation?

Hello again!! I’m so glad that this made sense to you. I’m sorry that you feel this way about God... I can relate!

It just keeps telling me “he’s gonna hate you for it because you’re technically leaving him for Mary.”

GOD =\= OCD your OCD is putting those worries in your head. god is different for everyone; i’m jewish and i see god differently than people such as catholics and christians so i really can’t say i understand. however, like Hazelnut said, it’s not god who’s speaking to you. it’s your ocd thinking god has an ability to hate people / engage in these things. to me, god chose mary for a reason. it is unlikely he would hate you for such a decision.

Yes, but reverence in that manner is a form of worship because Mary would be fulfilling a role that only God is to fulfill. The Bible tells us to trust God, but it never tells us to go to anyone who has died for help. If Mary was alive we could speak to her as a sister in Christ, but she’s not.

Omg thanks guys

Yes, you took the words out of my mouth. I just didn’t know how to express it, Mary seems not judgmental and understanding and like...I can tell her anything, but sometimes with God I fear he’ll judge my struggles or...punish me for having certain opinions about him and what he does. But with Mary I feel like I wouldn’t have to deal with that because Mary is just a Saint, she doesn’t have power like God does. And also I think it’d be better for me because she was a human before. So she’d understand my problems, even though Jesus was human he had powers, real humans don’t have powers, we don’t have angels that can help us like he did