Do Catholics on this site accurately represent Catholicism

AmateurPianist · Dec 23, 2009

I do not mean as far as accurately presenting the doctrines and beliefs of Catholicism.

I mean in the sense of accurately representing the superior attitude that Catholics have in relationship to nonCatholics, specifically Protestants. Is that the attitude that Catholics as a whole generally have towards Non Catholics.

truereligion · Dec 23, 2009

Over a lifetime, I can say with certainty that most Catholics cannot their own faith with a Bible. Most know next to nothing about what their Church teaches, and try to expect them to use a Bible is impossible.

On this website, only because its worldwide, there are Catholics that believe certain things, and think that they can back it up with a Bible.

I put up two other posts, and due to the sheer volume of responses, and I am only one person, I cannot answer every objection, due to the time that it would take.

However nothing that anyone else said has shaken my resolve in any way.

Its one thing to claim to have the right understanding, but then APPLYING IT is another matter.

Catholics go to war. That is an absolute fact.

They will at the commands of men, kill their own people in war, catholics killing catholic. When I say this, please, I am including mainstream religions. (protestants, baptists, mormons etc … in other words nearly ALL of them)

They will try to claim that they are the right religion.

In other words, their worship is in vain, because they will not OBEY the words of Jesus Christ. Matthew 7:21-23

Respresenting their church properly is rare.

In fact, even many priests of the Church do not even faithfully support the Bible even officially.

I saw a recent TV program, where an OFFICIAL INTERVIEW with a priest of your church, and he very much minimised the position of the Genesis account of creation. He in fact mocked the Bible account (or that is how the people would have heard it)

Who knows how accurate all of the stuff is on this website anyway!

FightingFat · Dec 23, 2009

If I understand your post correctly, you have discerned that Catholics hold an attitude of superiority over Protestants, and that this is evidenced clearly on this site?

You have to keep in mind that Protestantism arrived 1500 or so years after Catholicism. It looked at what the Catholic Church taught and misunderstood much of it. It then rejected the authority of the Catholic Church and asked people to follow a different path. Much of what Protestants believe is endorsed by Catholics, but some of it is dangerous. I can see how this could be interpreted as a superior attitude.

FightingFat · Dec 23, 2009

We are a Church of sinners, no doubt. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover however. To understand the Catholic Church, you have to understand what it stands for and what it has consistently taught for 2,000 years. The Church can’t police members, everyone is invited, whether they live up to the call or not is down to them (us–me!!).

wardrandolph · Dec 23, 2009

Sometimes when one responds to a post,that person’s attitude,or respect for a person’s belief’s are not acurately transmited.We pray for our brothers and sisters who belong to other faith’s.I am superior to no one.I am a man who wants to live a life that is filled with love for our Lord Jesus and desires to do His will and often fail.Most Catholics in my parish strive to love and respect the Protestants[who are the majority where I live].May our Lord be with you,Rocky.

Edwardjohn · Dec 23, 2009

What you have said is true about mankind, man or woman, practicing or not practicing a religion. Sin is an act and a power that we serve, and not willingly, every waking moment. We are all sinners, yes we are. But, thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ! He has freed us from the law of sin that we serve. And, we are free to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. This is a choice, and, a very, very difficult endeavour. But again, the mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ is forever. Thanks be to Him.

Bailey2 · Dec 23, 2009

“Your focus will determine your reality” Qui-Gon Gin to Anakin Skywalker
If you see only the evils of Catholics, Protestants, non-Christians… whatever…then you will not see the good. … and there is good.
Blessed and peaceful Christmas! And is you are not Christian, blessed and peaceful life.

rep140 · Dec 23, 2009

I mean in the sense of accurately representing the superior attitude that Catholics have in relationship to nonCatholics, specifically Protestants. Is that the attitude that Catholics as a whole generally have towards Non Catholics.

I can see how you can get a sense that Catholics have a feeling of superiority if you look at some of the posts and read some of the apologetics. I am a Catholic because the Church’s teaching on salvation makes sense to me and its to me its liturgy seems like the proper way to worship. So, you might say that I consider the Catholic Church superior to others. I would hope that someone who belongs to the Assembly of God, Lutheran, Anglican, Judaism, etc. would feel the same way about their tradition.

You will read a lot on this site about how the Church can never err because it is guided by the Holy Spirit. The problem is that everyone from the Pope on down is human and these people are the Church. I read somewhere that “all boats leak, but some leak less than others”. That’s how I feel about the Church.

KathleenGee · Dec 23, 2009

About Catholics going to war, be specific…there is a right to defend one’s self…if you say Catholics are killing each other, it is over nationalism…not Catholicism.

izoid · Dec 23, 2009

Is the Catholic faith superior to other faiths; yes. The Catholic Church is the only Church that was established by Jesus and passed on through the apostles. I say this because I believe it to be true and can support it through Scripture.

Now, I am not superior to anyone. I am no different than any other individual walking this earth. It would be a mistake to assume that one feels superior to another even though they believe their Church is superior to all other Churches. It is not me that makes it superior, it is Jesus.

izoid · Dec 23, 2009

Can you provide some examples of this. I am not sure I am understanding you correctly.

puzzleannie · Dec 23, 2009

no, it is an attitude certain Catholics seem to display toward other Catholics as well, and stems from the same source, pride and lack of charity, sins we all need to work on. You will find, anytime you encounter Catholics in groups, the same sins that abound in the rest of the world, but at least you will find us acknowleding our sins and failings, recognizing that they are harmful, and working on overcoming them through the grace of Christ. You will also find us asking forgiveness for them.

