Please enlighten me

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jesusluv

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Maybe I’m not understanding the meaning behind a “Non-Catholic Religions” forum, but I always thought it was for people who are Catholic and Non-Catholic to gain an understanding of each other’s beliefs.

What I see on here now are things that should belong in the Apologetics section because the topics generally are about someone trying to prove why Protestantism is wrong and the RCC is right. Another fun thing seems to be to find a tidbit from the news about a certain denomination/group and high five about their impending doom.

Any and all responses that do not agree with most the original poster’s opinions are met with snide comments and remarks and the term “anti-Catholic” is thrown their way.

Some may see this as a blanket statement, but it is no more so than the blanket statements I see towards those that are non-Catholics.

I just wonder how many are turned away from the RCC that stumble onto this site, which is quite easy to do if you type in “catholic beliefs” in google or yahoo.

Let the attacks begin.
 
Well, I came here to learn more about Catholicism, and was possibly considering becoming Catholic. I am now quite firmly decided against becoming Catholic, though I am planning on majoring in theology at my Catholic college.

The reasons behind this have little to do with the way non-Catholics are talked about on this forum, but I must say that it doesn’t help any and could definitely be a hindrance for some.
 
jesusluv said:
Another fun thing seems to be to find a tidbit from the news about a certain denomination/group and high five about their impending doom.
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You must be reading the same posts that I am…

Peace!
 
Well, you have to swim through those posts to get to anything that isn’t like that now.
 
I have come here to learn about the Catholic Church. I have discovered many things:

They aren’t a heretic cult.

They aren’t evil.

They do have some scripture that backs their beliefs up (some of their beliefs, I do not see how are backed up, I will ask this later, so do not ask me now)

I am still debating about Catholocism, and now Orthodox. I can’t go to a Catholic Church or RCIA in real life, online, I’d like to go to a RCIA to learn in a class like style.
 
ChristianKnight said:
I have come here to learn about the Catholic Church. I have discovered many things:

They aren’t a heretic cult.

They aren’t evil.

They do have some scripture that backs their beliefs up (some of their beliefs, I do not see how are backed up, I will ask this later, so do not ask me now)

I am still debating about Catholocism, and now Orthodox. I can’t go to a Catholic Church or RCIA in real life, online, I’d like to go to a RCIA to learn in a class like style.
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RCIA online? catechismclass.com/index.php
 
Although I am still interested in learning more about Catholicism (like I am all religions) but I have been turned off by this forum, luckily there is a couple members who have kept me interested though.
 
Well, let me apologize on behalf of those on this forum. Don’t let anyone discourage you from learning more about the church. There are 1.2 billion or so Catholics, don’t let 10-12 on one website turn you off from learning at least.
 
jesusluv said:
There are 1.2 billion or so Catholics, don’t let 10-12 on one website turn you off from learning at least.
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And don’t let 1.2 billion turn you off either…

What I mean is: If the Catholic Church is the one, true Church and even if all 1.2 of the Catholics in that Church were horrible people, that wouldn’t mean that the Church is no longer the one, true Church. No one should ever base their judgment of a religion / church / etc. based on the people in it. All judgments should be made based off the teachings and truths presented.

Anyone that is going to base their decision off the people in a particular religion shouldn’t have the right to be exploring other religions in the first place.
 
HannahLisa said:
Well, I came here to learn more about Catholicism, and was possibly considering becoming Catholic. I am now quite firmly decided against becoming Catholic, though I am planning on majoring in theology at my Catholic college.

The reasons behind this have little to do with the way non-Catholics are talked about on this forum, but I must say that it doesn’t help any and could definitely be a hindrance for some.
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the question is: are you looking for the Truth or are you looking for perfect people? are you perfect in everything, when everybody else is imperfect?

dont forget many were turned away from the Truth because they did not like what Jesus said.

it is all how you perceive and not necessary uncharitable statements.

Jesus never said seek where the perfect people are and there you will find my Church. No, what He said is: I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. and He gave power to His Church. i know that says at all.

Peace.

Once Napoleon said: I will destroy your Church. when the Cardinal in France heard this, he said: how is he going to do it? if we could not do it from within, how is he going to do it from without?
and we know what happened to napoleon after that.
 
jesusluv said:
Maybe I’m not understanding the meaning behind a “Non-Catholic Religions” forum, but I always thought it was for people who are Catholic and Non-Catholic to gain an understanding of each other’s beliefs.

