I left because through God’s grace I was regenerated and spiritually alive for the first time, so the things that impressed Priests and your average Catholic seemed small, petty, and dead to me. In fact, the Priests themselves were the walking dead, with only worldly notions of religion and spirituality in their heads.
God’s grace is pre-eminent in the Catholic Church. You will come back some day, I’m sure.
I came back after a personal encounter with Christ. That was enough for me. I wanted everything He had to offer me - and that included His Church. Thankfully He preserved me from the heresies of Protestantism even though I live in a Protestant country.
What drew me to the Catholic Church was the theology and doctrine. Not a priest, not a layman. The never-changing doctrine and theology. The Word of God that is based on the Holy Scriptures, not a show of hands from the people in the pew.
the things that impressed Priests and your average Catholic seemed small, petty, and dead to me.
For something that seems small, petty, and dead, it sure seems like you are having a hard time letting go. Could it be that your obsession with debunking all things Catholic is the result of an inner struggle that you are having with your spirituality?