Catholic's and Protestants you better listen up!!

[RobHom]

Sounds like being baptized Catholic. As a poster on here once told me, “Once Catholic, always Catholic - whether you like it or not.”

Possibly to some extent… I can tell you from personal experience as a “revert” that you can walk away from the Catholic Church…but if you were born to a Catholic family and raised Catholic… you will always retain your core beliefs and remain Catholic at heart…and I can tell you also that “denial” is not a river in Egypt…

Well, at least the Church doesn’t go that far.

No, when I walked away…no-one hunted me down and threatened me, no one called me and bothered me, there were no mail campaigns, no whispering behind my back…none of that, but after a few years, I experienced a gnawing desire to find myself and where I belonged, and I found it in the Catholic Church.

 

[Aboveallbereal]

I don’t like the nature of this thread but that aside may be there is another way the number of Catholics could be increased. Both Catholicism and Islam disagree with artificial contraception. It would appear that muslims observe their faith better than catholics.

I think the simple truth is that we confuse cradle/cultural catholic ( non praciising but baptised as infants ) with real Christian Catholic.

The estimates for Catholics in the developed world are hopelessly inaccurate. I mean they only have accuracy if one asumes that the choice to use the Church for hatch match and dipatch events makes one in a meaningful sense catholic.

In reality there are fewer than 30 million catholics in North America and certainly no more than 50 million in Europe.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

I think the simple truth is that we confuse cradle/cultural catholic ( non praciising but baptised as infants ) with real Christian Catholic.

The estimates for Catholics in the developed world are hopelessly inaccurate. I mean they only have accuracy if one asumes that the choice to use the Church for hatch match and dipatch events makes one in a meaningful sense catholic.

In reality there are fewer than 30 million catholics in North America and certainly no more than 50 million in Europe.

Sadly true, and sadly true for all of Christianity. How many people call themselves “Christian,” but what they really mean is “I have my own personal beliefs and fit Christ in there somewhere.”

Personally, if there is a rise in Islam and an imposition of jizyah and many other laws, it might do well to shift the tare from the wheat in our congregations.

 

[bosnian_muslim]

what a thread.

 

[Aboveallbereal]

what a thread.

There is no harm and much merit in facing the truth in the cold light of day. Though a catholic myself i have no difficulty in accepting the fact that the Chuch is a marginalised presence in the life of a senile continent in hock to China and behaviourally incontinent and short termist. The smaller Church of the future will have a role in trying to rebuild the morale of the place after the inevitable cultural implosion occurs

 

[rdscheirer]

Re fertility rates/ birth rates-The Mohammadans will overwhelm us by shear numbers- there is no way we can stop this problem- the average Western woman has 2 children = the aveage Muslim woman has between 7 and 9- as long as they can spew their hatred of what Jesus said they will be a formidable foe as they are now.

 

[Vixit]

Yeah but I bet their average lifespans are much lower than ours

 

[stormy99]

Then how do we account for the fall in the birth rate in Catholic families, particularly in the west where artificial contraception is easily available. When the Pope visited the UK last week I remember a poll reported on TV that most Catholics don’t follow the Church’s teaching on contraception. On this occasion I believe what was reported on TV.

**Our parish pastor came right out and said the birth control is being used in our parish…this was RCIA…easy enough to tell small families…but lately I have seen young families with 4 children or more…maybe there is hope.

stormy**

 

[autdrew]

Maybe I can give you all a little hope. I personally have numerous friends who have 4,5 & several with 6 children. I know several who do not contracept. We all support & encourage each other &, to add to the wonder I have for them,:bowdown: they are all military wives who do all of this without their husbands for long periods of time. They are all very strong Catholics & teach their children as well. There is hope!

 

[rinnie]

Maybe I can give you all a little hope. I personally have numerous friends who have 4,5 & several with 6 children. I know several who do not contracept. We all support & encourage each other &, to add to the wonder I have for them,:bowdown: they are all military wives who do all of this without their husbands for long periods of time. They are all very strong Catholics & teach their children as well. There is hope!

NO my dear, not only did you give us hope. YOU ARE BRINGING US BACK HOME!!:extrahappy::extrahappy: Thats what I am talking about!!

You never know what you had until you loose it!!

As Long as we Have Jesus Christ as our Savior. We got it made!!!

THANK-YOU You may have ended my thread quicker then I would have thought!! But you ended it well!! Quite well!!

It is those words I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPANS. THE WORD OF OUR BELOVED JESUS CHRIST!!!

