Have you even been ridiculed for your beliefs?

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oldschoolcath23

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My freshman and sophomore years of high school I attended a “Catholic” high school (I use the term Catholic very loosely). One day I was getting ready for P.E. class when another kid saw that I was wearing a scapular. He asked me what it was (he’d never heard of it!) and why I wore it. When I told him about Our Lady’s scapular promise, he busted out laughing along with a few other kids listening to the conversation. They made fun of me and treated me like a nerd 🤓 saying that I wearing two pieces of cloth on a string isn’t going to get me into heaven, if there even is one. I was wondering if anyone else has been ridiculed for practicing the Catholic faith either by other Catholics or by Protestants, atheists, etc.
 
Oh, yes, and usually from those who I would expect to share them.

Sad, but true.
 
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oldschoolcath23:
I was wondering if anyone else has been ridiculed for practicing the Catholic faith either by other Catholics or by Protestants, atheists, etc.
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well, I’m not Catholic, but I was ridiculed for my faith when I was younger. We live in a generation where the claims of Christianity are not well respected.

ken
 
Although I have not personally, directly been attacked or ridiculed, some of my family members have been…at the hands of other family members, regrettably.
 
Yes, but on the other hand, I have also had surprising affirmations from complete strangers, non-Catholics, and even one professed athiest. There are all kinds in the world. Pray for those who ridicule you and consider it your own cross to bear. Your calm commitment to your faith and its practices is a powerful witness; even if you never see any evidence of it yourself.
 
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oldschoolcath23:
My freshman and sophomore years of high school I attended a “Catholic” high school (I use the term Catholic very loosely). One day I was getting ready for P.E. class when another kid saw that I was wearing a scapular. He asked me what it was (he’d never heard of it!) and why I wore it. When I told him about Our Lady’s scapular promise, he busted out laughing along with a few other kids listening to the conversation. They made fun of me and treated me like a nerd 🤓 saying that I wearing two pieces of cloth on a string isn’t going to get me into heaven, if there even is one. I was wondering if anyone else has been ridiculed for practicing the Catholic faith either by other Catholics or by Protestants, atheists, etc.
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My former doctor saw my scapular and said “I haven’t seen one of those since my aunt Josephine and it didn’t do her any good!” I said “Well, you don’t really know that, now do you?”

I’ve been ridiculed by another doctor because I don’t practice birth control. I’ve also since switched from that one as well.

My parents are both die-hard athiests so you can only imagine. My mother is at least respectful (she was raised in the Church) while my father is antagonistic (he comes from a long line of athiests who commonly refer to Catholics as Papists).

So, hang in there. Jesus said that you would be ridiculed inhis name.
 
I’ve mostly been subjected to the roll the eyes type thing :rolleyes: I have often wondered if some people’s actions were motivated by such sentiment.
What really surprises me is how some non-Catholics will go out of their way to accomodate me. I went on a trip with some friends one of which is an athiest and the other holds some very strange new-age type beliefs, neither of which has a great love for the Catholic Church, and they went out of their way to help me find masses to attend. They were not put out at all at me interupting their vacation for mass.
 
… an ex- called me a “prude” because I wouldn’t have sex with her…

-C
 
I have 5 kids in a world that says two is enough, contraception is recommended, and sterilization is just fine and dandy.

My kids are much more important to me than the emotional sting of a little ridicule. But I used to be in their camp, so I can empathize with how their mind was formed.

As an aside, the Scapular in itself actually won’t get you to heaven. There is an implicit requirement that one who wears the Scapular live a Christian life. It will bring you graces and be a great reminder, but is not a magic piece of cloth. However, it sounds like they were ridiculing Our Lady’s promise and questioning the very existence of heaven. :tsktsk:
 
Yes–the very worst instance was in the immediate aftermath of a confirmation of miscarriage (there’d been a brief moment of hope that despite the bleeding I had managed to hold onto the pregnancy–that was dashed following an u/s). I had a nurse practitioner tell me “you really should consider a more reliable form of birth control, because you cannot count on miscarriages” :eek: Mind you, at the time, I only had Andrew as a living child (he was then almost 4–the miscarriage happened over the 4th of July weekend and I was 6-1/2 weeks along). Small wonder that as soon as we got the go-ahead from the dr that we went and deliberately conceived again. Fortunately, we had happier results that time (we call him Peter, and he’s now 6).

