Issues with Trusting Non-Catholics

[RC_Sojourner]

I feel like I should be posting in faith and finances, but I don’t really think I can bring myself to yet, and this is very indicative of the situation I’m in.

Basically, I don’t trust anyone who works in anything that deals with finances. I’m in college, and I should talk to people about financial aid and loans soon. But, I’m utterly convinced that I can’t trust any of those people as far as I can throw them. So, I’ve refused to talk to them out of principle.

That principle, is basically that, if someone isn’t a practicing Catholic, then its impossible for them to have my best interest at heart. Namely, my best interest is my eternal salvation. And, if you’re not a practicing Catholic, then how could you have my best interest at heart? They just want to take my money, or treat me like a customer.

If they don’t understand the Catholic Church’s teaching on human dignity, then how can they FULLY respect my human dignity? How?

But, this is my quandary. I hate having to talk to anyone who is a secularist about my life. Why should I go to these people for advice about my life?

How can you trust someone who is neither Catholic clergy, or a practicing Catholic?

Would it be wrong to go in to a financial aid office, go to the front desk, and ask them, “do you have any practicing Catholics I can talk to?”

Because that’s exactly what I have mind to do.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

But, this is my quandary. I hate having to talk to anyone who is a secularist about my life. Why should I go to these people for advice about my life?

How can you trust someone who is neither Catholic clergy, or a practicing Catholic?

Would it be wrong to go in to a financial aid office, go to the front desk, and ask them, “do you have any practicing Catholics I can talk to?”

This is exactly how I feel. I don’t trust secular people easily anymore because I understand their ideologies are based on moral relativism.

However, there are practicing Catholics out there who will disappoint you, and there are non Catholics who will not. I believe there are decent people out there regardless of their beliefs, who just want to do their best. I always have to remind myself of this when I start to wonder if a person is trustworthy. We should give people a chance first, even though we might always prefer to deal with those who share our beliefs.

I wouldn’t seek advice from a secularist about personal problems such as a marital crisis for example ,but I would be open to getting financial advice from a non Catholic. I don’t know, it money is not such a personal thing for me and it doesn’t bother me.

 

[ClearWater]

I’d recommend you talk to financial aid, banks, or whomever. If you don’t like their answers, just go to other people, get a second, or even third, opinion. You’re right. You need to start exploring options.

Keep in mind that just because a person calls himself “Catholic” doesn’t mean a lot. Did you realize that professional crooks have been known to masquerade as your faith, because some realize that you will trust them more, automatically? Some aren’t even of your faith but will use that information to get you to lower your guard and trust, when they are only going to trick you…use fraud?

So, the moral of the story is not to be too free with** ANYBODY**!

 

[Iron_Donkey]

The key is to remember at all times that most people are basically people of good will and doing the best with what they have - even those who support evil things. The amount of knowledge and understanding that a person has of the world will effect what they do, but there is so much nonsense around that there is no guarantee that any given person will learn what is true and what is not.

Any given person will have a certain mental ability (that may grow) to sort through truth and lies, and any given person will be presented with different amounts of truth explained in varying degrees and different amounts of falsehood, presented in more or less to seem like truth. A person may very well honestly seek the truth, but have yet to acquire the information needed (given their own reasoning capacity) to see what it is, while being held back by lies and misunderstandings.

So there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to equate “wishes the best for you” to “is a practicing Catholic.”

The key then is to assume that most people are aiming for what they think is good. Trust that. But always evaluate the “good” that they are aiming for, and see if it is in fact good and something that you should be aiming for, and seek their advice accordingly.

So the secular financial adviser for a school has that position (most likely) because he honestly wants to help people pay their way through college. And he has experience doing so. So trusting him to help you with that aim is prudent, because his goal (paying for college) is good, and he is seeking it.

But you probably wouldn’t turn to him for advice on whether or not to go out and get drunk (at least unless you get to know him more than a random student is likely to), because there his goal may very well not be what it should be, and while he may still think that what he would recommend is what is good, there is no particular reason to assume that he’s right.

Or in short: most people are seeking some sort of thing they think is good in ever situation. Find out what it is, and if it is in fact good, then seek their advice on it trusting that it is designed to seek whatever purpose they hold. And if it isn’t good, don’t.

And of course, there are people who are not of good will, but being Catholic doesn’t particularly exclude one from that category, nor does being non-Catholic make it particularly more likely to be in it. My advice is to assume people are generally trying to do what they think is right (even if they’re dead wrong about what this is) until proven otherwise.

