Conversion Criticism

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HAnne

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I am so very deeply saddened.

Why is it that my “Christian” friends have suddenly gone “on attack”?

This evening I posted a resource from a Catholic website about the timeline of denominations breaking from the Roman Catholic Church on FB and was viciously attacked. I stated it was for “research” purposes and something of interest. They persisted to the point where I deleted the entire post and subsequent messages.

None of them even know about this step in my life yet and I’m already being bashed.

:banghead: :slapfight: :crutches: :blackeye:

I feel very discouraged and abandoned.

While I know my Catholic friends will stand by me through this process I am getting the feeling I am likely to lose 90% of the current support network I have. How is it they feel they can hop from denomination to denomination, skip church, and whine constantly about the church they are in but I can’t post a timeline about religious history???

Has anyone else been through this at some point when they went through the conversion process?

:confused: 🤷
 
I didn’t have this problem when I converted, mainly because most of my friends at the time where non-religious or nominally religious. In the end, they basically didn’t care one way or the other.

In your case, it sounds like many of your friends are now showing their true colors. As much as that can hurt, in the end, it can be a blessing to find out who your real friends are, so that you can move closer to those people.

Keep your head up. It’s a tough road, but worth it! 👍
 
I guess the truth hurts for your friends.

For me I started practising the faith about 7 years ago and copped a lot of flack from friends and family for being too religious and they basically ridiculed me for it.

Keep strong! for christ said “if they persecute me, they will persecute you”!
 
Yep—lost about 1/2 of my Christian “friends” sorry to say. But my new family is at my parish.😃
 
HAnne said:
I am so very deeply saddened.

Why is it that my “Christian” friends have suddenly gone “on attack”?

This evening I posted a resource from a Catholic website about the timeline of denominations breaking from the Roman Catholic Church on FB and was viciously attacked. I stated it was for “research” purposes and something of interest. They persisted to the point where I deleted the entire post and subsequent messages.

None of them even know about this step in my life yet and I’m already being bashed.

:banghead: :slapfight: :crutches: :blackeye:

I feel very discouraged and abandoned.

While I know my Catholic friends will stand by me through this process I am getting the feeling I am likely to lose 90% of the current support network I have. How is it they feel they can hop from denomination to denomination, skip church, and whine constantly about the church they are in but I can’t post a timeline about religious history???

Has anyone else been through this at some point when they went through the conversion process?

:confused: 🤷
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Hang in there. Good post. Pray, Work, and Smile.

Not an nano-second of discouragement. All joy.

A saint once said something to the effect of ’ as you get nearer to Christ, don’t be surprised to find the Cross".
 
Wampa said:
In your case, it sounds like many of your friends are now showing their true colors. As much as that can hurt, in the end, it can be a blessing to find out who your real friends are, so that you can move closer to those people.

Keep your head up. It’s a tough road, but worth it! 👍
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Thank you so much!

I’ve been through the process of finding out who my real friends are once before. It was an exceedingly painful and beautiful experience. I guess I just didn’t realize how many of the “new” ones since then were going to react this way.
 
Louie1983 said:
Keep strong! for christ said “if they persecute me, they will persecute you”!
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Precisely. I have decided to take up the maxim that “If they hate me or think I am a fool, it is just another jewel in my crown.”
 
Fifty years ago I was planning on being a minister and I was going to a college run by a Protestant denomination. I became a Catholic while I was there. Naturally, people didn’t like it. Worse to me, the few Catholic there were quite the opposite of welcoming. IThat is the one part of what happened I never understood.) However, I am thick skinned, and long ago forgot the annoyance involved, and am simply happy to be a Catholic.
For people converting to lose any support network is common. Scott Hahn’s own story of his conversion “Rome Sweet Home” is an excellent book–and it shows how his friends took a dim view of his conversion too. It hurt him, but he went forward anyways. (Actually, he was a minister and successful professor at a Protestant seminary.)
 
HAnne said:
I am so very deeply saddened. None of them even know about this step in my life yet and I’m already being bashed. I feel very discouraged and abandoned.
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You are seeking the truth, and that carries a price. Consider: Jesus knows your heart and is smiling down upon you every step along the way. He knows all about abandonment, crying out to the Father from His cross “My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?” This was after all of His disciples fell asleep while He was in His agony in the garden. Those same disciples fled from Him when He was arrested. Of the crowds that celebrated His triumphant return to Jerusalem, not one of them spoke a single word in His defense before Pilate. The entire world abandoned Him. This all happend to God’s own Son, so we Christians must also expect to feel loneliness and abandonment at times. But, we cannot allow those feelings to overwhelm us, since we have absolute assurance that our Lord is with us.
HAnne said:
While I know my Catholic friends will stand by me through this process I am getting the feeling I am likely to lose 90% of the current support network I have. How is it they feel they can hop from denomination to denomination, skip church, and whine constantly about the church they are in but I can’t post a timeline about religious history???
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If they were truly joy-filled and felt that they possessed the fulness of truth, they would not act in such a way. Where’s the love? If that is your support group, praise God that He is leading you home, where the family truly is! Simply pray for them and allow your love and faith-filled journey to call them to the fulness of truth.

I am praying for your journey.
 
Thank you all so very much. I am certain once I am in a support network in my local parish things will begin to turn. My Catholic friends are celebrating with me and have been wonderful. As for the others, if they were true friends, they would at the very least “fake it until they make it”. Family will come around eventually - and if not, I’ll hold the only grandson/nephew hostage until they do…not that hard really…they all live 1300 miles away! :rotfl:

Tomorrow I will meet the first people from the parish and I am focusing my eyes on that time.

