Non-Catholics- Were you once prejudiced against Catholics?

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By anti-Catholic, I mean to be against it and believe false things like the Church added books in the Council of Trent.
 
I was very, very prejudiced against Roman Catholicism until 1996, then I started to soften up and was able to do some forgiving. I used to leave a building at the sight of clergy and could not bring myself to enter a Roman Catholic Church. I am ok pretty much with all of it now. Well, the nuns still creep me out a little. I saw one last week and had to have a little talk with myself.

Yes, I am non-Catholic. I was baptized as a baby and raised Catholic but as soon as I was able to leave my parents’ house I ran and did not look back for a long time. I still have my moments, though.

I should add that I have worked very hard a accepting that there are Catholics that are sincere and have a true relationship with God.
 
JHow said:
Well, I voted before I saw your request to not have Catholics vote, but since I am a convert, perhaps that doesn’t taint your sample too much.

Big things that changed my opinion of Catholicism:
  1. Pope John Paul II - If you didn’t admire him, then you were probably on the wrong side of things in general. For all of what I would have termed the “weird folklore” of Catholicism, I came to see that I held more in common with Catholics than not.
  2. My wife. (Oops. Did I just create a list of “big” things and include my wife? Honey, I meant “important” things! )
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That’s okay.
 
Never have been. They are the best of the Chrisitans other than my own faith in my view.
 
Being raised Fundamentalist Protestant, I guess you could say I was once anti-Catholic, but only because I was taught that Catholics were wrong. I was never mean to Catholics, but was against them. I sincerely thought that I was right. Marrying a Catholic changed a lot of my views. 😉
 
Inquiringperson said:
Just a thought. Were you non-catholics once anti-catholics? Did this website helped change your thinking?

Edit: What was I thinking? Fellow Catholics, you can’t vote on the poll.
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I am not a fan of the Catholic Church itself (to put it mildly). Nevertheless I have friends who are Catholic.
 
Radical said:
yep, that part I think is fair…Catholics (and everyone else for that matter) should be allowed to define their own beliefs…though it sometimes (but rarely) gets a little trickier defining the official position of the CC on a subtle matter…one Catholic may say “X” and another may say “Y”.
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There are perhaps a few major and legitimate signs of anti-Catholicism.

Probably the two best examples are where the person in question denies that Catholics are within the pale of Christianity or that Catholics are on the road to Hell if they continue holding their beliefs.

The last one I think is perhaps somewhat legitimate is what you allude to above: where a person claims “Catholics do X” or “Catholics teach X” followed by an explanation of this teaching or why the claim about Catholic doctrine is false, followed by another claim by the person “No! Really, Catholics do teach X!” ad nauseum. That tends to be extremely common among those who are prejudicially anti-Catholic.

But still, this alone doesn’t necessarily peg someone as prejudicially anti-Catholic. Arminians often claim, despite every insistence by Calvinists to the contrary, that the Calvinist theology makes God out to be the author of sin. It might be legitimate to call such Arminians ‘anti-Calvinist’ but I don’t think that necessarily belies a prejudicial kind of ‘anti-Calvinism’.
 
Chris258 said:
Probably the two best examples are where the person in question denies that Catholics are within the pale of Christianity or that Catholics are on the road to Hell if they continue holding their beliefs.
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I agree. Some people are anti-Catholic in that they hate (rather than merely disagree with) Catholicism, but even worse are the people who refuse to associate with Catholics. Respectful discussion would be impossible with people like that, sadly.
 
Inquiringperson said:
Just a thought. Were you non-catholics once anti-catholics? Did this website helped change your thinking?

Edit: What was I thinking? Fellow Catholics, you can’t vote on the poll.
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I once was Catholic, but I never went through an “all Catholics are idiots” phase.

I spend lots of time defending Catholicism from those with an axe to grind.

However, I do believe that the Church has serious flaws. If that makes me anti-Catholic, then so be it.
 
Am I anti-Catholic? Well, let me see…Two of my best friends are Catholic, I work in a Catholic University, I live among Catholics in New York City, including neighbors, I always watch the Christmas celebration on television at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I had a much beloved Catholic uncle, I’m a member of this Catholic Forum, and I love Italian food! No, I don’t think so.
 
Being born into a Protestant nuclear family surrounded by Catholic aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc… I couldn’t possibly have anything against Catholics, since most of my favorite people were Catholic. They’re the reason I converted.

Catholic high school and college brought me into even more contact with the Church.

(Okay, technically it was the Holy Spirit who converted me, but having Catholic relatives and classmates made the Holy Spirit’s job a lot easier)👍
 
I was brought up Southern Baptist. As such, I was taught that Catholics were the enemy. The basis of this, as I come to understand them, stems from Catholics praying to Virgin Mary and other Saints to interceed on their behalf. Forgive me if i have not worded this right. Many Southern Baptist, there may be other Protestants as well, see this as idol worship. Since Jesus bridged the gap between man and God. There is also the belief the many of the Catholic rites and traditons border on rituals. But what denomination doesn’t have traditions?