 

[RC_Sojourner]

So, the moral of the story is not to be too free with** ANYBODY**!

Even with priests? Isn’t it a sin to withhold information from a priest?

Your story and its moral is invalid.

We as Catholics need to be entirely free or open with priests. Absolute openness with them.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

Even with priests? Isn’t it a sin to withhold information from a priest?

Your story and its moral is invalid.

We as Catholics need to be entirely free or open with priests. Absolute openness with them.

No it is not a sin to withhold information from a priest. It IS a sin to purposefully refrain from mentioning a grave sin in confession, but if a priest asks you for your bank account number, for example, you need not give it to him.

That said, yes there are people who we can and should generally trust. But no one, simply by virtue of office, vocation, position, title, or affiliation, is entitled to all our trust on all matters.

 

[agnes_therese]

But, this is my quandary. I hate having to talk to anyone who is a secularist about my life. Why should I go to these people for advice about my life?

How can you trust someone who is neither Catholic clergy, or a practicing Catholic?

Would it be wrong to go in to a financial aid office, go to the front desk, and ask them, “do you have any practicing Catholics I can talk to?”

Because that’s exactly what I have mind to do.

And how do you know that, just because someone self-identifies as Catholic, they will have your best interests at heart? Catholics are sinners like everyone else.

I foresee a lot of problems for you, throughout your entire life – both from refusing to deal with non-Catholics who could be of tremendous help to you, and from having blind trust in anyone who says “I’m Catholic.”

 

[DMC12]

First i think you are either being way too prideful or just confused, there are a lot of people from other religions who love their neighbours, who are responsible and try to do the best, that is why the Pope John Paul II had a meeting with the main representants of diverse religions, and why Pope Francis did not showed reject for the atheists.

That principle, is basically that, if someone isn’t a practicing Catholic, then its impossible for them to have my best interest at heart. Namely, my best interest is my eternal salvation. And, if you’re not a practicing Catholic, then how could you have my best interest at heart? They just want to take my money, or treat me like a customer.

“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”

they are there to help you with business, for spiritual life go to your Priest or Spiritual guide.

Remember that we must think well of others, that does not means that we should be careless, but certainly not to the point you are doing it.

not all catholics are well behaved, and not all the non-Catholics are bad people, just be smart, and go to your confessor to talk about this because i think you have some ideas is better to get ridden of.

Leia mais em: bibliacatolica.com.br/es/the-new-american-bible/luke/20/#ixzz2mTJr2DBR

 

[RC_Sojourner]

1. This isn’t some philosophical question I’m posing. Obviously I know many non-Catholic people. All I’m saying, is that it is impossible for a non-Catholic to have my best interest at heart. My best interest is eternal salvation, and the Catholic Church is the only Church whose teachings are the fulness of the truth on that.
2. I readily accept that not all Catholics can be trusted, that’s obvious. A majority of Catholics don’t even attend Mass. That’s why I used the word PRACTICING. Practicing, practicing, practicing. There, I decided I would use it as many times here, as I did in my OP: 4 times. You can all suit yourselves, but for me personally, there isn’t a person who I see in Mass that I would not trust to talk with about my finances. However, I don’t actually know any of them who work for student loans.
3. This isn’t an argument, you should not turn this on me and attack me. And call me prideful or confused. And say that I have “ideas that should be gotten rid of”.

What ideas do I have that should be gotten rid of? Do tell!

Maybe you can find some in my next post, which will be in response to that ridiculous notion that there are priests out there who want to steal from their parishioners!

 

[RC_Sojourner]

No it is not a sin to withhold information from a priest. It IS a sin to purposefully refrain from mentioning a grave sin in confession, but if a priest asks you for your bank account number, for example, you need not give it to him.

That said, yes there are people who we can and should generally trust. But no one, simply by virtue of office, vocation, position, title, or affiliation, is entitled to all our trust on all matters.

1. I think your example of asking for a bank account number is ridiculous. Firstly, it seems you’re inferring that the priest would ask for it out of the blue. I’m sure, that in actual life, if a priest actually did ask you for your bank account number, then it would be because you’ve discussed something financial with him. IE: financial cooperation with him over something, which would then cause him to ask you for your bank account number.
2. I hope you’re not insinuating that if a priest had your bank account number he would steal your money. Even if you’re not, what else am I supposed to take away BUT that insinuation? What other reason would you not give a priest your bank account number for?
3. Speaking personally, I can’t imagine a scenario in which a priest asked me for my bank account number, that I wouldn’t give it to him. I can’t imagine a reason to not give him that information, if he asked me for it. [assuming he still had free will, IE: a gun wasn’t placed to his head, or he was a hostage…]

There’s a difference between saying you should generally trust someone, and you should absolutely trust someone. Do you absolutely trust the Pope? Because I do.
I absolutely trust my Bishop, and my priest. Why shouldn’t I?

