Converts: What objections did you hear?

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Scott_Waddell

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I’m putting together a little article about conversion objections. Many of us probably heard some of them from friends or family and usually their objection implied that your conversion was not sincere or was for dubious reasons. (“Don’t convert just for some girl!” “He is just having an identity crisis.”, etc.)

What did you converts hear from others when they found out you were converting? Doesn’t have to be a long story. Just a quote or paraphrase is fine. Thanks.

Scott
 
Actually, so far everyone I’ve told is very happy! My mother was baptised in the Catholic Church but raised Baptist (my grandmother is Baptist and grandfather Catholic) so she is really excited. My father doesn’t really care too much, I don’t think.

I’ve HAVE had to kind of um, keep undercover at work b/c I have a very zealous Baptist in the office. I don’t really want to advertise until after I am confirmed. Everytime he talks to me about Christianity-which he does in a condescending way, I just reach into my pocket and clench my Rosary!
 
The few people I’ve told immediately ask me if I’m converting for my boyfriend (I started dating him right before I signed up for RCIA). He’s not Catholic; but they just assume that I’m twitterpated and doing it for him.

My friends are super-supportive.

Still need to tell the parents - a very touchy and sensitive subject. 😦
 
My girlfriend is Catholic. I started RCIA 2 years after meeting her but have been intersested in for about 1 1/2 years. Family blames it on her and her family. haha…whatever.

dxu
 
i’m the only Catholic that i know of that is, or has ever been, in
my family… grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, siblings…
all baptist…

but, other than one tasteless joke my brother told… i haven’t
heard anything negative… and i was scared of what my mom
would say, but i told her i had found a place i felt closer to
Jesus than i’d ever felt before in my life… and she said she
was happy for me…

(( course, i’m 51… lol ))

🙂
 
The most vigorous reaction was from my mother. She’s angry about the scandals against chastity, the teaching on contraception and abortion, and a belief that females who contracept are treated differently in the confessional than men who contracept are.

My sister said something about '“the Church changed everything, Catholic friends of mine told me so”. I suppose it has something to do with Vatican II, and I’m sure that her friends (who were in elementary school at the time) really understood what was happened.

Neither of them were very interested in being disabused of their opinions, so I let it go with “I assure you, it’s not what you think.”

Funny thing is, they both say that they know I’m one of the most rational people they know, that I’m a very logical thinker and when I’m interested in something I make sure to get my facts straight.
 
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johnshelby:
i’m the only Catholic that i know of that is, or has ever been, in
my family… grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, siblings…
all baptist…

but, other than one tasteless joke my brother told… i haven’t
heard anything negative… and i was scared of what my mom
would say, but i told her i had found a place i felt closer to
Jesus than i’d ever felt before in my life… and she said she
was happy for me…

(( course, i’m 51… lol ))

🙂
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I also am the only Catholic in a family of Baptists (one subgroup is nominally Methodist). No one ever gave me a hard time about being Catholic. My brother also likes to “share” the latest Catholic joke he’s heard, but it’s near impossible to get angry with this brother, let alone stay angry, which would be a sin anyway. My family knows I love the Church and they love me. They were very kind when Pope John Paul the Great passed away.
 
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JKirkLVNV:
I also am the only Catholic in a family of Baptists (one subgroup is nominally Methodist). No one ever gave me a hard time about being Catholic. My brother also likes to “share” the latest Catholic joke he’s heard, but it’s near impossible to get angry with this brother, let alone stay angry, which would be a sin anyway. My family knows I love the Church and they love me. They were very kind when Pope John Paul the Great passed away.
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🙂 gives the word family meaning…
 
The objection that I get the most, and I am afraid I agree to a certain degree, is that the Catholic Church is on paper only. Not only do many Catholic laity openly oppose the teachings of the Church, but sadly so do many priests and bishops.

In Protestant churches you get a highly concentrated set of christians that all believe the same thing. If a pastor teaches anything contrary to denominational beliefs he is fired. Yet in many diocese you see egregious errors and heresy perpetuated yet the leadership seems to do nothing.

Maybe my impression is wrong (have had a heck of a time finding an orthodox parish) but is sure seems like the Church is in disarray.
 
Well, on my way I heard quite a few objections,

My Mother thinks religion is something that turns one into a bigot so she is trying to tell me this.

Robert, ex-freind, told me that he was “ex-catholic” and told me a thousand horror stories, such as:
1.Marian Worship
2.Christ was killed anew each mass (sacrifice of the Mass)
3.They beleived in drum rolls Sacred Tradition Lightning and thunder strike as hoarses scream
4. That most of what they beleive isn’t “based in scripture” such as Transubstaniation, Baptism that is more than smybolic, Confession, The Pope, Marian Dogmas, Preistly celibacy

Some of my freinds are adventist who claim the Pope is the anti-christ

One Baptist freind claimed that Catholics worshiped statues

which really just lead me in my research as I decieded on the vailidity of the Catholic Church (which lead me to deciede that I would like to do an extensive {as deep as I can without losing my mind} reaserch and write a book on Catholicism for Protestants) which the conclusion is overt.

Other than those noone seems to mind thou not that supportive.
 
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arieh0310:
The objection that I get the most, and I am afraid I agree to a certain degree, is that the Catholic Church is on paper only. Not only do many Catholic laity openly oppose the teachings of the Church, but sadly so do many priests and bishops.

In Protestant churches you get a highly concentrated set of christians that all believe the same thing. If a pastor teaches anything contrary to denominational beliefs he is fired. Yet in many diocese you see egregious errors and heresy perpetuated yet the leadership seems to do nothing.

Maybe my impression is wrong (have had a heck of a time finding an orthodox parish) but is sure seems like the Church is in disarray.
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are you a convert? if what you say is the way you found the
church, then why did you choose it?

