A problem with these forums

[robertaf]

Good Morning Church
Good Morning Mango

Mango, I am a Catholic Charismatic. To many Catholics here, that makes me one step above being a Protestant, to others it makes me a Protestant.

Here is all I ask. I ask to be seen as the “least of their Brothers/Sisters”. Hopefully that will bring to mind Jesus words. To paraphrase: whatever you do, whatever you say, how ever you say it to the least of your brothers/sisters, you say to Jesus.

Hey, don’t kill the messenger. Jesus said it, the Church says it, I am only repeating it. If the shoe fits… well, you know.

By the way, I am a former Protestant, too.

:clapping:

 

[Anglo-catholic]

Hi CAT - Glad to see some of my comments and melancholy did not deter you.

To the rest of you guys - Thanks for mellowing out on this thresd. Even the Pope thinks that some of us “outsiders” will make it to heaven.

There are still a few hard core here that I met on the Respect For Mary thread that think (know) they have all the truth (to the detriment of the separated brothers and sisters) Sometimes we treat our relatives worst than strangers!

Someone earlier asked the difference between a Catholic and Protestant experience - the Episcopal and Anglican Churches I visited were inclusive (welcomed me with open arms) while my life long experience with the RCC was exclusive ( I got asked to leave. My pastor said the Evangelization Committee should not evangelize just pray for the conversion of Non-Catholics)

PS:
Last Sunday I asked my priest (minister) why we did not have the Eucharist every Sunday at Main Service - He said that it was rooted in a Refomation tradition of being different from the Roman Catholics - no other reason - How’s that for honesty.

I know - I know You guys are the only ones with the real Eucharist. Good Night.

 

[pharper]

I can see your point. As a cradle Catholic I had a poor knowledge of my faith despite going to Catholic grade and high schools. This lack of knowledge was highlighted to me by my Calvanist brother-in-law who routinely criticized Catholics. His father is a seminary professor, trained at Bob Jones, and also joined in the criticism. This started me on a mission to learn the Faith and learn apoligetics.

I feel a lot of people responding in these forums are in the same boat. After enduring severe criticism from many protestant groups, I think some responses here can be over zealous and less than Christ Like. I’m sorry.

Please also consider the severe nature of protestant attacks ( Jack Chick, www.bible.na, iconbusters.com) and you’ll understand why sometimes our responses are emotional.

We love you and welcome you!

 

[BarbG]

Katholikos:

I am a former Southern Baptist, agnostic, atheist. For years, I was taught bull-oney in my Sunday School class and from the pulpit about the Catholic Church and the Bible. I know it’s still going on, because I attended a Protestant funeral recently and out of courtesy for the deceased, I had to sit quietly and listen to the preacher bash the Church I love. At a funeral !!! You’ll never hear a Protestant church mentioned in the Catholic Mass. I’ve never heard one even mentioned at any Catholic event in all these years. But listen to Protestant programs on the radio or TV – Catholic bashing is the name of the game.

Protestants have a lot in common. All Protestant churches were founded by men – we know the names of the men and the dates they started their organization from the historical record. They understand that each of them arrived at their beliefs because of their personal interpretation of the Bible (or their pastor’s interpretation). They dialog (or argue) as equals. That’s not the case when one dialogs with an Catholic who knows his Faith. You’re bound to be offended when a Catholic tells you that he’s right, because that means you’re wrong. But if he is presenting what the Church teaches, it very well may be true.

The Catholic Church is God’s own Church. It was founded by God Himself, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. There is a certain feeling – call it an attitude – that one gets from knowing that the doctrines of the Church come not from reading a book and trying to figure out what it means, but from the lips of the Apostles who sat at the feet of Jesus for three years while he taught them what they needed to know. And the Apostles in turn taught the Church what she needed to know before, while, and after the NT was being written. The Catholic Church wrote the New Testament. So we don’t dialog on religious questions as equals. That doesn’t make me personally superior to Protestants – but it certainly puts my beliefs on a higher level, since they come from the Holy Apostles themselves.

I find it very irritating when Protestants try to tell me what I believe, and they haven’t a clue. So this complaining cuts both ways, my friend.

Most Protestants whose posts I have read are not here to ask questions and learn what the Catholic Church teaches. My experience has been that they are here to tell us that we’re wrong and to try to convince us that we should leave the Church.

I’ll step down from my soap box now.

Peace to all who post at Catholic Answers. JMJ Jay

 

[BobCatholic]

And they’ll know we are Christian by how we post.

And they’ll know we are Christian by how we debate.

And they’ll know we are Christian by how we admit our errors.

And they know we are Christian by how we forgive.

And they know we are Christian by how we love.

Amen!

