Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 7 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 22 years, 3 months ago by
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- Why are Catholics so scrutinized? When I heard about a presidential candidate speaking at a university that considered Catholics devil worshippers, it p***ed me off, because Catholics ARE Christians. Still, I know absolutely nothing about the religion and why it's controversial. Is it because of certain practices? Is it because people feel Catholics worship the Pope? I have heard it's a very strict religion, but depending on the person, any religion can be strict. Also, what is Mary's role in the Church?
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Name : Lisa22762, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, City : Gaithersburg, State : MD Country : United States,Some fundamentalist Christians do not think of Catholics as true Christians because Catholicism doesn't adhere to their definition of Christianity. It's as simple as that. The typical Protestant looks at Catholicism and sees a religion that seems to have added unscriptural practices to orthodox biblical Christianity, much as a Catholic (or a Protestant for that matter) might look at Mormonism. The believing Catholic, however, sees his as the true and complete expression of Christianity, and these 'unscriptural practices' (most of which are actually quite biblical) are not something added on, but rather something essential that Protestants lack. Catholics (as well as Eastern Orthodox and many Anglicans) honor Mary as Mother of God and seek her intercession, not as a goddess, but as the person in this world closest to her son Jesus. Also, it's not common knowledge, but the American brand of Catholicism, especially after Vatican II, is quite watered-down and Protestantized compared to other times and cultures. The TAN book publishing company (www.tanbooks.com), and to a lesser extent Mother Angelica's EWTN cable network (www.ewtn.com), is a good source of authentic, unadulterated Catholic doctrine.User Detail :
Name : Augustine23596, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 40, City : Columbia, State : SC Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,As a non-Catholic, I believe Mary's role in the Catholic Church was to be impregnated by God and give birth as a virgin to God's son (hmmmm, how is that possible, anyway?) Perhaps that could be one of the reasons Catholics are so scrutinized. If this phenomenon were to occur today, something tells me it would make the cover of a sleazy supermarket tabloid. And there's always the Catholic Church's stance on birth control, same-sex marriages, abortion, etc. The commercialism of the church is strange to me as well - where I live, they even run commercials to recruit members.User Detail :
Name : Ann23808, Gender : F, City : Phoenix, State : AZ Country : United States,To be a Christian one should follow the God of the Bible, true? Let's see if the Catholic Church follows the teachings in the Bible:Jesus said that 'He who lives by the sword, will perish by the sword.' Catholics have been involved in just about every war since the Church began in the 4th century. Even fighting against one another. A lot of their teachings originated in the ancient pagan city of Babylon, such as Mary being the mother of God and the Pagan doctrine of the Trinity. So if Jesus is meant to be God, Mary is his mother. They teach their doctrines and traditions as being far more important than the teachings of the Bible, the very book they claim to study. To be a Christian, you have to not only learn about Jesus in the Bible, but obey his commands. He said: 'By this, all will know you are my disciples - if you have love amongst yourselves.' How can they when they are fighting each other, e.g. the First and Second World Wars?
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Name : Peter Briant, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jehovahs Witness, Age : 38, City : Melbourne, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : storeman, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,The Church has never taught that her doctrines and traditions are 'far more important' than scripture. You are misrepresenting Catholicism.User Detail :
Name : John29332, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States,Obviously, you hold some anti-Catholic bias. You sight Catholics fighting in wars, yet members of every religion have been involved in such battles throughout history. As far as you assertation of Christian belief being based on the bible, the bible was not codified until the end of the 4th century. Were those early Christians non believers because the held to traditions and teaching instead of a non existent bible. The basis of most Catholic belief lie in the Creed, which predates the bible. The bible is only one tool for us, many Christian religions use it as their only source. Please don't insult my rational or faith.User Detail :
Name : Wayne24390, City : Newport, State : RI Country : United States,Let me first say that I am not a Catholic Christian, but I feel that catholics are scrutinized for a number of reasons: 1)There used to be a substantial prejudice in the US against catholics in general. For example, the KKK, in addition to hating jews and blacks, also is strongly anti-catholic. 2) Many protestant and fundamentalist christians have a different approach to the interpretation of the bible than do many Catholics, so they tend to feel that this difference somehow makes Catholics non-christian (they apparantly overlook the fact that the 'protestant' approach to the bible and to 'justification by faith alone' is much different than the original form of christianity practiced 2000 years ago). 3)Finally, many people are uneducated about Catholic liturgical traditions and therefore think that they are 'weird' or even anti-Christian in some way.User Detail :
Name : Robert-Blanton, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 26, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Medical Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I think it is because there are a lot of aspects of the Catholic religion that have no foundation in the Bible. Ex. - Catholics pray to Mary for guidance and blessings. Jesus says in the Bible, in so many words, if you need something you come to me. He didn't say, ask my mom. Another example is that Catholics believe in statues and pictures of God, Jesus. One of the ten commandments is Thou shalt not make any graven images. Catholics disobey rules but still hold that they are 'the' church.User Detail :
Name : Monika, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Software Developer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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