🙂
 
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johnshelby:
are you a convert? if what you say is the way you found the
church, then why did you choose it?

🙂
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I am really, really close to joining the Church. My entry into the Church seems inevitable, but I am still exercising caution (I have only been investigating Catholicism for 6 months).

Even if the Church is filled with heretics I will still join, because in the Catholic Church is found the fullness of truth. I guess I am just a little disheartened because I wanted a little more company.
 
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arieh0310:
I am really, really close to joining the Church. My entry into the Church seems inevitable, but I am still exercising caution (I have only been investigating Catholicism for 6 months).

Even if the Church is filled with heretics I will still join, because in the Catholic Church is found the fullness of truth. I guess I am just a little disheartened because I wanted a little more company.
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well, i have no idea what the situation is where you live, and attend mass…

but, i have found in my church, the most holy place i’ve ever
been… and in Holy communion, the most holy experience of my
life… and i’m fairly long lived… i studied the church for several
years before i made a commitment to join… i attended services
for 3 years before i went to RCIA…

humans are gonna be human… but the Church, is the Church…
the Church will be as Holy as you allow it… it’s all up to you…
and believe me, when you first walk up to take Holy
communion, you will realize that it’s more than ‘on paper’…
and i don’t think you’ll ever look at the people in your church
the same again…

and i want to apologize to the op… not trying to hijack the
thread… forgive me…

🙂
 
My Dad, a non-denom pastor, pretty much sums it up with this:

“Frankly I still don’t understand this attraction to the hierarchical/traditional approach. It seems to me a step backward into the 11th or 15th century formalism and legalism when there is the freedom to go directly to Scripture.”
 
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arieh0310:
The objection that I get the most, and I am afraid I agree to a certain degree, is that the Catholic Church is on paper only. Not only do many Catholic laity openly oppose the teachings of the Church, but sadly so do many priests and bishops.
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Do you know much of Church history? If you do then you know the Church has always had dissenters within it. The Church of “Going My Way” and other such films and stories is a fantasy. We are in a war of good against evil, within and without, and have been since day one.
In Protestant churches you get a highly concentrated set of christians that all believe the same thing. If a pastor teaches anything contrary to denominational beliefs he is fired. Yet in many diocese you see egregious errors and heresy perpetuated yet the leadership seems to do nothing.
Click to expand...
This too is a fantasy, really. Scratch the surface of such churches and you will find that not everyone is in lock-step with their leadership and there are many private sins being committed that will never come to light or be resolved because they must look holy even if they aren’t. Catholics believe in honesty–with ourselves and with others, which is why we have confessionals. 😉
Maybe my impression is wrong (have had a heck of a time finding an orthodox parish) but is sure seems like the Church is in disarray.
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And yet, the restoration of true Catholic belief and practice is on the rise. The Church has gone through several stages of progress and reversals in the orthodoxy of its members, clergy and laity alike. G. K. Chesterton saw the Church as reeling its way through history, always seeming about to totter and fall, but always righting itself and carrying on. It’s an odd institution, something like a centaur–half human and half divine. The human half is always trying to take over the divine, but the divine always wins the battle–eventually, and will continue to do so until it wins the ultimate war for the souls of men.

As to what people said to me when I converted, my family was basically indifferent–none of them, not even the Catholic ones, attended my reception into the Church, Easter Vigil, 1989. But at a family gathering shortly after my brother sidled up to me and informed me that he wasn’t going to become a Catholic–this from a nominal Lutheran who only became a Lutheran because his wife was one–who had really instigated his bold attempt at keeping himself from the clutches of the Catholic Church. :rolleyes: I looked him directly in the eyes and told him, “I don’t expect you to.” That set him back on his heels, the silly man, and his wife, too! 😛
 
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johnshelby:
… and i was scared of what my mom
would say, but i told her i had found a place i felt closer to
Jesus than i’d ever felt before in my life… and she said she
was happy for me…
QUOTE]

I’m scared to tell my mom too. But I’ve been thinking that I will tell her exactly like you did. That’s all she really cares about, that I love Jesus and read the Bible. 🙂
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When my husband converted the year before we were married, his family (Baptist, non-denominational) took a more passive-aggressive approach rather than being openly negative. Instead of objecting, they tended to commend him for his devotion to me and his willingness to sacrifice so much for me. They just couldn’t believe that he would make this decision on his own, so they comforted themselves with the assurance that he was doing it “for the good of the family.”
 
I always heard the same objections : the Pope doesn’t have a special authority in the Church and the Pope is not infallible.
 
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RonRule:
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johnshelby:
… and i was scared of what my mom
would say, but i told her i had found a place i felt closer to
Jesus than i’d ever felt before in my life… and she said she
was happy for me…
QUOTE]

I’m scared to tell my mom too. But I’ve been thinking that I will tell her exactly like you did. That’s all she really cares about, that I love Jesus and read the Bible. 🙂
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well, just be honest with her… if your mom is anything like mine,
she’ll know what you are doing is the right thing for you…

🙂
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One friend said we must be converting because of my husband’s insecurity and need for mentorship, and that I was only going along with it to be a good submissive wife. I got a good laugh out of that one.

My dad is concerned because the few Catholics he knows don’t live the faith, so he assumes all Catholics are like that. He finds liturgy and tradition to be dead and worthless.

Friends from our former church pulled out many classic anti-catholic objections: The Church hierarchy is trying to take over the world, and they hide their “real” teachings to try to get more converts and more power; praying to saints is worshipping them; Mary was not sinless, ever-virgin, or special in any other way; there’s no need for an infallible interpreter of scripture; we’re checking our brains at the door.

Most of our protestant friends didn’t really object, they were (and still are) baffled that we would do something so insane. A select few thought it was fine, just another denomination.
 
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