Biases against Protestants

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Oren

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I just want to see if anyone can say anything about this. For my entire life, including up til right now, i have had a huge bias against protestants. I want to say Protestantism, not protestants. But i don’t know if that is completely true. I’ve had this bias way before I ever became Catholic. I was never Protesant. I live in the Bible Belt, and I have always felt that Protestantism was hopelessly stupid. I still feel this way. And as a result I get very upset about a lot of things…I get easily upset when Protestants speak against the Catholic Church and I get really, really upset when they speak against Our Mother. I don’t know if this is a liability or a bad thing? I think maybe it is. Just because I have bitterness against them. And yet, I see all these ecumenical people who seem to think about Protestantism as if it were just some benevolent force, which it clearly isn’t, no more than Islam or Hinduism is. So I just wonder if anyone can see what I’m saying, relate, or have anything to advice, or if people need me to explain more how i feel.
 
I forgot to say something, sorry. I had a really good friend who was ‘non-denominational’ ‘christian’. She was a friend I made in University. I really liked her, I thought she was really smart. But still, I thought she was so very stupid for being Protestant. And it’s just, I feel so much defensiveness and hostility toward protestantism. I don’t know if I should try to get over that or not. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t be friends with a protestant. But, still…it’s pretty bad the amount of negative feelings i have about it. I really don’t know if that’s wrong or not. But I want to see if anyone else feels any which way or another.
 
I can understand how you feel and it is difficult for many people. It sometimes is difficult to see the good in some things, yet we need to. For many people it has been an extreme struggle to get to the Catholic Church and this was because of a Protestantism mindset. Yet there are many people who would not know of Christ at all, if not for our seperated bretheren.
I feel the same way inside sometimes and it does take prayer to overcome. I wish I could say more but my wife want me to get off the computer. Maybe someone else can respond with more time.
 
I try desperately to not be biased against them, but it seems only human (and wise) to consider the source of any info that comes our way. I have many n-C friends and we get along famously. They do not knock Holy Mother Church and I don’t go out of my way to bring up our differences. They are good souls and fine Christians and I love 'em dearly. I have quit listening to most of the tv evangelists though I still have great respect for the reverend Billy Graham. I don’t like the lack of historical reference among n-C preachers and teachers because most of them act like all the ECF just don’t exist and that what they believe is identical to what the early church believed, when in fact that is patently not true. The preponderance of over 2,000 years of Christian history weighs in heavily on the side of Catholicism and try as they might they just can’t connect the dots any farther back than 1517 at best and most nowhere near that.

My view has indeed been colored by anti-Catholic attacks that I’ve endured and answered since my return to the faith and as most of you probably know (if you’ve been on here any length of time) I ain’t even shy about defending the faith if someone wants to make some crack or allegation concerning what they think we believe.

Right, wrong or indifferent, when someone pops up and blurts out that he’s a “Christian”, my first thought is usually; “okay…so where is this going?” I guess it’s just a conditioned response… but n-C sources are always suspect to me mainly because of Sola Scriptura and the madhouse myriad ways in which the wide variety of “Christians” out there interpret the Bible. I just don’t feel that that can be trusted; and certainly not with my eternal soul. :irish1:
Pax vobiscum,
 
Hi Oren,

You must try to overcome this. I know this is difficult. It is very easy to get sucked into an insult throwing contest when we are attacked by misinformed anti-Catholics. But like C. Militant, I also have some very good and loving protestant friends. ( they are non-Cathoic as opposed to anti-Catholic–big difference!) Remember, hostility, bitterness, and negative feelings do not come from a good place. But that doesn’t mean we should not defend our faith–we must try to do it in a loving and charitable manner. (many times I am guilty of not following my own advice). :o Protestants have the partial truth–Catholics have the fullness of truth. But when they hear this, they get angry and defensive because they refuse to accept that they do not have the fullness of truth. They will go to any lengths to refute Catholicism so that they can justify the theology of their own particular denomination. And you will find some very well schooled protestant scholars and theologians who argue against Catholicism. But you see, this is how they were taught. Reformed theology, whether intentional or not, has adapted to a society of modernism and relativism. They have learned to twist Scripture (a result of sola scriptura) and misinterpret Church history to suit their theology. Most of the time, your best argument will not sway them one iota. Sometimes the best thing you can do, is to be a living witness to your Catholic faith.
God Bless
 
