Forced Conversions

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mikeyrobbie

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So I’ve been going through some older threads on religious freedom debates and stuff and there seems to be a minority of posters here who think Catholicism should be the only legal faith allowed today…

So let’s here some thoughts… I mean I do believe that this is the one holy Apostolic Church… But I believe in freedom of religion for all of course…

Does anyone here feel that people of other faiths be forced to join the Catholic Church?

I’m not trying to pick a fight I’m just curious.
 
A forced conversion is not a conversion at all. It entails no true belief.
 
If a country or state is officially Catholic - that is, if the Catholic faith is the “state religion” - then there would be no problem with recognizing it as such, and with certain legal restrictions on the rights of others (such as, for example, mixed marriages.) Such a country would also be well within its rights to propagate its faith by legitimate means - by which I mean the usual process of evangelization. In this sense, given such a setting, it would be right to talk of the Catholic faith as “the only legal one”.

Reality these days is much more complex. Even those countries that were historically Catholic have now been “secularized”, and other countries tilt more towards Protestantism.
In addition, many “newer” Catholics live in countries where the majority of people belong to a totally different “religion”, or where the government places restrictions on religious practice.

Given this, preaching and missionary activity are always legitimate, even if there is “official” opposition from such governments. But in any circumstance, “forced” conversions - by which I assume you mean the use of coercion or force - are not legitimate. If full and free consent is required in Matrimony, how much more so would it be required in a conversion to the true Religion?
 
mikeyrobbie said:
there seems to be a minority of posters here who think Catholicism should be the only legal faith allowed today…
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I’m sorry. Where, exactly, have you found anyone here taking the position that any religion besides Catholicism should be declared illegal? And which country’s legal system have they referenced? The United States? Spain? Japan? Belize? Kenya?

Unless you can show evidence of more than, say, ten people advocating this position, all you’ve done is create an enormous straw man.
 
mikeyrobbie said:
So I’ve been going through some older threads on religious freedom debates and stuff and there seems to be a minority of posters here who think Catholicism should be the only legal faith allowed today…

So let’s here some thoughts… I mean I do believe that this is the one holy Apostolic Church… But I believe in freedom of religion for all of course…

Does anyone here feel that people of other faiths be forced to join the Catholic Church?

I’m not trying to pick a fight I’m just curious.
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On the flip side I know of and have seen Protestants converting wives first, children and then husbands.
 
Crdl2Grv said:
I’m sorry. Where, exactly, have you found anyone here taking the position that any religion besides Catholicism should be declared illegal? And which country’s legal system have they referenced? The United States? Spain? Japan? Belize? Kenya?

Unless you can show evidence of more than, say, ten people advocating this position, all you’ve done is create an enormous straw man.
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Yeah, that was my first thought, too. Who are these people that you (OP) claim believe that the Catholic faith should be the only religion ‘legally’ allowed? I know I haven’t been on the forum for a long period of time, but I don’t think I have ever seen anyone post anything that would even suggest such a thing. God doesn’t want us to be forced to worship Him in any particular way. That flies in the face of His giving us free will in the first place. If we weren’t allowed to choose which religion we want to practice, then what would be the point in having ***faith ***in God, at all? You really can’t force people to believe anything. 🤷
 
There’s some nuts over in the traditionalist thread that consider freedom of religion ****/// :eek:
 
mikeyrobbie said:
So I’ve been going through some older threads on religious freedom debates and stuff and there seems to be a minority of posters here who think Catholicism should be the only legal faith allowed today…

So let’s here some thoughts… I mean I do believe that this is the one holy Apostolic Church… But I believe in freedom of religion for all of course…

Does anyone here feel that people of other faiths be forced to join the Catholic Church?

I’m not trying to pick a fight I’m just curious.
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Of course not. I do not recall anywhere in the NT Jesus forcing people to believe Him.
 
According to many on this forum, it is not possible to leave Catholicism once you’ve been baptised Catholic or taken into the Catholic Church by conversion. What would be the status of people who were converted by force, or fraud, or threat of loss? These things have certainly happened in the past, for example in Croatia during World War Two. If their consent at the time of conversion was lacking, can they present a case to a tribunal and have it declared null?
 
CompSciGuy said:
This is one of the reasons I never go to the traditionalist forum…
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I tend to be very ‘Traditionalist’ in my beliefs about Catholicism, so I can sympathize with many of those that think the Church moved a little too far away from many of the traditional practices after Vat II, but even I avoid that section like the plague. Some of those sedevacantist types scare the hell out of me (and they really get my dander up)! It’s better for my BP to avoid it, completely. :bigyikes:
 
Forced conversions to any religion are pointless because the rituals and the prayers mean nothing unless done from faith. IN any case, it is forbidden in most religions to forcibly convert someone.

@masuwerte: Yeah, I’d be interested to hear this answer also. I’d also love to hear of an answer to the case of Edgardo Mortara, a boy born into a Jewish family who was forcibly removed from his family because a Catholic servant who cared for him baptized him when he fell ill and she feared he would die and go to hell. He likely never consented or understood the baptism at the time.
 
CompSciGuy said:
This is one of the reasons I never go to the traditionalist forum…
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I know, they love and uphold the Truth once known to Catholics. the CC is the only Church to rule all nations. she should be the one to which all nations should abide by. if any wants to be part of other belief that is fine, we dont force them. but the CC is the one Church that should rule over all. it is the Kingdom of God on earth, why dont you want His Kingdom to rule over all men? dont you believe that there is only one truth? dont you want all to come to know the Truth? It is the souls of man that we need to be concerned and not with the flesh.
 
I agree with wisdomseeker. The world would be a lot better if the Catholic Church was in charge. People definitely can’t be forced to convert but this increasingly secular world is scary.
 
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