My husband has also been fired from a job because he told a fundamentalist co-worker that he didn’t appreciate the conversion attempts and to please stick to the work they were supposed to be doing. As the one boss was part of the same church, that didn’t go over too well, though their official reason was “doesn’t get along with co-workers” (well, he gets on just fine with them if they’re not trying to get him to leave the Church).
 
John 15:18-21
18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me.
 
Have I even been ridiculed for my beliefs?

NEVER! 😃

Of course. Most of the ridicule I hear is from ex-Catholics and progressive Catholics, strangely enough. :rolleyes:
 
I have been told on a numer of occasions that I was going to Hell from my fundamentalist Baptist Mother Inlaw for being Catholic - and I had to say the sinners prayer and ask Jesus into my heart and then I would be saved!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
How could Catholics living in the US today with all of our equality and anti-discrimination laws suffer any discrimination? It must be in you mind only!

OK, back to reality. If your a Catholic and get out in public you’ve been discriminated against or a target of bigotry. It’s just the protestant/secular nation we live in.

The good news. Jesus was persecuted too and suffered for it. We’re in good company!:love:

Stay Catholic, stay persecuted, endure till the end. You will receive a reward.🙂
 
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Melissa:
My husband has also been fired from a job because he told a fundamentalist co-worker that he didn’t appreciate the conversion attempts and to please stick to the work they were supposed to be doing. As the one boss was part of the same church, that didn’t go over too well, though their official reason was “doesn’t get along with co-workers” (well, he gets on just fine with them if they’re not trying to get him to leave the Church).
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Seems to me he has a valid legal action here. Have you tried consulting a lawyer on this?
–Ann
 
“you really should consider a more reliable form of birth control, because you cannot count on miscarriages”
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Egad!

I think I would have very likely lost my “Christian witness” at that particular point in time!

What the heck was she thinking?
 
I get ridiculed by my brother all the time. My brother and I have a pretty decent relationship, but he really irks me with all the “Jesus” comments. This is a guy who hasn’t gone to confession in his entire adult or teenage years, but those rare occasions he enters a church, he’ll trot right on up for Communion. Then when I say something to him, he looks at me like I’m the nutty one.

We always vacation at the shore at the same hotel, his family and mine. Just last month, we were checking in and the owner, who knows me, remarked that I looked really well (change of hair color, LOL, dropped a few pounds) and my brother says, “It must be because she found Jesus.” Rather than cause a scene, I kicked him in the ankle–really hard (which the owner couldn’t see because she was behind the counter). That brought back childhood memories.

JELane
 
Sure. There always seems to someone who wishes to volunteer their opinion that the church teachings on contraception are lunacy and only promote unwanted children and STD’s.

Don’t you know what causes that… I have heard ad nauseam (I have five children). :eek: And one fellow (a catholic) informed me that I was being environmentally irresponsible to have that many kids! They don’t seem to know the fun they are missing 👍
 
Ive taken my share of flack from Fundamentalists as well. Most other people I can handle, but there’s just something about those fundies that gets my blood boiling! In fact, its ridicule from them that drove me to find this website and eventually join the forums.

One thing that I’m learning is that riducule and challenges to the faith can be a blessing in disguise. I know more about the Church and her teachings now than ever because of people like them. I have a Fundamentalist co-worker who put me in his prayer book, so that I might “declare Jesus as my own personal savior” and be “truly saved.” Ironically the opposite happened, all his prayers did was make me a stronger Catholic, which I can thank him for in part. 😛
 
I can’t recall ever being ridiculed for my Catholicism, but I have some marginal friends who think it’s perfectly right and proper to tell the most blistering sacreligious jokes I’ve ever heard at parties. I usually just walk out of the room without saying anything when they start, but somehow I’m always the bad guy–the intolerant one. :rolleyes:
 
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