What I see on here now are things that should belong in the Apologetics section because the topics generally are about someone trying to prove why Protestantism is wrong and the RCC is right. Another fun thing seems to be to find a tidbit from the news about a certain denomination/group and high five about their impending doom.

Any and all responses that do not agree with most the original poster’s opinions are met with snide comments and remarks and the term “anti-Catholic” is thrown their way.

Some may see this as a blanket statement, but it is no more so than the blanket statements I see towards those that are non-Catholics.

I just wonder how many are turned away from the RCC that stumble onto this site, which is quite easy to do if you type in “catholic beliefs” in google or yahoo.

Let the attacks begin.
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I, too, at first thought this forum was for the purpose of ecumenical understanding, not to target non-Catholics for conversion.

When I first came here, I was targeted quite a bit for conversion; it seemed just mentioning that I was Jewish set off sirens! 🙂 And although when I first came here I was very sympathetic to the Catholic church (for many reasons, part of which is that half my family is Catholic, plus I have studied the Catholic faith quite a bit in my life, as well as other faiths), the responses I got when I first came here really turned me off, and made me start second-guessing even Catholics I’d meet offline (I also know of a number of non-Catholics who left this forum because of the way they were treated, even though they did not behave as anti-Catholics when they first arrived.)

But I decided to stick it out, even though I was advised by a number of non-Catholics not to “waste your time”, and in the process I’ve been able to clear up some misunderstandings about Judaism, and make some good friends too!

But for someone who is NEW to this forum, you can really get turned off. For a few weeks, I was very confused, wondering if all the years when I defended the Catholic church in discussions or debates offline (even when faced with disbelieving disdain from humanists, liberal Protestants and liberal Jews) was a waste of my time. I’ve had some of my own people give me a very hard time for standing up for the church when I felt the church was being unfairly maligned. I began to wonder if it was a waste, if maybe it was all for nothing. Because the Catholics I’d known offline (ordinary, humble Catholics, plus very educated, intellectual Catholics in the ecumenical movement) were not AT ALL like some of the ones I encountered here. I began to wonder which one was the true “face” of today’s church.

But I’m glad I decided to stick it out despite all the initial stuff!
 
Please allow me to attempt to “shed some light” on the subject… or at least try to…
jesusluv said:
Maybe I’m not understanding the meaning behind a “Non-Catholic Religions” forum, but I always thought it was for people who are Catholic and Non-Catholic to gain an understanding of each other’s beliefs.
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I think that your thoughts were correct, and mine tend to parallel yours…its what I thought it to be as well.
What I see on here now are things that should belong in the Apologetics section because the topics generally are about someone trying to prove why Protestantism is wrong and the RCC is right. Another fun thing seems to be to find a tidbit from the news about a certain denomination/group and high five about their impending doom.
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Sometimes, we as humans, get carried away when “debating subjects”… Religion is one of the most emotional subjects that can be debated…even more of a hot button than politics. Some people are so invested in their beliefs that they can go over the edge over them… emotion takes over, and intellect and manners take a hike. Finding fault and gaining “glee” out of another’s misfortunes…is hardly “Christian”…it is human and a fault.
Any and all responses that do not agree with most the original poster’s opinions are met with snide comments and remarks and the term “anti-Catholic” is thrown their way.
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While there is truth in your statement…we need to ameliorate our thoughts…and not be quite as “subjective” in our thinking or presuppose that another is being snide or uncharitable…because it is most difficult to fathom exactly where someone is coming from when they state something in a forum. I often use the emoticons for that purpose… Myself… I am quite capable of a range of “emotions” and techniques…so I try to keep things as friendly as possible…even when I disagree with someone. I am not God, and know it well… so I am not in a position to “judge” anyone, nor will I even consider doing so. That the phrase “anti-Catholic” may come up is of no great issue though. It is a Catholic forum…and I’m not using that as an excuse or justification…its just a reality. I have seen posters come here, and their single most goal seemed to be to vent their spleens with anti-Catholic rhetoric… Maybe some Catholics are sensitive to it… I know I can be. But I find that for the most part, the people who vent their spleen…do not know what they are talking about. I was raised in the military and the south… have dealt with anti-Catholics all my life…
Some may see this as a blanket statement, but it is no more so than the blanket statements I see towards those that are non-Catholics.
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Its a human condition. Have you spent much time on other sites that are “non-Catholic”…and seen the fracas that goes on?
I just wonder how many are turned away from the RCC that stumble onto this site, which is quite easy to do if you type in “catholic beliefs” in google or yahoo.
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I wonder how many are turned away from Christianity as a whole by the things that I see take place on other sites… I know that I have a rather dim view of certain “ersatz-christians” as a result of reading some of the things I have. Some of the stuff that you see, hear and read is sad and tragically incorrect.
Let the attacks begin.
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I hope that you don’t think that I have “attacked” you… because that is not my intent at all…