I have denounced these Southern Baptist teachings when I was in high school, when I began to get invovled in Higher Dimensions. Which was an extra curicular Christian group. As I got to know and become friends with Catholics and to see what they really believed, I learned they are not evil Idol worshipers.

It is a shame that these beliefs are still circulating today. I also find it a shame that many Catholics have the same minds set to Protestants, ie. Protestant = rejectors of the true Church and God’s will.

Both sides have their concrete all or nothing beleivers. I have also seen in both groups a more tolerant mind set that I hope will bring more continuity to the Christian faith.

These issues only help perpetuate the conundrum that i am in today. I feel both sides have merits and faults, but this labels me a heretic in both groups. In this I feel the only winner is Satan as he has divided the Christian faith. If believers can’t agree among themselves what chance do unbelievers have?
 
Maybe many, many years ago perhaps.

But a Catholic family I knew as a child prevented me from going too far down that road.

Time, educating myself, and honest reflection and observation have influenced me to reject whatever misunderstandings I may have had.

Now you are too me just another organization in this group of people called Christians. Not innately better or innately worse than any other organization out there.
 
I have Catholic heritage but was raised in a secular home and ended up baptized in a Lutheran church as an adult after marrying a man from a solidly Catholic family.

With that being said (!), I did not hear anti-Catholic things said growing up, either in school or at home. When I was in my 20s (sometime in the 1970s) I was handed a fundamentalist (Protestant) tract with anti-Catholic things in it (among other things) and was shocked and dismayed to read them.
 
I was never “anti-Catholic”…I sought and still seek to honor and respect “that of God” within those Catholics I know…if you have found grace and mercy through the teachings of the CC…I rejoice with you…
 
No, not prejudiced. Confused about some things, but reading threads here, and talking to Catholics, has helped clear things up.

I truly believe that all faiths hold some fraction of truth or, if you would, offer a glimpse of a universe so vast no one view could encompass its entirety.

Seeker
 
david75 said:
I was brought up Southern Baptist. As such, I was taught that Catholics were the enemy. The basis of this, as I come to understand them, stems from Catholics praying to Virgin Mary and other Saints to interceed on their behalf. Forgive me if i have not worded this right. Many Southern Baptist, there may be other Protestants as well, see this as idol worship. Since Jesus bridged the gap between man and God. There is also the belief the many of the Catholic rites and traditons border on rituals. But what denomination doesn’t have traditions?

I have denounced these Southern Baptist teachings when I was in high school, when I began to get invovled in Higher Dimensions. Which was an extra curicular Christian group. As I got to know and become friends with Catholics and to see what they really believed, I learned they are not evil Idol worshipers.

It is a shame that these beliefs are still circulating today. I also find it a shame that many Catholics have the same minds set to Protestants, ie. Protestant = rejectors of the true Church and God’s will.

Both sides have their concrete all or nothing beleivers. I have also seen in both groups a more tolerant mind set that I hope will bring more continuity to the Christian faith.

These issues only help perpetuate the conundrum that i am in today. I feel both sides have merits and faults, but this labels me a heretic in both groups. In this I feel the only winner is Satan as he has divided the Christian faith. If believers can’t agree among themselves what chance do unbelievers have?
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david75,

Welcome to the forums!

I grew up as a Southern Baptist too. I understand what you are saying. I formally left the SBC a little over a year ago. They are very rigid about who’s in and who’s out.

I’ve learned a lot from Catholic friends here. Even though Catholics believe they are the one true Church (and they may be right-I haven’t ruled out that possibility); they will tell you that we will be judged according to the measure of Grace we are given. Catholics, please correct me, if I haven’t stated this exactly right.

Also, though Catholics believe it is through Christ that we are reconciled to the Father; they are much less judgmental, when it comes to Heaven and Hell–many would not presume to judge the fate of their own souls, let alone the fate of others–a sharp contrast with the “absolutes” preached in Southern Baptist Churches. SB’s have no trouble telling you who they think is going to Hell.

Hope you enjoy the forums. 🙂

Peace,
Anna
 
AmateurPianist said:
Maybe many, many years ago perhaps.

But a Catholic family I knew as a child prevented me from going too far down that road.

Time, educating myself, and honest reflection and observation have influenced me to reject whatever misunderstandings I may have had.

Now you are too me just another organization in this group of people called Christians. Not innately better or innately worse than any other organization out there.
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AmateurPianist,

How are you? I haven’t run into you in a long time. I think both of us have grown in our understanding of Catholics through CAF. 🙂

Peace,
Anna
 
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