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Texsain
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If you speak of someone being “anti-catholic” what do you mean by that?
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MSSheBear
Guest
I say someone is anti-Catholic when they deny Catholics are Christians or that we believe we work our way into Heaven. It is particularly annoying when the offender is staring at a known Catholic and saying things like, “Catholics bow down to Mary during Mass. Catholics aren’t allowed to read the Bible.”
I don’t know how many times I have heard the one about the Church not allowing the Bible to be translated because the Church didn’t want the ordinary people reading it. :banghead:
I don’t know how many times I have heard the one about the Church not allowing the Bible to be translated because the Church didn’t want the ordinary people reading it. :banghead:
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Texsain
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Ironically, this claim is most often made by KJV only types, who are much more restrictive with what Bibles to and not to read than the Catholic Church ever has been.
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donna369
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most of the people i know are not catholic; they’re not anti-catholic either. most believe in God and some go to church. it seems a trend possibly that many people are choosing to go to non-denominational or christian churches. i only know a couple of people who are total non-believers; one of which is my fiance. his ideas are mix of ancient “bhudda-ish” thinking and some other bits and pieces of things that have influenced his life. he believes in something called the “Great Game” where apparently God entertains Himself possilby by tearing himself up into billions of peices resulting in Him being a part of all thiings and then starts putting Himself together again life a puzzle. when He gets done that is the end of an age.
i have known some people that called themselves “cathollic surviviors”, apparently very unhappy with their catholic upbringing. it seems most people who label themselves this way are also homosexual or have some possible mild mental problems ie - depression. these people are truly anti-catholic to me. they are actively against the teachings of the bible and seem to think that catholicism is evil.
so there are many degrees of anti-catholics from the mild types that simply don’t except the catholic bible or organized religion to the haters who actively discuss catholicism as bad to the all out bashers who think all religion is wrong.
i have known some people that called themselves “cathollic surviviors”, apparently very unhappy with their catholic upbringing. it seems most people who label themselves this way are also homosexual or have some possible mild mental problems ie - depression. these people are truly anti-catholic to me. they are actively against the teachings of the bible and seem to think that catholicism is evil.
so there are many degrees of anti-catholics from the mild types that simply don’t except the catholic bible or organized religion to the haters who actively discuss catholicism as bad to the all out bashers who think all religion is wrong.
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Della
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Going by your poll, Texsain, I chose your 2nd option. People can teach against the Church, thinking they understand Church teaching, and yet be actually ignorant of what the Church truly teaches. Most of these have a distorted idea about Church teaching and are fueled by bias and/or fear. So, they are not as culpable as those who actively work against the Church.
Even these latter folks are most often doing it out of ignorance, bias (generally learned, not earned), and irrational fear. Still, they are acting against the faith, and so they too are anti-Catholics. Their level of culpability before God is another question entirely.
Those who left the Church and are now vocal in their hatred of it are usually wounded in some way, as donna369 cited. All these people need our prayers because hatred is not of God and does much harm to those caught up in it.
Even these latter folks are most often doing it out of ignorance, bias (generally learned, not earned), and irrational fear. Still, they are acting against the faith, and so they too are anti-Catholics. Their level of culpability before God is another question entirely.
Those who left the Church and are now vocal in their hatred of it are usually wounded in some way, as donna369 cited. All these people need our prayers because hatred is not of God and does much harm to those caught up in it.
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Corki
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Voted “other” because it wouldn’t let me choose both the first and second option.
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xixxvmcm85
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I reserve “anti-” for those who have an obvious disdain for the people who bear the title of the group, which is why I grow mildly upset when I see certain individuals abuse the term to mean “those who disagree with me, even strongly, and who may or may not inaccurately describe my beliefs”. It’s not surprising to me in the least that those who tend to conflate anti-Catholicism with mere disagreement with the Church are usually those with some of the biggest persecution complexes I’ve yet to come across.
“Judaism is a filthy religion that teaches awful doctrines” is a pretty crass, though not anti-Semitic thing to say.
“Jews are a perfidious people hell bent on taking over the world!” is anti-Semitic.
“The Catholic Church is anti-Womyn and hates gays” is a pretty ignorant thing to say, worthy of a good eye-roll, but falls just short of truly being anti-Catholic.
“Catholics in America are mindless drones, loyal only to the Pope. Papists want to take over the United States!” is anti-Catholic.
Real anti-Catholicism, in my humble opinion, is very rare in the United States and most of the Western World today, especially so if we use the last couple hundred years as a benchmark.
“Judaism is a filthy religion that teaches awful doctrines” is a pretty crass, though not anti-Semitic thing to say.
“Jews are a perfidious people hell bent on taking over the world!” is anti-Semitic.
“The Catholic Church is anti-Womyn and hates gays” is a pretty ignorant thing to say, worthy of a good eye-roll, but falls just short of truly being anti-Catholic.
“Catholics in America are mindless drones, loyal only to the Pope. Papists want to take over the United States!” is anti-Catholic.
Real anti-Catholicism, in my humble opinion, is very rare in the United States and most of the Western World today, especially so if we use the last couple hundred years as a benchmark.
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Della
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Well I think those on the receiving end of comments denigrating their beliefs might disagree with you. People don’t generally separate statements about their faith from themselves. They would assume, in most cases, that statements against their faith, especially nasty ones, are statements against them, as well.
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DavidFilmer
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I think an “anti-Catholic” must be a protestant who is attempting to convert Catholics to protestantism.
A Muslim (for example) might be opposed to the Church, but he would probably be equally opposed to any protestant faith. He might be considered anti-Christian, but not anti-Catholic.
A Muslim (for example) might be opposed to the Church, but he would probably be equally opposed to any protestant faith. He might be considered anti-Christian, but not anti-Catholic.
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Texsain
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I don’t see much difference between the first and second statements about the Catholic Church/Catholics. If the “Catholic Church” is “anti-Womyn and hates gays” therefore, I, as a faithful Catholic, hate women and gays.
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Texsain
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There are a lot of secularists who are anti-Catholic, in my opinion.
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xixxvmcm85
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I’m amenable to changing my opinion on whether nasty statements about a faith could reasonably be considered “anti”, but I will still take issue with the term being used for any statement “against a faith”.
If by “anti-Catholic” we mean any person who disagrees with the Catholic Church and voices that opposition, how is it functionally different from “non-Catholic”? Furthermore, what word should we use to denote actual persecution of Catholics?
I grew up in the Mormon tradition, and boy do “we” have a strong persecution complex! Granted, it could be argued that Mormon history predisposes one to such. Mormons were after all driven from town to town, there were localized and intermittent massacres against Mormon towns, there was a state-wide extermination order against the Mormons in Missouri, and ultimately the LDS Mormons were driven all the way to Utah. That is real anti-Mormonism.
None of this occurs today, yet one need not look very far to find 21st century Mormons here in America bandy about the term for anyone who speaks against Mormonism, even somewhat cordially! Even when I was a practicing Mormon I thought this was a very bad habit to get into as it (1) causes your detractors to take you even less seriously, and (2) minimizes the seriousness of real cases of anti-Mormonism. Sadly, I see many Catholics follow suit and it quite frankly makes us look foolish. What’s happening in Egypt and Syria is real anti-Christianity. What’s happening with the HHS mandate is not.
I see this same tendency with many gay activists too. Speak in favor of traditional marriage and you’re immediately labeled an anti-gay bigot. Then they wonder why so few conservative people give any credence to the label when it is used properly.
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Della
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Any group of people can be overly sensitive about other’s statements/opinions of them, I agree. Still, the motives of those making the statements/opinions and more, taking actions against a group, are open to debate. We cannot know each person’s heart, but we can see the results of bigotry and fear and persecution.
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xixxvmcm85
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And yet a person could infer that conclusion about you and yet not want to harm you or politically/economically disenfranchise you.
The first statements about Jews and Catholics are real historical sentiments people have taken about the members of each group that naturally lead to the persecution of said peoples.
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MSSheBear
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I usually reserve the term “anti-Catholic” to people who state that Catholics schools should be shut down, Catholics should not be allowed to vote, we are mindless drones of the Vatican, the Vatican changed the Bible to back up the doctrines of the Church. I could go on.
I would call having to close down Catholic hospitals and schools because the government mandates contraception coverage be paid for by the Catholic affiliated school or hospital an infringement on religious liberty.
I would call having to close down Catholic hospitals and schools because the government mandates contraception coverage be paid for by the Catholic affiliated school or hospital an infringement on religious liberty.
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Church_Militant
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I class any person who propounds materials like the following that some of us have refuted as anti-Catholic.
Refuting Mike Gendron’s tract “Are You Being Deceived?”
For those who believe Jack T. Chick knows what he’s talkin’ about…
The “Boettner List”: Fact or Fiction?
Refuting Mike Gendron’s tract “Are You Being Deceived?”
For those who believe Jack T. Chick knows what he’s talkin’ about…
The “Boettner List”: Fact or Fiction?
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DavidFilmer
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Yes, but they are also anti-Methodist and anti-Jewish and anti-everything_else that pertains to a religious faith. I consider them anti-religious, not anti-Catholic, because I consider anti-Catholics to be people who are specifically opposed to Catholics (not just to all theists).
The only people I consider to be anti-Catholics are protestants. I think Jews and Muslims have gripes (which are not entirely unjustified) with Catholics, but I think they regard Catholics as Christians, and they do not make a particular differentiation between Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians. They might be called anti-Christian, but I don’t think you could call them anti-Catholic.
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