you should be biased angainst the heretical positions of Protestanism—ITS HERESY–AND WE SHOULD SEEK ITS DESTRUCTION----PROTESTANISM SAVES NO ONE AND HAS, MOST LIKEY, LED CONTLESS SOULS TO HELL–AND MAYBE THE WORSE HERESEY EVER–SINCE IT IS DEEMED “ACCEPTABLE” BY MANY CATHOLICS—WRONG!! WRONG!!! WE SHOULD SEEK TO CONVERT EVERY PROTESTANT AND HOPE THAT PROTESTANISM CEASES TO EXIST----
!!!
 
I also get very annoyed with their points of view and downright angry at any attack on The Catholic Church. I know myself well enough to realize that the irritation comes back on myself because I grew up a prot.
What I mean by that is I can’t understand how the Truth of Holy Mother Church was right in front of me for so long and I kept ducking around it. So since I FINALLY acknowledged it, why can’t they!!!
(See how silly that is?)
I also know that had I not had a faith grounding in protestantism, I may never have recognized The Catholic Church.
I struggle with my ambiguous attitude towards my former prots regularly.
 
As a Protestant (for only 3 more days 🙂 ) I can totally understand where you are coming from. It has been over 500 years since this “movement” began and many things are very ingrained among them. I have to beleive that all things happen for a reason and I’m extremely grateful for my Protestant upbringing. I attended a Christian school from K to 12th grade and was active at church and Sunday School. God, The Scriptures and Protestant conversion stories led me here. For that I’m truly grateful.
 
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Oren:
I just want to see if anyone can say anything about this. For my entire life, including up til right now, i have had a huge bias against protestants. I want to say Protestantism, not protestants. But i don’t know if that is completely true. I’ve had this bias way before I ever became Catholic. I was never Protesant. I live in the Bible Belt, and I have always felt that Protestantism was hopelessly stupid. I still feel this way. And as a result I get very upset about a lot of things…I get easily upset when Protestants speak against the Catholic Church and I get really, really upset when they speak against Our Mother. I don’t know if this is a liability or a bad thing? I think maybe it is. Just because I have bitterness against them. And yet, I see all these ecumenical people who seem to think about Protestantism as if it were just some benevolent force, which it clearly isn’t, no more than Islam or Hinduism is. So I just wonder if anyone can see what I’m saying, relate, or have anything to advice, or if people need me to explain more how i feel.
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Dear Oren,

You must be able to separate Protestant teaching from Protestants. It is important to be able to look with a critical eye at teachings that differ from or contradict those of the Catholic Church, and to understand why the Church rejects them.
With this knowledge, you can quite simply say “that’s not true” when a false teaching is presented, and you can calmly and with patience be able to explain why.

There is no way to categorize “Protestants” per se; most are not heretics, because they have not intentionally broken away from the faith; they are honoring the only faith they know. I think many on this forum have an exaggerated idea about the exposure most people outside the Church have to Catholicism. Growing up Anabaptist, I was well-educated and widely read, yet I could list everything I knew about the Catholic Church on one hand, and most of that was hearsay.

I didn’t “reject” the Church, it never even occurred to me to investigate its claims, for the same reason that most people on this board arn’t seriously investigating the claims of the Rev. Sun Yung Moon. It was so far out of my interest, experience and belief system.

Protestants who antagonize Catholics and insult their faith are simply being RUDE individuals. They are not the norm. Some on this forum may disagree, but again, I would expect that most of their exposure to Protestants has been through similar forums, Web sites, and apologetic exchanges, not through day-to-day, practical relationships where a mutual love of God and the help of neighbor is a cause of unity, not division.

