How to deal with Fundamentalists?

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ChristisRisen32

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Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
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Personally, I wouldn’t bother to go on any of those types of forums. You won’t get any kind of backup in your beliefs, you will just get swarmed. If you stay on this forum (non Catholic religions threads, etc) you have plenty of other Christians (many of them fundamentalists) to debate with, and you will have some backup! Just my thoughts.
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
Click to expand...
They do not consider Catholics as Christians, and that was from their moderators/forum administrators. At least that’s what they told me. 😦
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
Click to expand...
Like another post said stay away from those forums an stay with us here on Catholic answers at least we will always back you up and I am so glad to hear that a teenager has a serious commitment to his Catholic faith.
 
To handle a situation like this, I would pray before you send a comment and when you receive one that makes your blood boil. There are times you need to step up and others, your best bet is to keep quiet. In forums such as those, discernment is the key. I would also suggest that you also participate in forums that will help you grow in your faith.

Hope it helps,
SG
 
I’ve been in your shoes before… mentally/spiritually/logically, you probably are the more “adult” person in the conversation. Unfortunately, short of the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit (which is possible, but not likely given the hard-headedness and hard-heartedness of people on those types of forum), you will NOT succeed in getting them to understand anything. Primarily, they don’t WANT to understand. They are content with their made-up lies about Catholics, and to even entertain rational explanation would poke holes through their arguments favoring their particular interpretation of Christianity. They may see your logic, but they won’t admit it… their faith - or at least their argument against yours - depends on you being wrong and their slander being right. Ergo, their lies are untouchable. sigh I hate to say it, but the others are right… just walk away. Hold your head up knowing that you’re with Christ in HIS Church, and you can do for these people the one thing they need more than any sound reasoning - PRAY.

For what it’s worth - when I was a teenager, I used to have epic debates with the fundamentalist minister across the street (my friends went to church there, so I was seen as a threat to their young minds). We didn’t, or rather, couldn’t speak to one another for a number of years due to the arguments. However, I rather enjoy having coffee with the man these days because we’ve finally agreed we’re never going to convince the other of who’s right and who’s wrong. We’ve both matured quite a bit, especially me… and although it may be a hint of pride talking, I do think he’s learned something truthful about Catholicism from me 😉
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
Click to expand...
Pray for them and love them. That’s all you can do. Trust me on that - I used to be one of them but I had a special someone in my life that prayed for me and loved me. Then when I converted myself he married me…now I tell him “It’s not fair, you always win!”

Seriously though, people who believe that have their fingers in their ears and drown out all other sounds that get through that by screaming their erroneous conclusions. Bickering with them will only agitate you and wear you out. And again, I say that only because I was one of them.
 
Prodigal_Son1 said:
They do not consider Catholics as Christians, and that was from their moderators/forum administrators. At least that’s what they told me. 😦
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Yeah, and unfortunately their moderators are very unfair to Catholics. I have had multiple warnings for silly things like “not linking to an official Catholic site” when I gave them an article to read. Ugh 😦 I pray for them.

Pax Christi,
Tony
 
Cor_ad_Cor said:
I’ve been in your shoes before… mentally/spiritually/logically, you probably are the more “adult” person in the conversation. Unfortunately, short of the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit (which is possible, but not likely given the hard-headedness and hard-heartedness of people on those types of forum), you will NOT succeed in getting them to understand anything. Primarily, they don’t WANT to understand. They are content with their made-up lies about Catholics, and to even entertain rational explanation would poke holes through their arguments favoring their particular interpretation of Christianity. They may see your logic, but they won’t admit it… their faith - or at least their argument against yours - depends on you being wrong and their slander being right. Ergo, their lies are untouchable. sigh I hate to say it, but the others are right… just walk away. Hold your head up knowing that you’re with Christ in HIS Church, and you can do for these people the one thing they need more than any sound reasoning - PRAY.

For what it’s worth - when I was a teenager, I used to have epic debates with the fundamentalist minister across the street (my friends went to church there, so I was seen as a threat to their young minds). We didn’t, or rather, couldn’t speak to one another for a number of years due to the arguments. However, I rather enjoy having coffee with the man these days because we’ve finally agreed we’re never going to convince the other of who’s right and who’s wrong. We’ve both matured quite a bit, especially me… and although it may be a hint of pride talking, I do think he’s learned something truthful about Catholicism from me 😉
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I’m glad you understand my situation. I’ve had some pretty awesome debates with fundamentalists at my school. One thing I’ve gotten better at though is learning it’s not about winning an argument, but proclaiming the Gospel through actions! 🙂

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
Pray for them and love them. That’s all you can do. Trust me on that - I used to be one of them but I had a special someone in my life that prayed for me and loved me. Then when I converted myself he married me…now I tell him “It’s not fair, you always win!”

Seriously though, people who believe that have their fingers in their ears and drown out all other sounds that get through that by screaming their erroneous conclusions. Bickering with them will only agitate you and wear you out. And again, I say that only because I was one of them.
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Thank you for the response. I’m hoping Jesus will grant them to grace to understand, just as He did with you 🙂

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
 
I don’t believe there is a verse in the bible that actually states that you should pray to Mary.Therefore since that what fundamentalists want to hear you will have a hard time explaining your point of view unless your very scholarly and have a real knowledge of scriptures.
 
I agree that there is no point in going to these forums.

