[Alex]

Have other people detected an anti-Catholic bias in the United States or other countries? I know this used to be a big concern for Catholics, and I was wondering if it still is. Personally, I’ve only encountered this bias in small doses. You can respond by email, too.

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Name : Alex, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Cambridge, State : MA, Country : United States, 

[Kate26607]

I am in the midst of converting to Catholicism (from being a non-practicing Jew) and will join an official class in a few months. However, I do know that many people have persuaded me to choose a Protestant sect instead. Why? Because anti-Catholicism is still rather pervasive in big cities that are largely Jewish and Protestant, and in the South. I know of many new Protestant sects that claim Catholicism is “worse” than Judaism because it takes the words and teachings of Christ and interprets them incorrectly. Additionally, the Catholic traditions and teachings (7 sacraments, the Trinity, etc.) are seen as not corresponding with the Bible. Also, with the influx of non-white immigrants into America, the secularization of America and the continued work of missionaries overseas, Catholicism is increasingly becoming an ethnic religion (Hispanic and Asian, specifically). This only adds to the anti-Catholic sentiments of some bigots.

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Name : Kate26607, Gender : F, City : Ithaca, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[ML]

I’ve noticed it also. I don’t know why it exists, but it does, at least where I’ve lived. I think it’s just the half-a-millennium-old rift between the Protestant and Catholic churches. And the fact that America was founded (permanently) by people who thought the English church was too much like the Catholic. For a while (and a little today) it also played on ethnicity grounds, because often Catholics don’t speak English and/or have darker complexions. For a while there was also that irrational fear of papal control. Perhaps this hatred from immigrant days lived into this century.

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Name : ML, City : N/A, State : MI, Country : United States, 

[CP19373]

Here in Quebec I notice rather the opposite on the part of the francophone majority. Almost everyone is a more or less non-practicing Catholic, and they look on Protestants as members of sects, lumping Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostals, United Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, etc. all in the same boat. My mother-in-law was shocked to discover I wasn’t a Catholic, much more than my parents were to discover I was involved with a Catholic.

My conclusion is that the majority, whatever its religion may be, tends to have a bias against the religion(s) of the minority. The more homogenous the population, the more pronounced this bias will be. I suppose this is just human nature.

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Name : CP19373, Gender : F, Age : 21, City : Montreal, Quebec, State : NA, Country : Canada, 

[Jack]

I used to be a Catholic, and although I live in Wisconsin (which has a high Catholic population, at least where I lived), there were a lot of anti-Catholic things said. Usually they were friendly jousts by Protestants, although I know in other places it gets violent. The things they say kind of tell us why, though. ‘Idol worshiper’ was one of them, as well as references to Saints and Mary. Although the Catholic interpretation of this is -not- idol worship, it is usually twisted into that by Protestants. Another thing is the whole priest=child molester thing, which is projected from the corrupt clergy onto the non-corrupt clergy and people.

User Detail :  

Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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