My family is Protestant. Obviously, they looked askance at my conversion. Because my parents, especially, are truly holy people, they have never raised ANY objections to what the Church teaches (although I know they disagree with many things), and have certainly never impugned my faith. Rather, they look for common ground where we can grow towards God together. None of us believes in relativism, or that all religions are the same, but we do know that ultimately, we will stand before God to be judged based on how much we have loved Him and others with the faith we have. Our love for God brings us together and allows us to learn from one another, even though we disagree on important topics.

Therefore, I would urge you to form relationships with Protestants that do not center primarily around defending your Catholic faith. Find common ground and common interests so that you can put a stop to your bitterness and judgementalism about them. They are your separated brothers and sisters in Christ, not your enemies.

I don’t necessarily mean ecumenism; I mean basic human interaction. Try working at a local soup kitchen - you may be humbled by all you learn from people of different faiths. Take the focus off defending your own faith, and steer clear of those who would antagonize your beliefs. Rather, work at being a quiet witness among others, whom you respect and are called to love.
I suggest this only because I don’t see that relativism is a danger for you (I would not give the same advice to a teenager). But ridiculing and belittling others on the basis of their beliefs, which is quite different from rejecting the beliefs themselves, can lead to grave sin. As the Psalm says, looking down on others insults their Creator.

My best wishes and prayers.
 
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maendem:
Dear Oren,

You must be able to separate Protestant teaching from Protestants. It is important to be able to look with a critical eye at teachings that differ from or contradict those of the Catholic Church, and to understand why the Church rejects them.
With this knowledge, you can quite simply say “that’s not true” when a false teaching is presented, and you can calmly and with patience be able to explain why.

There is no way to categorize “Protestants” per se; most are not heretics, because they have not intentionally broken away from the faith; they are honoring the only faith they know. I think many on this forum have an exaggerated idea about the exposure most people outside the Church have to Catholicism. Growing up Anabaptist, I was well-educated and widely read, yet I could list everything I knew about the Catholic Church on one hand, and most of that was hearsay.

I didn’t “reject” the Church, it never even occurred to me to investigate its claims, for the same reason that most people on this board arn’t seriously investigating the claims of the Rev. Sun Yung Moon. It was so far out of my interest, experience and belief system.

Protestants who antagonize Catholics and insult their faith are simply being RUDE individuals. They are not the norm. Some on this forum may disagree, but again, I would expect that most of their exposure to Protestants has been through similar forums, Web sites, and apologetic exchanges, not through day-to-day, practical relationships where a mutual love of God and the help of neighbor is a cause of unity, not division.

My family is Protestant. Obviously, they looked askance at my conversion. Because my parents, especially, are truly holy people, they have never raised ANY objections to what the Church teaches (although I know they disagree with many things), and have certainly never impugned my faith. Rather, they look for common ground where we can grow towards God together. None of us believes in relativism, or that all religions are the same, but we do know that ultimately, we will stand before God to be judged based on how much we have loved Him and others with the faith we have. Our love for God brings us together and allows us to learn from one another, even though we disagree on important topics.

Therefore, I would urge you to form relationships with Protestants that do not center primarily around defending your Catholic faith. Find common ground and common interests so that you can put a stop to your bitterness and judgementalism about them. They are your separated brothers and sisters in Christ, not your enemies.

I don’t necessarily mean ecumenism; I mean basic human interaction. Try working at a local soup kitchen - you may be humbled by all you learn from people of different faiths. Take the focus off defending your own faith, and steer clear of those who would antagonize your beliefs. Rather, work at being a quiet witness among others, whom you respect and are called to love.
I suggest this only because I don’t see that relativism is a danger for you (I would not give the same advice to a teenager). But ridiculing and belittling others on the basis of their beliefs, which is quite different from rejecting the beliefs themselves, can lead to grave sin. As the Psalm says, looking down on others insults their Creator.

My best wishes and prayers.
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Well said maendem, and very true. God Bless you!

smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/17/17_1_12v.gif
 
No. I love our Protestant brotheren. They have a lot of the truth, just not the fullness of Truth.
 
