Have you encountered protestants claiming to refute you just for "concern"? how would you respond to them?

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Carlo26

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I would always encounter Protestants butting out false accusations and fallible claims against the Holy Church. But they would always support it by claiming that what they do “is for love” and for “charity” and would take effort on ending the conversations by either stating that they want God to “bless you” or to threaten one’s faith (for example, Challenging the Church on proving legitimacy at the end times. Their emotionalistic approach is decieving in a certain level. Imposing this certain “concern”. How could I effectively respond and refute them?
 
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One Protestant preacher was interested in me on another board, but then I was interested in him too. We both tried to refute each other because of “concern”.
 
Do you want to refute what they say or do you want them to leave you alone?

I personally don’t see much of a point in refuting something that someone said when it seems fairly clear that they aren’t going to listen to you but just want you to listen to them.

Sometimes I will listen to someone go on about their religion, politely nodding, and just let them talk until they are done. It just seems like the easiest thing to do. I’m not really interested in a back and forth that doesn’t involve genuine questions but just consists of talking at the other person. After they are done talking, and they see that I am still not interested they will usually go away.

If someone asks me questions about Catholicism I will answer them, but I cannot recall that ever happening.
 
Carlo26 said:
How could I effectively respond and refute them?
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I usually express my gratitude to those people. They are taking the time and effort to try to save my soul. That’s very kind of them, and I appreciate the concern they have for me.
 
Lol yes a few times. They came off more as preachy than anything. Bringing up subjects they can’t really refute like Church history, the Holy Spirit, and apostolic succession put an end to those discussions
 
Do not let this empty phrase ‘concern for you’ stop you from challenging them. Start by pointing out that the Bible was made for the Church and not the Church for the Bible, so the ‘Bible-alone’ pillar they have is but a house of cards.
 
The whole, out of concern thing, sounds emotionally manipulative. I wouldn’t continue to interact with them if I could avoid it.
 
Nothings more annoying than a Protestant that mouths off in a catholic post or video talking about how “we all need to repent” this and “Jesus is Lord” that then they just copy and paste bible passages. There’s one thing to feel like the Catholic you’re trying to ‘save’ needs to hear you out. It’s another to come off like a condescending ignoramus.
 
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I’m confused about why you think Protestants are being ‘deceptive’ when they say they’re concerned for you.

To love is to will the good of the other. Different people believe different things are good. So different people can want different things for each other, all while intending ‘the good’.

We think a Protestant would be better off if they became Catholic. A Protestant presumably thinks we’d be better off if we became Protestant. I see no reason to suggest that a Protestant lacks good will to you, and in fact reckon that’d only backfire and lose you common ground, and move the Protestant further from the truth (because they’re likely to move further away from you if you just keep insisting they have bad will).
 
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Some people are just addicted to the feeling of being right and dress it up as concern. It’s up to the individual to figure out which it is and decide to disengage or not.
 
redbetta said:
Some people are just addicted to the feeling of being right and dress it up as concern. It’s up to the individual to figure out which it is and decide to disengage or not.
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Sure, but considering this is a frequent accusation atheists level against Christians in general, I think we Christians are under an extra obligation to make the charitable assumption that someone else really means what they say and has our well-being in mind.

We’re not accountable in front of God for how cleverly we figured out who secretly hated us here on earth. We’re accountable to God for how charitable we are to others, from our very hearts and minds.

Pragmatically speaking, at the very least, no situation is popping to mind where I’d literally tell a Protestant: “You don’t really care about me! I fundamentally disbelieve you have inwardly good motives! I am going to walk away from you but it’s your fault!” We might largely disengage if conversations seem unproductive, but no need to have an actual confrontation about it. One possible downside of such a confrontation might be that, even if we’re right, being called on it might make someone too uncomfortable to later come back to us (if they have a very fragile ego and don’t know yet how to say ‘sorry’).

I reckon staying as accessible as possible to as many people as possible for as long as possible is best. So when the OP asks for advice on how to “refute” the idea that the Protestant genuinely has concern for him, that’s what I’m counselling against here. It’s just the wrong road to go down, in my opinion. At least taking their concern at face value keeps the connection open, and the Protestant might still benefit from that connection, if we entrust it into God’s hands.
 
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Carlo26 said:
How could I effectively respond and refute them?
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You can’t, really. As a non-religious person, I’ve had ‘concern’ from both Protestants and Catholics, and there have only been a couple of times I found it to be insincere or deceptive. I do think whenever I’ve been told that it’s been completely genuine, no matter how frustrating or slightly patronising I can find it.

If you’re willing to say “that’s very kind of you and I hope God blesses you too” (and mean it sincerely!), you can just go with that. If you’re not, or you feel they’re using it to ignore/dismiss what you’re saying I’d just disengage because you’re clearly looking for a different conversation than the one they want to have.
 
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I have reached a point in my life where a bit of grumpiness factors in. Any subject really, and not just religion. Some people are in the, “I will not be convinced” category. If I see the person is just being a jerk, with no intent to listen to anything, I walk away. (Does not happen often). The time we have here on this earth is limited. I figure the time I spend listening is lost, never to be regained. “They” have “taken” that time from me. I do my best to minimize that time wasted. If I can say a relevant line or two that may make them think, I do, then I go.
Dominus vobiscum
 
Carlo26 said:
How could I effectively respond and refute them?
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You can’t. You either agree to disagree or simply don’t talk about religion. I’ve heard people on the internet say that they can convince others to do virtually anything, but in the real world that almost never happens.
 
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