With specific regards to discussions on these forums, many of our members are very well-informed, some less so. Be that as it may, the general rule for internet forum discussions is that when a poster expresses an opinion or professes a belief that differs from your own, that constitutes a legitimate expression of ideas. It does not equate to a personal attack any anyone who holds a contrary position. It is wrong to interpret as personal animosity such an expression. That is the general rule. The specific rule for this, a Catholic forum, is that you should expect to find Catholic belief and practice correctly stated and defended. That also should be the stance of any non-Catholic who posts here on this specific forum about his own faith tradition.

Someone who turns such a discussion into a personal exchange needs to grow up and play by the rules.

Edwardjohn · Dec 23, 2009

“I would hope that someone who belongs to the Assembly of God, Lutheran, Anglican, Judaism, etc. would feel the same way about their tradition.”

Amen. Worship and thank the Lord Jesus in the tradition of Christianity that you are able to fully worship Him. He is worthy. Rest in Him.

1ke · Dec 23, 2009

You have not encountered people who think they are superior to others. We are all sinners, each of us is totally reliant on the grace of God.

What you have encountered is a group of people who believe that Truth exists, that it is knowable, that it is objective, and that it does not change. ** Objective truth **leads to the glaringly obvious conclusion that two opposing positions cannot both be true. Therefore, it casts discussions into a frame of reference where there is “right” and there is “wrong.”

If that is superiority in your eyes, then yes hopefully all Catholics are this way. If they are not, they have succumbed to the heresy of moral relativism-- a universe in which we can both be right when holding opposite positions. That is a universe of madness, not of the God who orders all things to his will.

Since this site is dedicated to questions/answers regarding the faith, and often takes the form of debate, certainly you see this more starkly and in a limited fashion not likely to be experienced in daily life.

The lived experience of Christian witness in daily life does not often take on a form of debate as it does here. I am a convert and have Protestants in my family, protestant friends, and I have worked in pro-life ministry with numerous protestants through the years. We don’t argue points of theology. We work together to achieve the good works Christ asks of us as his disciples. We love each other, we pray for each other, and we respect each other.

So, in short, your window into the world of Catholicism is somewhat limited by experiencing it here on this forum-- which as a specific purpose and an inherently “debate”-ish format to it.

If we both hold positions that are opposite, of course I think I am right and you are wrong. And, I would hope you think you are right and I am wrong. If you don’t passionately believe you are right, your beliefs aren’t really based on a solid foundation. That isn’t superiority. It’s just *reality *in a world where objective truth exists.

Roman_Catholic_1 · Dec 23, 2009

truereligion:

Who are you trying to convince? Us or yourself?

God bless

Roman_Catholic_1 · Dec 23, 2009

It is strange how different the usual charges are against Catholics. One person will say that Catholics have a superior attitude while another will argue that Catholics are automatons who can’t think for themselves and therefore need “someone” to tell them what to think

I had always felt in my days before conversion as an agnostic that it took a lot of humility to be Catholic (to be a Christain at all in fact).

God bless

kalt · Dec 23, 2009

I disagree with your premise.

Newbie2 · Dec 23, 2009

Wow. Do I get your post right?

Catholics’ worship is in vain because we do not obey the words of Jesus Christ?

So pretty much you’re saying that Catholics are not Christian or at the very least are “ineffectual” Christians?

In any case, to address the thread title, there is a wide variety of knowledge and education of the Catholic Church represented on this site as well as a range of “liberal” and “conservative” interpretation of her teachings. My opinion is that this site leans a bit toward the conservative side, not that’s either good nor bad.

Sonny1954 · Dec 23, 2009

AmateurPianist,

No one here can speak for all Catholics. My experience with Catholic.com is that you are probably getting a accurate view of how a narrow, conserative wing of Catholics view non-Catholics. Catholics and Catholic thought and practice, however, are not uniform, i.e. we don’t all “spiritually look alike.”

No doubt you do sense a feeling of superiority by some of posters here toward Protestants, particularly. Moderate and progressive Catholics feel that same “heat” on this forum.

To answer your question specfically,** NO**, this forum does not represent the attitude of a cross-section of practicing Catholics toward any one of a number of subjects, particularly political and social issues. To ascertain that, I suggest you try one of the Catholic discussion sites on the internet.

Thank you, AmateurPianist, for your thoughtful question.

schaick · Dec 23, 2009

Actually it was passed on to Martin Luther too who was wrongly accussed for simply asking questions about some horrible man-made traditions that had crept into the church.

There is where we fail, where it could be our undoing-no one Christian denomination is superior over another, we just celebrate our same faith in Jesus differently.

Ultimately all of our churches are founded on Jesus:

1 Corinthians 3
11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 10
4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Matthew 21
42Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
" ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

There is a battle brewing and we must stick together.

Do Catholics on this site accurately represent Catholicism

AmateurPianist

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truereligion

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FightingFat

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wardrandolph

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rep140

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izoid

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