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Oren:
I just want to see if anyone can say anything about this. For my entire life, including up til right now, i have had a huge bias against protestants. I want to say Protestantism, not protestants. But i don’t know if that is completely true. I’ve had this bias way before I ever became Catholic. I was never Protesant. I live in the Bible Belt, and I have always felt that Protestantism was hopelessly stupid. I still feel this way. And as a result I get very upset about a lot of things…I get easily upset when Protestants speak against the Catholic Church and I get really, really upset when they speak against Our Mother. I don’t know if this is a liability or a bad thing? I think maybe it is. Just because I have bitterness against them. And yet, I see all these ecumenical people who seem to think about Protestantism as if it were just some benevolent force, which it clearly isn’t, no more than Islam or Hinduism is. So I just wonder if anyone can see what I’m saying, relate, or have anything to advice, or if people need me to explain more how i feel.
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I have to admit…sometimes I giggle at my protestant neighbors, I still love them but I giggle. I too live in the Bible belt. There are 20 or 30 protestant churches in a ten mile area around here, and they bicker amongst themselves about which Bro. has more of the Holy Spirit, and who grasps the Gospel and feeds it to his flock more readily. But the absolutely funniest thing to me are the ridiculous sayings that they put on their billboards…

“GOT JESUS”…instead of got milk of course
CH–CH What is missing from this church…UR
Best vitamin for a christian is B1

These always make me chuckle, and I don’t think…or at least I hope that isn’t the effect they are going for.
 
There are good Protestants and there are bad Protestant just as there are some good Catholics and some bad.

Most are very good Christians, they foolow Christ as best they know how. Most I think are tolerant of other faiths. Some can be downright annoying and irritating.

The Fundalmentalist, Bob Jones hard core evangelicals are the worst. First off they claim to know what Catholics believe, but when they spit it out it comes nothing close to what we really believe. Second they think everyone is toast except for those that believe exactly as they do.

They think Catholics are in alliance with Satan, as we Catholics are distorting their truth and leading other souls to damnation. Some of these folks are ex Catholics but somewhere along the way their doctrines got all screwed up.

They buy into the distortions and half truths that some nutcase has drilled into them, and they actually believe the drivel that they hear about Catholicism. Even though they may have been Catholics (or at least claim to have been Catholics,) they still spout out this nonsense.

It funny how these folks claim to be the original Church of Christ when most are even less than a hundred years old. They forget that the Protestant Reformation happened in the 1500’s, and so they claim that they are from a hidden Christian church that some how survived 1500 years apart from history.

It’s a real hoot debating these folks, especially when they can not explain why several chapters in their Bible were purposely removed. Coincidently all those books that disagree with their version of Christianity. No wonder their beliefs are half baked, they only have part of the Truth.

Christ’s Peace.
 
I used to get irritated with some of the anti-Catholic whoppers that I heard from protestants, especially on some protestant bible radio shows.

Actually, I discerned that one major reason that I got so upset was that I really didn’t know my Catholic theology very well (detailed), especially dogmatic theology.

I have frequently read the bible so being familiar with the verses wasn’t the issue. The issue was I didn’t know what the Church, Popes and Councils and early Church Fathers had to say.

To get the info I did the following:

I started to read This Rock by Catholic Answers, and the Catechism of the Caholic Church. Also papal encyclicals, especially by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II (post Vatican II) but also Pope Leo XIII through Pope Pius XII. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Dr. Ludwig Ott is a teriffic source.

Over time, I noticed that my irritation disappeared and that I now tend to pray for my separated bretheren rather than get angry at them.

Hope this helps.

P.S.

Pray a daily rosary (5 decades)
 
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marineboy:
you should be biased angainst the heretical positions of Protestanism—ITS HERESY–AND WE SHOULD SEEK ITS DESTRUCTION----PROTESTANISM SAVES NO ONE AND HAS, MOST LIKEY, LED CONTLESS SOULS TO HELL–AND MAYBE THE WORSE HERESEY EVER–SINCE IT IS DEEMED “ACCEPTABLE” BY MANY CATHOLICS—WRONG!! WRONG!!! WE SHOULD SEEK TO CONVERT EVERY PROTESTANT AND HOPE THAT PROTESTANISM CEASES TO EXIST----
!!!
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Wow Marineboy, you really are filled with hate. Remember that one of the Our Lord has told us that it what good does it do to only love those that love you but there is a great reward for us to love those who hate us. Protestants do have some bad but I am willing to bet that they do have a lot of good because God created them and God NEVER makes mistakes. I think it might help you to remember that Christ is present in every human and God has reason for everyone and that one protestant that you are so determined to distroy may be the one that God had planned to help you in your spiritual journey. I really pray that you would put some of that anger aside and look into everyones heart for the good in them, because God does that to you everyday, and remember The Lords prayer and reciete it daily for some help.