HOPE, LOVE GRACE OUR LORD OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

AND TO MY MUSLIN SISTER I AGREE!!

WHAT A THREAD!!!

 

[AngloCatholic1]

**rinnie,

This is a great thread, and one that deserves the serious attention of EVERYONE who calls himself/herself a “Christian”.**

So here’s an aspect to the problem that I’d like to offer up for discussion: Culturally speaking, one of the biggest differences between Islam and Christianity concerns the treatment of women, both within the household and in society at large. The Christian nations of the world have, in recent decades, encouraged women to pursue careers and money rather than honouring the MOST VALUABLE institution of MOTHERHOOD. Islam, on the other hand, seems to DISCOURAGE this behaviour. The result? Islam will soon OVERTAKE Christianity in numbers…and the “western ideals of sexual equality” will eventually cease to exist!

Now, PLEASE do NOT get me wrong here. I’m NOT against the “rights” of women. Nor am I personally against the idea of them pursuing meaningful careers; in fact my daughter is presently in University to further her own career in business. Thankfully, she’s Catholic and dreams one day of having four children! So the REAL questions for we “Christians” is this:

**1) How can we safely, gently, and EFFECTIVELY promote the TRUTH that the GREATEST CAREER a Christian woman can pursue is MOTHERHOOD?

1. How can we, as Christian men and women, publicly encourage young men to become LOVING husbands and RESPONSIBLE fathers?**

When we have solutions to these questions, the political and social influence of the Christian family will RETURN…as will our NUMBERS!

Otherwise, rinnie’s gloom and doom forecast for the Church of Jesus Christ here on this earth WILL come to pass.

I invite you ALL to comment.

 

[Kaninchen]

The German Goverment state it will be a Muslim state by 2050.

Could you cite a German Government source for that?

No, not a quote from some muslimsarebreedingforvictory.com or muslimsaretoonaughtyforwords.com ‘agenda site’, a German Government source.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

The German Goverment state it will be a Muslim state by 2050.

I hadn’t realised Germany was planning to change its constitution. I thought they were committed to the new European constitution.

 

[Sufjon]

what a thread.

Agreed, and as usual, it’s always good to hear from you Bosnian Muslim.

Your Friend,
Sufjon

 

[rinnie]

Could you cite a German Government source for that?

No, not a quote from some muslimsarebreedingforvictory.com or muslimsaretoonaughtyforwords.com ‘agenda site’, a German Government source.

Hi Kaninchen, As I stated I do not know what is really accurate or not. But I am sure that if you look around you can see that it is projected from the population that there are going to be more Muslims. And as you stated this infor may not be accurate. But I am sure you can find out a reliable source to state the Population of Muslims in that country. And what is projected very soon. But from what I have read it is projected that they will take over the population.

And you may be correct this could be untrue. But I am sure it would be easy enough to see what the Population of them in Germany is at his moment.

 

[manualman]

The problem with threads like this is that they always confuse two CRUCIALLY different issues.

1. Islam.
2. Muslims.

MUSLIMS are mostly NOT “out to get you.” Please stop such discussions as it places an ugly black eye on Jesus and distorts His image as presented to the world. Like us, muslims are created in the image and likeness of God, but suffer from original sin. Because of that, while they are GOOD, they have the tragic flaw of sin in their lives - just like us. MOST muslims, like most nominal christians, are simply typical humans. They love their families, they fall in love, they experience compassion for the suffering, they help those in need. They have no horns on their heads, and no unusual hatred in their hearts. They are beloved of God and much of their lives reflects that vestigial goodness of having been created in HIS image.

Islam, the religion and teaching, has certain severe inherent problems. Many are cited here. The religion itself contains both good principles and abhorrent ones (examples of which are posted above and I’m sure more are to come). Certain aspects of Islam make it fundamentally opposed to Western Civilization. But please do not presume that all muslims are simply mini-Muhammeds. Most muslims, like most catholics, do not truly shape their fundamental life principles from the faith itself. Most are cafeteria muslims - they pick and choose which parts to apply in their own lives. Most of us here agree that this is a bad thing in a catholic, but it seems to me to be a GOOD thing in a muslim.

So the bottom line is - don’t panic. Just because your new neighbor is a muslim, don’t presume he is intent on making your daughter his third wife and plotting to blow up the local Hindu temple (proper doesn’t define christians as infidels). Most likely, his major concerns are with affording his mortgage, keeping his kids out of trouble and finding an auto insurance company that doesn’t gouge him to death. Nice and boring, just like us.