 

[BarbG]

When I read the “thread” by Katholikos I couldn’t agree more. We have a “religious” station here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m a “cradle” Catholic and since I’m nearly 80 I’ve seen many changes in the Church. Also from time to time, I suffer from sleeplessness like most “old” folks and often “tune” into the religious station. I have been astounded by some of the "things that have been said against the Catholic Church. In all my years of attending Mass, studying the Bible, teaching CCD classes I have NEVER heard any priest, nun or otherwise speak against ANY Protestant Church as I’ve heard on my local religious station. Not too long ago I heard a person who called into a program talk about the “Passion of the Christ” – and said that since it was filmed from a Catholic point of view (Mel Gibson being a Catholic) it couldn’t be CHRISTIAN because Catholics are NOT Christian – tell that to all the people I see at daily Mass every day.
When I hear this type of information, I think of how exciting and inspiring it was last October when I was in St. Peter’s Square with 350,000 other Catholics celebrating the Pope’s 25th anniversary – BarbG

 

[martino]

I did not read all the posts on this thread but I would like to respond at least to the original thread because I am possibly one of the ones that hasn’t been lovey dovey in my postings. It is not out of disrespect for the individual that I am responding to but to the ideas being put forth. What can a Protestant expect when they go onto a Catholic forum and publicly denounce Catholic teaching? To be honest, it really doesnt bother me because the forum gives me an opportunity to give the Catholic rebuttal (in my own way). I personally don’t go for any political correctness and I dont like to mince words, but I do assume anyone posting on this site is mature enough not to get there feelings hurt from a hard response, especially after an antagonistic post of their own. Debate is one of the objects of this forum and for some it is the main reason they come here. I am not advocating any kind of nasty personal attack, that is never acceptable behavior. If you read some of the great Catholic apologists writings, (Ireneaus, Francis de Sales, Cardinal Newman…) you will find that they are all very direct, harsh and even sarcastic in their criticisms. Plus, a little wrangling keeps it interesting!

 

[elgom]

Well I’m very new to the whole message board thing. This is the first one I’ve ever been on. Yes, I know what trolling is now, I’ve seen protestants that just kind of bash us then only keep responding the same way without even listening to us, etc. But… the one thing I have noticed is we are all constantly being allowed to show our love for one another.

Please remember that there are many people out there who are an unheard of audience. They may come in here just to read and never to post. They may want to learn and have alot of questions. How we handle the person trolling----even if that person is just trying to upset us----the answers we give may be the answers someone needed to see.

When protestants challenge us and then refuse to pay any attention to our responses, it doesn’t matter. All those who are out there reading the responses matter. Just consider it practice and give your answers not so much to the one who is asking, but for those whose hearts are open that are reading and need the truth!

Let’s all not forget the unseen and unheard of people out there reading all of our posts!

God Bless!
All of Heaven and earth watches and pays attention to our every word here!

 

[ralphinal]

I want to say that I am sorry if anyone has been offended by anything that I have posted. I just get frustrated when we are here to discuss and those wanting to discuss are more like the south bound end of a north bound horse. That applies to Catholics and Protestants and anything else. I have spoken to many of you in this thread, and even when I disagree, I respect how you say it and your willingness to discuss.

 

[Salena]

Maybe it’s the threads I choose to read, but I have seen more Catholic bashing. I’m Catholic and have no desire to visit Protestant forums and if I did I would expect to see a lot of anti-Catholic comments.
Living in the bible belt (in the South) I hear anti-Catholic **** on a daily bases. Not all, but many of them seem to study our faith more than they do their own. What’s up with this?

 

[Kevan]

Findnmway:

Maybe it’s the threads I choose to read, but I have seen more Catholic bashing.

I agree, but I can’t claim to read even half of the threads.

Not all, but many of them seem to study our faith more than they do their own. What’s up with this?

If they know enough Scripture to engage in an argument, then their attention to Catholicism stems from their concern for Catholics. They think you are in error; you think they are in error, but one side is more worried about it than the other side is.

And yet, for all that “concern,” they never think about actually investigating what real Catholics actually believe. Instead, they just recycle and recycle whatever they think they’ve been told by good sources.

And then, when they hear their neighbor say that she put a little statue on the washing machine so that it wouldn’t totally quit working until a new one could be bought, that just adds to the mix. Or when they see a news story about some Philipino going through an Easter processional actually nailed to a cross.

My father enlisted in the Army and served during World War II, fresh out of the East Texas woods and suddenly housed with other soldiers from other parts of America. Many guys learned about other “perspectives” in those years. Daddy was just as godless as his friends. He’d go on leave and carouse around town with the other reprobates–no temptation to be self righteous.

But he was totally bewildered by the Catholics who thought that they could go to the priest the next day and get last night taken care of, even though everyone knew good and well that they’d be back at it the next weekend.

Those are the kinds of things that feed anticatholicism. When noncatholics get the impression that the Church influences her members in such directions, then the noncatholic is predisposed to believe other things without good documentation.

 

[Anne_Carmel]

If there is a problem with at post or a member, let the moderators know through pm or report the post. If you are insulted or offended by anything, we can’t do anything about it unless it is brought to our attention. We rely on members to let us know when they see something we have missed. To even have a thread of this nature is saddening. That means, in part, members are not doing their part in alerting us to things that may be a problem. The quicker this is done, the quicker we can deal with problems. Thank you for your help in that manner.
God Bless