We are all sinners, and we need to consentrate on our own selvation before we start condeming others.
 
it’s easy to see protestants as being stupid - and many of them are. but then again, you’ll find stupid people and brilliant people in every church.

i know what you mean as far as not understanding how someone can really believe what some of the protestant churches teach. it makes me sad sometimes to think about how misled alot of them are.

but you also have to realize that these are PEOPLE, who are trying to make sense of their lives, and find hope and faith in their local church - misguided as it might be. being angry at them won’t help anything - it certainly won’t help them to swim the tiber and join us with Him in the eucharist.

any faith is better than no faith - it points in the right direction. without it, i would never have become catholic. i know that my relationship with God was real and positive and dynamic and a great good, long before i became catholic - when i became catholic, my faith became more complete. but my faith was real before i ever considered catholicism, and pointed me toward Jesus and God and caused me to invite the Holy Spirit to come into me, which He did.

don’t underestimate what God can do, even through a misguided source.
 
I’m always amazed and sometimes saddened by the vitriolic anti-Catholicism of some Protestants, but it isn’t profitable to go on a counter attack. They claim to believe in Sola Scriptura, but they twist themselves into logical pretzels and deliberately misunderstand scripture avoid confronting the truth as taught by the Catholic church. They claim to reject the traditions of men, but slavishly follow the traditions established by Luther or Calvin. What is Sola Scriptura or Sola Fide but the tradition of a couple well meaning, but misguided men starting in the 16th century? If you listen to Jimmy Akin’s debate with James White, White’s rebuttals can often be paraphrased “the verse you are pointing out in the Bible can’t be understood that way, or I’d have to admit the Catholic church’s teaching is correct after all.” Some protestant evangelicals seem to be trying harder to “not be Catholic” than to understand the Christ. I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I’m confronted with some Protestant ideas. I just try to remember to be charitable and pray for them to be led home to the Catholic church.
 
WOW, I have never read such bigoted garbage in a long time. It is the main reason I turned my back on the Church years ago. No I did not join any other church, in case you group of bigots are wondering.
 
You know its kinds like this forgive them for they do not know what they do. Most people are born into protestantsim and most catholics are born into their religions as well. There is this thing called grace you must also have to be catholic. Protestantsim is inferior to catholcism which is the fullness of truth but it still has many aspects of truth, Yes the errors are silly to those who have been blessed with the fullness but without grace we don’t have the knowledge that we are able to have thought the church. Remeber they are doing it all by the Bible alone and that is not the way God intended so of couse they are going to make errors. They are missing something the holy spirit provided for Christians ie the Church. Protestants can be among the smartest people you ever meet they just don’t have the extra touch of grace you may have. Of course some Protestants are plain stupid but then again some catholics are plain stupid. Your religion is not a sign of your intelligence your religion is a sign of the grace has given you.
 
I love Protestants. 👍 As strange (Not to God though 😛 ) as this may seem, I found my home to the Catholic Church through a Southern Baptist church that I visited once with my son who WAS a member.

We Catholics enjoy the “Full Glass of Water” where as the Protestants have a “Half Empty(FULL) Glass of Water” That was how I explained it to my 11 year old son when I asked him to join me in coming home to the true faith.

Let your hate GO!!..Use every encounter with Protestants as a way of teaching the faith, the better you get at defending the True Faith, the more “fun” your meetings with them will be. At least its that way with me 😃

Lighten up and enjoy the opportunities God may be giving you to share and teach the faith. 👍
 
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