Please know that ALL of your support means the world to me. 🙂
 
HAnne said:
Thank you all so very much. I am certain once I am in a support network in my local parish things will begin to turn. My Catholic friends are celebrating with me and have been wonderful. As for the others, if they were true friends, they would at the very least “fake it until they make it”. Family will come around eventually - and if not, I’ll hold the only grandson/nephew hostage until they do…not that hard really…they all live 1300 miles away! :rotfl:

Tomorrow I will meet the first people from the parish and I am focusing my eyes on that time.

Please know that ALL of your support means the world to me. 🙂
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You will always have family, no matter where in the world you go, since the Church is there. We here are always ready to help as well. I shall pray for your perseverance in this time of testing.
 
Ditto on all us Catholics being your family. 🙂
Pray that they one day realize the truth. In the meantime I recommend deleting your facebook entirely. Religious and political drama helped me along in deleting mine. People are lame online. I’d rather know their personalities in person.
 
po18guy said:
You will always have family, no matter where in the world you go, since the Church is there. We here are always ready to help as well. I shall pray for your perseverance in this time of testing.
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Thank you! :thankyou:
 
FirstCalled said:
Ditto on all us Catholics being your family. 🙂
Pray that they one day realize the truth. In the meantime I recommend deleting your facebook entirely. Religious and political drama helped me along in deleting mine. People are lame online. I’d rather know their personalities in person.
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Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Normally I post nothing of religious or political consequence on there for precisely the reasons you mention. This was a 1 time deal I think…lesson relearned.

Unfortunately I really cannot delete it as 100% of my family is 1300 or more miles away and that is how we all stay in contact with one another. Everyone on my FB is someone I know personally. I don’t accept friend requests from everyone on earth because I post pictures of my son and that’s too creepy weird. Not to mention 100% of my current Catholic friends are on there!!! I don’t want to lose them!!

What I have done is set up a “Catholic friendly” list so when I want to post things about what I am doing and where I am headed on my new walk they can join me. Those who know and are supportive are welcome, those who are not will likely be wondering why I quit posting so often. 😉
 
HAnne said:
I am so very deeply saddened.

Why is it that my “Christian” friends have suddenly gone “on attack”?

This evening I posted a resource from a Catholic website about the timeline of denominations breaking from the Roman Catholic Church on FB and was viciously attacked. I stated it was for “research” purposes and something of interest. They persisted to the point where I deleted the entire post and subsequent messages.

None of them even know about this step in my life yet and I’m already being bashed.

:banghead: :slapfight: :crutches: :blackeye:

I feel very discouraged and abandoned.

While I know my Catholic friends will stand by me through this process I am getting the feeling I am likely to lose 90% of the current support network I have. How is it they feel they can hop from denomination to denomination, skip church, and whine constantly about the church they are in but I can’t post a timeline about religious history???

Has anyone else been through this at some point when they went through the conversion process?

:confused: 🤷
Click to expand...
Funny, I was having a reflection about Facebook and the faith on my drive home, and here I am with an opportunity to share my reflection.

Basically, a “friend” posted something in support of gays last week and I de-friended the person. And I have friends who are very proud Protestants. I’m thinking on increasing my religious related post although I know the may get irritated by it and de-friend me. Then my reflection was this, many have died for this faith. So what if someone defriends me, its nothing really compared to the sacrifice of many in the past.

Don’t be discouraged. If you have to de-friend them, do it. If you think about it, its nothing really compared to the sacrifices of many for this faith which we inherited from them. The truth hurts, the truth offends those who cannot accept that what they believed to be true is a lie.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Funny, I was having a reflection about Facebook and the faith on my drive home, and here I am with an opportunity to share my reflection.

Basically, a “friend” posted something in support of gays last week and I de-friended the person. And I have friends who are very proud Protestants. I’m thinking on increasing my religious related post although I know the may get irritated by it and de-friend me. Then my reflection was this, many have died for this faith. So what if someone defriends me, its nothing really compared to the sacrifice of many in the past.

Don’t be discouraged. If you have to de-friend them, do it. If you think about it, its nothing really compared to the sacrifices of many for this faith which we inherited from them. The truth hurts, the truth offends those who cannot accept that what they believed to be true is a lie.
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As I grow stronger in my faith I hope to be more like you. 🙂 Right now it is to tender and young that a mere scrape feels like a gaping wound. As I grow more I will likely fall in with your mentality on this. My head longs to but my heart is grieving the loss of friends.

It is so sad today that those who scream from the rooftops about tolerance for themselves will not give tolerance to others.
 
Oh yeah, been there and done that. I have very few n-C friends anymore. 🤷 Most can’t even understand so there’s no point in sharing it with them. If they have questions…I have answers, and they know where to find me.

I do not use FB or any of the social networking stuff. CAF is sufficient for me along with some of the great people from our parish.

I came home under fire the whole way. My Testimony It has made me strong in apologetics to say the least.

Know that you are now included in all my prayers.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
 
One of the things that frustrated me when I was converting was the lack of orthodox Catholic Christians out there. The local campus ministry is filled with dissenters.

It is rare to find someone who actually believes what the Church teaches in whole. It saddens me. It was a great shock to me to find out that most of my acquaintances were Catholic - because nothing on the surface would indicate that they were somehow different.
 
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