And for the record, any reason you could possibly give won’t take away the absolute trust that I have in them. It will not.

 

[RC_Sojourner]

On an unrelated note, which I will probably make into a thread:

Why have a Catholic forum, if everyone tells you to talk to a priest all the time?

 

[Granum_Frumenti]

That principle, is basically that, if someone isn’t a practicing Catholic, then its impossible for them to have my best interest at heart. Namely, my best interest is my eternal salvation. And, if you’re not a practicing Catholic, then how could you have my best interest at heart? They just want to take my money, or treat me like a customer.

Here’s another way of looking at the question: what is your stance on having, for instance, a doctor or a lawyer who’s not a practicing Catholic?

 

[RC_Sojourner]

Here’s another way of looking at the question: what is your stance on having, for instance, a doctor or a lawyer who’s not a practicing Catholic?

I’m in relatively well health, and outside of legal troubles.

However, I’m sure I’ve had doctors who are not Catholics. And, I’m sure I wouldn’t object (no pun intended) to having a non-Catholic lawyer.

But, people that offer loans is different. They are in a position where they can easily rob me of thousands of dollars all by moving a decimal point. IF they tack on 0.1% more interest than is the normal policy, that could result in me paying thousands of dollars.

So, I suppose I am specifically talking about people that deal with my finances. And, obviously my spiritual life.

If someone isn’t Catholic, then let me be utterly deaf to what they have to say on issues of spirituality. I have no hesitations saying that. They’ll lead me into heresy!

 

[Granum_Frumenti]

Basically, I don’t trust anyone who works in anything that deals with finances. I’m in college, and I should talk to people about financial aid and loans soon. But, I’m utterly convinced that I can’t trust any of those people as far as I can throw them. So, I’ve refused to talk to them out of principle.

[SNIP]

Would it be wrong to go in to a financial aid office, go to the front desk, and ask them, “do you have any practicing Catholics I can talk to?”

Because that’s exactly what I have mind to do.

So, concerning your situation–

There’s a difference between saying you should generally trust someone, and you should absolutely trust someone. Do you absolutely trust the Pope? Because I do.
I absolutely trust my Bishop, and my priest. Why shouldn’t I?

Have you asked your priest (or even someone higher) for his (if you’ve asked multiple clergymen, their) counsel about your finances? [Edited to clarify: I’m talking about what I quoted from your original post, as where you should go for help and as in the prudence of asking such a question. I’m not talking about your financial situation itself, though maybe you’re lucky enough to have a priest with considerable financial experience.]

If so, what has he (they?) told you?

On an unrelated note, which I will probably make into a thread:

Why have a Catholic forum, if everyone tells you to talk to a priest all the time?

Not everything on this forum, at least so I’ve read, is only telling people to talk to a priest–but certainly talking to a priest has its occasional advantages.

 

[RC_Sojourner]

I don’t want to post too many details about my personal situation. I can’t remember what my priest said about student loans, I think he basically just asked where I would get money, and I told him. He didn’t come up with the idea, but he also didn’t shoot it down…

I probably need to talk to him today at some point…
[as much as I made this account for advice from people here, and what I just said about always going to a priest].

I haven’t made these trust issues known to him, as this particular subject isn’t what we mainly talk about, by any stretch…

 

[Granum_Frumenti]

I probably need to talk to him today at some point…
[as much as I made this account for advice from people here, and what I just said about always going to a priest].

I haven’t made these trust issues known to him, as this particular subject isn’t what we mainly talk about, by any stretch…

Talking to him sounds like a good plan, especially in terms of letting him know about these trust issues.

I (and others) am not at all trying to dissuade you from posting on this forum; speaking to a live person (let alone speaking to a priest) simply has a bit of a different flow to it. Each kind of communication has its place.

Ordina, Deus meus, statum meum et quod a me requiris, ut faciam, tribue ut sciam; et da exsequi sicut oportet et expedit animae meae. / O my God, order my life, and grant that I may know what Thou wilt have me to do; and grant that I may fulfill it as is fitting and profitable to my soul.
–from a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas