My Wife is VIRULENTLY Anti-Catholic

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QwertyGirl said:
Of course my advice is based on my beliefs. I would be an idiot if it wasn’t. That doesn’t mean I’m trying to convert anybody to anything. You sound like you might have a little chip on your shoulder.
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You really don’t see how promoting your beliefs is trying to convert someone to your beliefs? Strange.
 
Are we who speak with southern accents “dumb and uneducated”?

You can watch the talks on You Tube. I’ve a feeling that you and I will have drastically different opinions.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Are we who speak with southern accents “dumb and uneducated”?

You can watch the talks on You Tube. I’ve a feeling that you and I will have drastically different opinions.
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I quit watching when he explained that a pulpit is not in the center of a Catholic Church because the preacher is not to be the centre of attention. He said this all the while looking for attention and encouraging the audience to clap for him. What a farce.
 
mwcampbell said:
Our child has attended a Catholic school since the Christian school he formerly attended closed. My wife was a teacher at that school for 14 years so the closure was painful for her on both a personal and professional level. As a board member at the former school, I’ve felt that the Lord has been calling me to service at the Catholic school and so I’ve been honored to use whatever talents He has blessed me with there for the last three years.

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church and she was raised in an Assembly of God church. We attend a Pentecostal church now. She has never been comfortable with the Catholic faith but over a year ago she was given some anti-Catholic materials and has since found a treasure trove of like-minded websites. She is a good person and the love of my life but she is terribly misinformed. She also has a support network of friends and family who cannot understand what is “wrong” with me. This has placed a strain on our marriage.

I did enough research of my own to be convinced that Catholics were sufficiently Christian before we enrolled our child at the Catholic school. We agree on so much more foundational doctrine than we don’t! Although I expected to have to explain to our child why there would be differences between his religion classes at school and Sunday school at our church, I never expected to have to become a Catholic apologist! However, I’ve prayed continually for the last four years, and I am unable to shake the call to serve at this school. I’ve told my wife that I cannot ignore the call of our Lord. Am I alone in this kind of situation? Beyond daily prayer, what advice can you give me?
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I haven’t read every post. If this has been answered then just ignore.

Have your children been going to the Catholic school for those 4 years as well?

If you were to put a list of your wife’s issues in order of importance, how many issues does your wife have, and from most important to least important, can you list them?
 
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TheLittleLady said:
Are we who speak with southern accents “dumb and uneducated”?

You can watch the talks on You Tube. I’ve a feeling that you and I will have drastically different opinions.
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No. Accents are not a sign of intelligence or education level. Mike Cumbie does have a bit of a Southern drawl in his normal speech. However it is quite clear that when he is stating what a Protestant would say he uses an exaggerated accent and bad grammar such as “ain’t,” poor subject-verb agreement and other errors.

I have listened to quite a few videos of him speaking. He doesn’t seem to have much substance or depth to his arguments. Using mockery as a way to poke fun of others is not a technique that is done by those who are intelligent, mature or those filled with Christian love. I have very little respect for him.
 
Yes, my son has attended during that time. My wife’s concerns on Catholicism are the normal rogue’s gallery of distortions presented by evangelists such as Jimmy Swaggart as well as the plethora of websites that reinforce those views. The concerns she has expressed to me are (and I don’t agree with them, BTW):

Salvation by good works
Worshiping idols (bowing to icons, the host and chalice)
Distortions to the Bible:
  • Adding books to the Old Testament
  • Altering the 10 commandments
  • Removing a Psalm (The 23rd Psalm in the KJV Bible is the 22nd Psalm in the Catholic Bible)
Crucifixes (Jesus died for our sins and is no longer on the cross)
The real presence in communion
Praying to Mary and the saints (and vain repetitions in the rosary)
Confession
“Call no man father”
Alcohol at church functions and school fundraisers

She might rearrange them somewhat and might combine some of them. She also has a video produced by the Swaggart’s on which former Catholics dish on the evils of the Church, pagan worship, sun Gods, etc. I haven’t watched it but I suppose should so that I can go back to the catechism to show what the Church actually teaches rather than what Frances and Jimmy Swaggart say that it teaches.

I will say again that I love my wife and that she really is a good person. She really is, and she is the love of my life (we will celebrate our 27th anniversary this year and have been together for 29 years). She sincerely believes these things and is concerned that not only is my soul in jeopardy but so is our child’s. After all this time, I had no idea she placed the Swaggart’s teaching in such high regard. After the scandals in the 1980’s I believed he was a charlatan and his “ministry” was spiritually fraudulent- a front for making money. So her heart is in the right place but I’m outnumbered by her family and mine, frankly. None of them can understand what is “wrong” with me so it is not easy folllowing what I believe in my heart of hearts that the Lord wants me to do. Narrow is the path, I suppose.
 
You may have to resolve yourself to the fact that your religious views and your wife’s are quite different so that difference doesn’t erode your marriage.

Remember, we are all imperfect, but we are all on a path back to God, and very few of us are at the same place on that path. It’s harder when people are far apart in their religious views, but not impossible. We all have to make our own journey. Your wife is probably doing the best she can. You two have love, which is more than many people ever get.
 
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mwcampbell said:
Yes, my son has attended during that time. My wife’s concerns on Catholicism are the normal rogue’s gallery of distortions presented by evangelists such as Jimmy Swaggart as well as the plethora of websites that reinforce those views. The concerns she has expressed to me are (and I don’t agree with them, BTW):

Salvation by good works
Worshiping idols (bowing to icons, the host and chalice)
Distortions to the Bible:
  • Adding books to the Old Testament
  • Altering the 10 commandments
  • Removing a Psalm (The 23rd Psalm in the KJV Bible is the 22nd Psalm in the Catholic Bible)
Crucifixes (Jesus died for our sins and is no longer on the cross)
The real presence in communion
Praying to Mary and the saints (and vain repetitions in the rosary)
Confession
“Call no man father”
Alcohol at church functions and school fundraisers
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For the first 20 yrs of our marriage my wife wasn’t Catholic. THEN it happened. She said I’d like to consider becoming Catholic. She caught me totally by surprise. I never made her a project. I just lived the faith…AND either gave her answers when she asked, or I’d say, good question, how bout I get back with you on that. 😃 And of course I got the answer for her. she entered RCIA and the following year she was Catholic. That was 28 years ago.

Have you found short and effective answers for your wife’s misunderstandings? Because there are short AND effective answers to her questions. Short answers are good in this case. Stay away from anger and arguing. Just give information. And pray good effects of the information happen
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mwcampbell:
She might rearrange them somewhat and might combine some of them. She also has a video produced by the Swaggart’s on which former Catholics dish on the evils of the Church, pagan worship, sun Gods, etc. I haven’t watched it but I suppose should so that I can go back to the catechism to show what the Church actually teaches rather than what Frances and Jimmy Swaggart say that it teaches.
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Our Lord promised, not even the gates of hell will prevail against His Church that He builds on Peter and those in union with him. And Jesus expects not just a loose squishy understanding of union, but a perfect union [ John 17:20-23] . We Catholics can take Jesus promise to the bank.

One phrase made famous by a protestant (John Henry Newman) while still a protestant and before his conversion…

"to be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant" That phrase is a stunner. Especially considering all the scripture passages condemning division from the only Church Jesus established and gave ALL His promises to. That Church on Peter and those in union with him has been here for 2000 yrs. All easy to prove with references properly referenced.

Prayers ascending for you and your family.
 
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Looks like your wife has fallen hook, line and sinker for every anti-Catholic fallacy out there. What she is guilty of is complete ignorance. Not stupidity, but ignorance. Fortunately, ignorance is is completely curable if you are willing to honestly look at the facts. I don’t now how willing she is. Some people revel in their ignorance because it thrills them.

There is a lot of good information out there. Try to get her to read some Catholic apologetic books or websites. You could try this one to start: My Journey Through Protestant and Catholic Belief

Good luck to you, and keep persevering.
 
The watered down socialism that pervades all elements of society blinds The Next Generation to the difference between entitlements and living The Gospel. The introduction of Mother Teresa in this thread identifies the clear antithesis of this false agenda, Saint Teresa of Calcutta loved persons when she met each individual. This is what Jesus taught and this is what Jesus did.

I hate to couch it in terms flavored with political sense but find no simpler way to address the liberation theology that infects Truth and Catholic social doctrine. Moral relativism is one component of the disease but the source of this is pride and sin. Taking views from the East on thought and philosophy while believing one is still grounded in Christian ethos is problematic. Creation is the reality, the facts of what God has made. Belief in some ability to actualize our fantasy desires, a dogzen of godlike capability, is not accepting The Holy Spirit nor doing God’s Will. I do not believe Protestant theology originated in such misinterpretation but with the help of Catholics and, especially Priests who teach liberation theology, a number of generations are badly misled.

I can speak authoritatively on this matter because I fail in this same way. I engage in sinful acts of pride and live a pretense of wellness while in an ill state. Instead I should ask God, ask Jesus, to touch and heal me. Pride and sin are the root cause of the blindness, that beam I have in my eye. Brother can you help me to remove it to do what is right before The Next Generation?

Moving from failing to understand community, the living assembly, into fantastic error within the domestic church is not so difficult to do. When God, The Father, is denied the authoritative role that He deserves. He works to earn our love, Our Loving God, the author of life itself - how fantastic is this, how awesome. He calls with a humility that I can not come close to comprehend. But I know this is what we are called to imitate.

Ecuminism as taught by The Magisterium is never coercive. But such vital and coherent truth as God making us male and female must be held up rightly to live in justice, in right order with The Creator. The line between fact and fiction becomes blurred when we ignore the natural law. The Eastern dogzen lives within a beautiful understanding of the domestic church. My personal fault in not living the truth of The Sacraments, the union of Christ and His Bride, contributes to sliding down the slippery slope. We must present the Truth of Catholic Teaching in the light of Christ. This is not an act of coercion it is living the charity that God presents to us through the grace of The Sacraments.

Am I pushing my agenda on others when I state it in the simple phrase, “Live Truth, Live Catholic?”
 
Any time a person feels God’s Spirit to serve in a Christian situation (and yes, Catholics are, after all, the original Christians for about 2000 years now), we should listen. It seems you are really wondering about your call to be at that school. Why don’t you just serve and see if God graces you with an understanding of why he wanted you there. One of these days, both Catholics and Protestants will truly understand that God is at work with both groups and desires us all to be “one”, in understanding and accepting each other and, finally, I am convinced to once again become one church in full. You are in my opinion, one of those whose small part in this process that is already in place. Thank God for it. We’ll never be smart enough to know what God is thinking of all this. (I was a convert in 1980. I don’t for one minute think like other Catholics, cradle or converts, that God is trying necessarily to convert you. That viewpoint by either protestants or catholics is full of hubris and lack of humility and a lot of “We’re really the true church!” I don’t think you are necessarily being called to convert but, like I said, at least to be a part of the bringing together one day of our two broken halves. The true church is broken in half and needs to be restored. Thank you for your part.
 
Have you seen the series “Catholicism” by Father Barron ? 10 episodes… if you have an Amazon account you can purchase it streaming, about $7 per episode. This is a beautiful work, fascinating, informative. You might want to check it out, start listening …And your wife might overhear it playing, and linger near to hear some of it.
 
Thanks everyone for the thoughtful advice. We had a tough week last week so I’d appreciate your prayers.
 
There is a wonderful program on EWTN called “Called to Communion”. EWTN is a television network but you can also download the app and probably find episodes on their website. This program is for non-Cathollics to ask any questions about the Catholic faith. Even as a cradle Catholic, I find it to be a very interesting and informative program. I pull it up on the app and blu-tooth it to my car so I can listen when I I’m driving.

God bless you.
 
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Besides all the work that changing her false views will involve, there is the problem of her having to go against her family. That will be the hardest one. Particularly if a lot of her memories of family togetherness rest in the Pentecostal Church, and her friendships are with Pentecostals.

I think I would approach this from a different angle to address this problem. Instead of trying to become an expert on apologetics, I’d try to get to know more about her differences with her family; I’d take her away from her family as much as possible on romantic getaways and things like that, and consider moving. I think she has to rely more on you, and cleave more to you rather than her family. In other words, I’d upset the apple cart in a different way.
 
Watch some Journey Home videos together! Look on YouTube. Many have gone through this kind of thing in their journey from Protestantism to Catholicism. Here are two from Pentecostal and Baptist backgrounds. I have not personally watched these two, but there are plenty others you can search.


 
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Also, much of the anti-Catholic influence must be coming from inaccurate portraits of church history. Try to show her resources that show what the early church really was like.

I did this blog post last year:


You can also read the church fathers together. Ignatius of Antioch is one of the earliest and had connections to the Apostles Peter and Paul. His letters are online and are short.
 
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