"All religions are equal so why should I still be Catholic?"

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I’m looking for some decent counters to this argument. My son, who went through a big atheist phase a few years ago, warmed back up to Catholicism, then started getting swayed away again by a few friends, made a brief return but is now hitting me with this. I’ve read threads and articles about it, and listened to radio programs that addressed it, but those were all a while ago so I’m looking for a refresher.

Just some background info: This came up a few weeks ago, possibly during Holy Week. He asked about a few things that had gone on or were going on at our parish and when I was done telling him he started bringing up different religions he’d been watching Youtube videos about and wanted to know why he should stick with Catholicism since Buddhism, Russian Orthodox, Islam and something else (I can’t remember which he said) are just as valid and teach good things. One of his main goals that day was to get under my skin and he’d been excelling at it so I think my response was, “Quit being such an idiot!” We may be going out again this week and he said he wanted to talk about it again so I’m looking for some better, more level-headed arguments to use with him.

As far as he goes, like a lot of people his age, if anything, Youtube is his religion. He’s yet to find a Youtube video he doesn’t believe, to the point that he doesn’t go to the doctor–he goes to Youtube. The bulk of his arguments are easily-trounced, relativistic platitudes, but I don’t have time to re-read a book or anything in the next few days so just some high-level points should help.
 
For one thing, his claim that other religions are “just as valid” is false and contrary to reason. If one group of people says that two plus two equals four and another group says it equals five, the group that says it equals five is not “just as valid” as the group that says it equals four. One has to be right and one has to be wrong. For example, the Muslims teach that Jesus is not God, but just a prophet. We know this is not “just as valid.”

Since your son is interested in YouTube videos, I think you should share this one with him: youtube.com/watch?v=qbg_dhI4XCs

It’s in Spanish, but it has English subtitles.

This scientist was an atheist and then he studied this miracle, among other things, and became Catholic. This consecrated Host began to bleed, and the blood went through blind testing by scientists who did not know that it came from a Host. They concluded that it came from a tortured man, from the myocardium of the left ventricle of the heart, and was a living heart that moved when studied. It has the exact same chemical profile as the miracle of Lanciano that occurred over a thousand years before this occurrence in the 1990s.
 
Many people are confused by the fact that there are elements of truth in every religion. The Church does not deny this or require that one reject every facet of every other religion. We would be forced to reject huge swaths of Catholicism by that logic since the Jews and Muslims also believe in one God, the teachings of the OT prophets, etc.

The problem comes when people conflate this with all religions being the same, or reject the differences altogether, which is certainly not the case. There are many incompatibilities that contradict each other if they are all taken as true. For example, the Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and a good man, but just a man. Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus is God and man, which is heresy in Islam. There is no room for both Islam and Christianity to be correct here, and any informed Muslim will agree with that just the same as any informed Christian. It’s a logical impossibility.

The Jews meanwhile would reject both Christianity and Islam by saying that Jesus is neither a prophet nor God, and thus one cannot accept all 3 religions simultaneously. A Jew who believes Jesus is the Messiah and has come already is called a Christian, thus Judaism makes no sense if you accept the divinity of Jesus. Islam makes no sense if you believe Jesus is God because you have to reject Muhammad’s teachings which say the opposite. Christianity makes no sense if you reject the divinity of Jesus because that is the very basis of Christianity.
 
I think you should try to give him good reasons to keep looking at Russian Orthodox.
 
Funny I was just speaking with a friend abut something similar; tought questions aND where to get answers. In short, instead of giving him a possibly uninformed or convoluted answer, send him to a priest. At the very least get the answer from a priest.
 
“Stay always close to the Catholic Church for only she has Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”
  • paraphrase of Padre Pio
Civil equality does not equal equality in truth claims. Such an argument avoids the issue and ignores the very real differences between different churches and religions.
 
Gordon_Sims said:
I’m looking for some decent counters to this argument. My son, who went through a big atheist phase a few years ago, warmed back up to Catholicism, then started getting swayed away again by a few friends, made a brief return but is now hitting me with this. I’ve read threads and articles about it, and listened to radio programs that addressed it, but those were all a while ago so I’m looking for a refresher.

Just some background info: This came up a few weeks ago, possibly during Holy Week. He asked about a few things that had gone on or were going on at our parish and when I was done telling him he started bringing up different religions he’d been watching Youtube videos about and wanted to know why he should stick with Catholicism since Buddhism, Russian Orthodox, Islam and something else (I can’t remember which he said) are just as valid and teach good things. One of his main goals that day was to get under my skin and he’d been excelling at it so I think my response was, “Quit being such an idiot!” We may be going out again this week and he said he wanted to talk about it again so I’m looking for some better, more level-headed arguments to use with him.