I used to believe Catholics were in darkness and I used to pray, even cry for Catholic souls. Yes indeed. 😛

And I’ve said this before, but in the same way that some non-Catholics who regularly visit this forum eventually “cross over”, do not underestimate the power of indoctrination. Soon you might start doubting your own beliefs.

It is better to be an example in real life and maybe share your faith with one or two people whom you know.
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
I’m glad you understand my situation. I’ve had some pretty awesome debates with fundamentalists at my school. One thing I’ve gotten better at though is learning it’s not about winning an argument, but proclaiming the Gospel through actions! 🙂

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
Click to expand...
This is a very wise statement! Like St. Francis said, “Preach the Gospel unceasingly, and if necessary use words.”
 
You can not reason with anyone, or evangelize them, if they are not willing to listen.

You may feel good about going to those kinds of web sites, but in effect you are spinning your wheels.

I grew up in one of those churches. My maternal grandfather was a Minister for 55 years. i was taught in his Sunday School that the Pope was literally the Devil Incarnate on Earth.

There is absolutely NOTHING that you can say that will shake these people. The only thing that actually works is example. That’s what converted me. Not the words, not the Catechism, not the Mass or prayers or anything like that.

It was the fact that the very young Nun that was teaching my 4th grade class was the first person that was directly connected to religion that seemed to really be happy. How could that be, if she was a “Bride of the Devil”? She would be spreading hatred, and work against the teachings of Jesus, not promoting those teachings.

It was her sunny disposition, and the love and respect that I received from ALL of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose at the Albertinum in Ukiah, California in 1953 that converted me. May God accept the soul of Sister Renilda Cade into Heaven!

I am, to this day, the ONLY Catholic in my family. Most of them believe that I am doing the devils work. There is simply no way to reason with these people, because they are not reasoning at all, they are emotional Christians.
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
Pray for them and love them. That’s all you can do. Trust me on that - I used to be one of them but I had a special someone in my life that prayed for me and loved me. Then when I converted myself he married me…now I tell him “It’s not fair, you always win!”

Seriously though, people who believe that have their fingers in their ears and drown out all other sounds that get through that by screaming their erroneous conclusions. Bickering with them will only agitate you and wear you out. And again, I say that only because I was one of them.
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What great advice, and a lovely story! Congratulations on your conversion and your wedding. God bless you!
 
TrueLight said:
I agree that there is no point in going to these forums.

I used to believe Catholics were in darkness and I used to pray, even cry for Catholic souls. Yes indeed. 😛

And I’ve said this before, but in the same way that some non-Catholics who regularly visit this forum eventually “cross over”, do not underestimate the power of indoctrination. Soon you might start doubting your own beliefs.

It is better to be an example in real life and maybe share your faith with one or two people whom you know.
Click to expand...
Yeah, there’s a saying that my wife likes to remind me of that I think is very wise advice for situations like this: “They won’t care what you know till they know that you care.” And the people on CARM don’t even to know whether you care or not. It’s incredibly hard to offer any kind of loving, Christian example when all you have are a few feeble words under a hailstorm of angry, anti-Catholic attacks…
The_Old_Medic said:
You can not reason with anyone, or evangelize them, if they are not willing to listen.

You may feel good about going to those kinds of web sites, but in effect you are spinning your wheels.

I grew up in one of those churches. My maternal grandfather was a Minister for 55 years. i was taught in his Sunday School that the Pope was literally the Devil Incarnate on Earth.

There is absolutely NOTHING that you can say that will shake these people. The only thing that actually works is example. That’s what converted me. Not the words, not the Catechism, not the Mass or prayers or anything like that.

It was the fact that the very young Nun that was teaching my 4th grade class was the first person that was directly connected to religion that seemed to really be happy. How could that be, if she was a “Bride of the Devil”? She would be spreading hatred, and work against the teachings of Jesus, not promoting those teachings.

It was her sunny disposition, and the love and respect that I received from ALL of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose at the Albertinum in Ukiah, California in 1953 that converted me. May God accept the soul of Sister Renilda Cade into Heaven!

I am, to this day, the ONLY Catholic in my family. Most of them believe that I am doing the devils work. There is simply no way to reason with these people, because they are not reasoning at all, they are emotional Christians.
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Amen. God bless and keep all those lovely nuns. 😃
 
I used to spend a lot of time reading and posting at CARM, and like the old medic said, you can’t reason with those people. By giving them further opportunity to spew their garbage, you’re only helping them become further hardened in their ways.
 
ChristisRisen32 said:
Hey guys,

So lately I’ve been on the CARM forums trying to clear up Catholic doctrine to fundamentalist Christians. These people go beyond simply denying Catholic beliefs, and to a point where they consider I’m worshiping AntiChrist/Satan/Perverted Goddess who we call Mary. I’ve tried being charitable and I’m asking solid questions yet they keep provoking me. How do I(with charity) expose their faulty logic and get them to understand the Catholic faith? I’m a teenager and these people are adults, yet it seems like I’m the older one sometimes, lol.🤷

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Tony
Click to expand...
I posted there for years, both as a Protestant and as a Catholic once I converted. You’re not going to get anywhere with those people. There are some good ones over there who are truly interested in civil dialogue, and they were the majority back in the day (2001-2003) then the Catholic board got taken over by some real bitter people. You best have one the Armor of God when you enter that arena.

Pray for them that the eyes of their hearts would be opened to the truth.
 
CARM is very problematic, someone needs to go destroy their servers or something… :knight1:
 
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