 

[Kaninchen]

Hi Kaninchen, As I stated I do not know what is really accurate or not. But I am sure that if you look around you can see that it is projected from the population that there are going to be more Muslims. And as you stated this infor may not be accurate. But I am sure you can find out a reliable source to state the Population of Muslims in that country. And what is projected very soon. But from what I have read it is projected that they will take over the population.

And you may be correct this could be untrue. But I am sure it would be easy enough to see what the Population of them in Germany is at his moment.

In other words, it’s a projection, on a projection, on a projection, on a guess, on some mysteriously unconfirmable statement supposedly made - with the evidence for it being interlinked references to various protocolsofthelearnedeldersofmecca.com websites.

 

[rinnie]

In other words, it’s a projection, on a projection, on a projection, on a guess, on some mysteriously unconfirmable statement supposedly made - with the evidence for it being interlinked references to various protocolsofthelearnedeldersofmecca.com websites.

How ever you want to project it. But the purpose of the thread is the world as we know it is changing. And will be alot different very soon.

If you feel that these projections are wrong, that is fine. But my point is I think that we always thought our world as we know it would never really change. Maybe it never will:shrug:

But if these projections are even close to comming true, Big Change is comming.

Maybe it will be a good thing. Maybe it will bring these People closer to Jesus. I pray it will. But if we do not our part and taking a bigger role in educating our own Children do you really believe others will? And I think you can relate to what I am saying. I mean are you going to teach them about Jesus?? Just like am I going to teach my kids to be Jewish. That’s all I am saying.

I am saying it is something to think about. And I do not see why I am upsetting so many people in saying so!

 

[rinnie]

In other words, it’s a projection, on a projection, on a projection, on a guess, on some mysteriously unconfirmable statement supposedly made - with the evidence for it being interlinked references to various protocolsofthelearnedeldersofmecca.com websites.

And no, this was never sent to me by those websites. It was just something that was told to me and it gave me something to think about. It is something I would have never thought could have ever been possible in this country. Now I am seeing it could.

And was just giving others something to THINK about is all. I again do not see what the big deal is.

 

[Light1111]

I am not a Muslem, nor do I even know very many Muslems. But I have studied the faith rather extensively (to learn, not to convert) and I can tell you that it is a beautiful religion not unlike Judaism or Catholicism. All three faiths have the same roots.

I don’t know if the anti-Muslem sentiments center on the 9/11 attacks, and other forms of terrorism, but if you spoke with a common Muslem devotee, they would tell you what a horrible interpretation of the Koran those terrorists have followed, in their behaviors, actions, professed ideologies, etc.

You know this word that is used in the media: “Jihad” ? It is used in the following context: “Muslems claimed responsibility for the attacks of September 11th, referring to their Jihad against the American way of life.”

I heard a young woman who was born and raised a Muslem here in the U.S., speaking about the word “Jihad” on NPR. I felt so very sad for her experience.

She said that “Jihad” is an Arabic word, and it is used in the following context, from a parent to a child: “Go to school today and make a Jihad for our family. Get an ‘A’ on your test.” Also: “The volunteer work you are doing helps so very many of those who are less fortunate than us. What a jihad you have made.”

She said that a large part of her ethnic, cultural and religious pride was bound up in the various “Jihads” she and her family undertook, and that this beautiful and time-honored word has been robbed from them, by zealots whose behavior they find to be as reprehensible and horrific as we do.

Most Muslems neither support nor understand the actions of terrorists. Just because these terrorists define themselves as Muslems, and claim their actions are directed by the Koran, does not mean there is merit to their claims, nor a scholarly basis to them.

It would make a Jewish person or a Christian person very sad indeed if someone of one of the Judeo-Christian faiths acted out such crimes of aggression, then pointed to receiving their direction from the Bible. Readers of the Bible would know those individuals were sorely misguided, most likely mentally ill.

I believe each of the terrorists we’ve heard about in the news, are, indeed, suffering from mental illness, and that is quite separate from their religion. It’s a shame they’ve given an entire religion such a bad name. It is not deserved. It’s a religion of peace. It is a different religion from Christianity, but it is not one that directs its followers to violence, unrest, or other forms of behavior that would disrupt anyone.

The only thing I found offensive in reading the Koran was the belief that a dog is filthy and ought not be allowed in the family home. I don’t know where they get this from; I love dogs and believe they bring such warmth and love to a home!

Peace to each one of you.