As far as he goes, like a lot of people his age, if anything, Youtube is his religion. He’s yet to find a Youtube video he doesn’t believe, to the point that he doesn’t go to the doctor–he goes to Youtube. The bulk of his arguments are easily-trounced, relativistic platitudes, but I don’t have time to re-read a book or anything in the next few days so just some high-level points should help.
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Well, the good news he likes youtube and Fr. Robert Barron does too! 🙂

Here’s a link to some of his most popular talks:

wordonfire.org/resources/blog/bishop-barrons-top-15-youtube-videos-of-all-time/4970/
 
Gordon_Sims said:
I’m looking for some decent counters to this argument. My son, who went through a big atheist phase a few years ago, warmed back up to Catholicism, then started getting swayed away again by a few friends, made a brief return but is now hitting me with this. I’ve read threads and articles about it, and listened to radio programs that addressed it, but those were all a while ago so I’m looking for a refresher.

Just some background info: This came up a few weeks ago, possibly during Holy Week. He asked about a few things that had gone on or were going on at our parish and when I was done telling him he started bringing up different religions he’d been watching Youtube videos about and wanted to know why he should stick with Catholicism since Buddhism, Russian Orthodox, Islam and something else (I can’t remember which he said) are just as valid and teach good things. One of his main goals that day was to get under my skin and he’d been excelling at it so I think my response was, “Quit being such an idiot!” We may be going out again this week and he said he wanted to talk about it again so I’m looking for some better, more level-headed arguments to use with him.

As far as he goes, like a lot of people his age, if anything, Youtube is his religion. He’s yet to find a Youtube video he doesn’t believe, to the point that he doesn’t go to the doctor–he goes to Youtube. The bulk of his arguments are easily-trounced, relativistic platitudes, but I don’t have time to re-read a book or anything in the next few days so just some high-level points should help.
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Patrick Madrid has a book about this called Why Be Catholic?

Here it is on Amazon:
amazon.com/Why-Be-Catholic-Important-Question/dp/0307986438/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460817021&sr=1-1&keywords=why+be+catholic+patrick+madrid
 
Gordon_Sims said:
I’m looking for some decent counters to this argument. My son, who went through a big atheist phase a few years ago, warmed back up to Catholicism, then started getting swayed away again by a few friends, made a brief return but is now hitting me with this. I’ve read threads and articles about it, and listened to radio programs that addressed it, but those were all a while ago so I’m looking for a refresher.

Just some background info: This came up a few weeks ago, possibly during Holy Week. He asked about a few things that had gone on or were going on at our parish and when I was done telling him he started bringing up different religions he’d been watching Youtube videos about and wanted to know why he should stick with Catholicism since Buddhism, Russian Orthodox, Islam and something else (I can’t remember which he said) are just as valid and teach good things. One of his main goals that day was to get under my skin and he’d been excelling at it so I think my response was, “Quit being such an idiot!” We may be going out again this week and he said he wanted to talk about it again so I’m looking for some better, more level-headed arguments to use with him.

As far as he goes, like a lot of people his age, if anything, Youtube is his religion. He’s yet to find a Youtube video he doesn’t believe, to the point that he doesn’t go to the doctor–he goes to Youtube. The bulk of his arguments are easily-trounced, relativistic platitudes, but I don’t have time to re-read a book or anything in the next few days so just some high-level points should help.
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Everything…all questions about salvation, doctrine, the Sacraments, interpretation of Scripture… comes back to Jesus Christ who said ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ and the Authority of His Church, the Catholic Church. So you may as well start there because that is where it will end up. 🙂
 
“I believe in God, not in a Catholic God. There is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation."
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“Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?”
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Pope Francis
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“Many think differently, feel differently, seeking God or meeting God in different ways. In this multitude, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty we have for all: We are all children of God.”
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“I believe in love.”
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Pope Francis
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youtu.be/-6FfTxwTX34
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“The missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that the unbaptized person is lost forever,” Benedict said. “After the [Second Vatican] Council, this conviction was definitely abandoned. The result was a two-sided, deep crisis. Without this attentiveness to the salvation, the Faith loses its foundation.”
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“Why should you try to convince the people to accept the Christian faith when they can be saved even without it?”
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“[W]hy should the Christian be bound to the necessity of the Christian Faith and its morality?” he asked. “But if Faith and Salvation are not any more interdependent, even Faith becomes less motivating.”
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Pope Benedict XVI
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All religions can’t be equal. I don’t know about you, but I fail to see how Hinduism, with its pantheon of gods, is equal to Judaism, Islam, or Christianity, with their worship of only one God. All religions are not equal.
 