I know that I can be a little Jesuit-like in my approach to things, but I hope that I don’t cause people to take umbrage. I am not afraid to defend my faith…just as I am not afraid to defend my nation… Peace!! 😃
 
HannahLisa said:
Well, I came here to learn more about Catholicism, and was possibly considering becoming Catholic. I am now quite firmly decided against becoming Catholic, though I am planning on majoring in theology at my Catholic college.

The reasons behind this have little to do with the way non-Catholics are talked about on this forum, but I must say that it doesn’t help any and could definitely be a hindrance for some.
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The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said (circa 1975), not long before he entered Eternal Life, that if Catholic parents wanted their children to lose the Catholic faith he could think of no better way that to send their children to a Catholic University and make sure they took lots of theology courses. The rot of liberal biblical criticism and anti-Catholic and anti-Western historical revisionism (as well as post-modernism) was already well entrenched when Sheen made his biting warning.

Sometimes, we Catholics posting on this forum go overboard–we lose sight of Charity–something I have done and beg pardon for. But the Catholic faith cannot be defended by mealy-mouthed, wishy-washy feel-good psuedo-ecumenicalism. We MUST say what we believe, why we believe it, and say so with confidence. On this particular forum, if someone says something that is egregiously against the teachings of the faith, I and my fellow Catholics will respond. That we must always do so with respect we must always keep in mind lest we too become stumbling blocks.
 
jesusluv said:
Maybe I’m not understanding the meaning behind a “Non-Catholic Religions” forum, but I always thought it was for people who are Catholic and Non-Catholic to gain an understanding of each other’s beliefs.

…
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Hi jesusluv,

You ask a good question, one I’ve asked too.

I would point you to this explanation. (It wasn’t written it response to your exact question, but to a very similar question so it should help.)

God bless,
 
jesusluv said:
Maybe I’m not understanding the meaning behind a “Non-Catholic Religions” forum, but I always thought it was for people who are Catholic and Non-Catholic to gain an understanding of each other’s beliefs.

What I see on here now are things that should belong in the Apologetics section because the topics generally are about someone trying to prove why Protestantism is wrong and the RCC is right. Another fun thing seems to be to find a tidbit from the news about a certain denomination/group and high five about their impending doom.

Any and all responses that do not agree with most the original poster’s opinions are met with snide comments and remarks and the term “anti-Catholic” is thrown their way.

Some may see this as a blanket statement, but it is no more so than the blanket statements I see towards those that are non-Catholics.

I just wonder how many are turned away from the RCC that stumble onto this site, which is quite easy to do if you type in “catholic beliefs” in google or yahoo.

Let the attacks begin.
Click to expand...
In my experience, most “serious” Roman Catholics have no interest in understanding other people. They just don’t care. Those are the ones I’ve had experience with, however, who usually range from conservative to ultraconservative.
 
I am Catholic, and I see lots of the same issues that you guys do. I thought that this forum was to discuss the other theologies in the world and how they are the same or different than Catholic Theology. I never thought it should be to convert anyone or defend the faith, save when it is being compaired to another.

I do see lots of baiting on both sides, and a good deal of people with little charity.

THe issue with news releases is a two-edged sword. We should discuss issues in other groups, all of us, that we may see what is happening in the world. DO not think for one second that the Enemy is ignoring it. I do see some problem with being all smug in another’s demise.

Just ignore the bad ones and find the good.
 
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