Gordon_Sims said:
I’m looking for some decent counters to this argument. My son, who went through a big atheist phase a few years ago, warmed back up to Catholicism, then started getting swayed away again by a few friends, made a brief return but is now hitting me with this. I’ve read threads and articles about it, and listened to radio programs that addressed it, but those were all a while ago so I’m looking for a refresher.

Just some background info: This came up a few weeks ago, possibly during Holy Week. He asked about a few things that had gone on or were going on at our parish and when I was done telling him he started bringing up different religions he’d been watching Youtube videos about and wanted to know why he should stick with Catholicism since Buddhism, Russian Orthodox, Islam and something else (I can’t remember which he said) are just as valid and teach good things. One of his main goals that day was to get under my skin and he’d been excelling at it so I think my response was, “Quit being such an idiot!” We may be going out again this week and he said he wanted to talk about it again so I’m looking for some better, more level-headed arguments to use with him.

As far as he goes, like a lot of people his age, if anything, Youtube is his religion. He’s yet to find a Youtube video he doesn’t believe, to the point that he doesn’t go to the doctor–he goes to Youtube. The bulk of his arguments are easily-trounced, relativistic platitudes, but I don’t have time to re-read a book or anything in the next few days so just some high-level points should help.
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How old is your son? he sounds like a teenager if he thinks Youtube is the source of all truth! haha! but seriously, calling him an idiot when he is asking serious questions is certainly not the way to get him to listen to you. But maybe he has a point: if you cant come up with a reasoned argument for why Catholicism is “better” or more “true” than other faiths, than he has no reason to believe you if all you have to answer him with is “stop being an idiot!” Really not a good answer, and if you were at all honest with yourself, you may want to do a little self-examination and see if what you believe isnt just because youve been told to believe it.
 
Hi Everyone, New here. I’m sure this has been asked many times, but how do you answer an atheist who says that “prayer works equally well in all religions! Obviously all religions are not praying to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, and yet their prayers are equally answered/or not answered.”

Thanks, ChasingHope
 
ChasingHope said:
Hi Everyone, New here. I’m sure this has been asked many times, but how do you answer an atheist who says that “prayer works equally well in all religions! Obviously all religions are not praying to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, and yet their prayers are equally answered/or not answered.”

Thanks, ChasingHope
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Hi C.H.,

I’m new here, too.

I would ask them how they know that prayer works equally well in all religions. How do they know that prayers are equally answered/or not answered?
 
All religions could only be equal if all are equally wrong.

It’s atheism in a nicer form.

Then again, I’d be first to admit that as a 12-year old, I went through the same point.

ICXC NIKA
 
Bestil, Well, that is a very good response, indeed. I’m going to go back to the podcast I was listening to to see exactly how they worded it. I have a son who’s pronounced he no longer believes about 3 years ago. At first I was panicked and sad. After reading many conversion stories I realize that his conversion perhaps can be helped along with good arguments/explanations but the best way will be through life experience and by the grace of God (and prayer of course). If Edith Stein’s conversion occurred when she saw a woman with groceries kneeling in prayer, how can I even begin?
 
ChasingHope said:
Bestil, Well, that is a very good response, indeed. I’m going to go back to the podcast I was listening to to see exactly how they worded it. I have a son who’s pronounced he no longer believes about 3 years ago. At first I was panicked and sad. After reading many conversion stories I realize that his conversion perhaps can be helped along with good arguments/explanations but the best way will be through life experience and by the grace of God (and prayer of course). If Edith Stein’s conversion occurred when she saw a woman with groceries kneeling in prayer, how can I even begin?
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Share with me, if you would like, what you find out looking back to the podcast. Now you have me curious as well.

I think your statement above is spot on.

As far as how can you even begin? I think you already have. God’s grace is working in your life or you wouldn’t have even asked the question “how can I begin?”

I will pray for your son.
 
anon67074017 said:
Catholicism is the only one that is completely true.
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That is what Catholicism believes and teaches. Other faith traditions teach somewhat differently.

Perhaps to respond to the OP’s dilemma, he/she could say that ‘these are the things that Catholics believe to be true.’ The son is going to explore what others teach and believe. It will be a learning experience to do some reasoning as he examines different faiths. Let HIM do the work and come to some conclusions. All the while, the parent needs to be up on what the RCC does teach to respond to his questions.
 
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