Religious Insanity

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Recently I saw a video about atheism (calm down moderators this isn’t what the topic is about) and it had me questioning alot of things. But in it all i found a solution. Are atheists insane? No. They may attack a belief in God but there is nothing crazy about that because God really exists and so does our belief in Him. However this is what is insane…

Protestant: Why do Catholics adore Mary?
Catholic: They don’t.
Protestant: But why do they?
Catholic: Ugh!

Protestant: Why do catholics worship statues?
Catholic: They don’t
Protestant: But bowing is worship
Catholic: No, God defines worship not us
Protestant: but bowing is worship

NOW THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF INSANITY…to attack beliefs that Catholics do not really believe and they state over and over and over again that they do not really believe such things…it is exhausting i had this argument with a friend to show him how ridiculous his catholic accusations are

I said…okay well why do you believe in the earth god, because you are wearing shoes it shows you are honoring the sky god because otherwise you would walk with your bear feet to show honor to the earth god and that is how i know you really believe in the earth god so why do you worship the sky god, i mean i define wearing shoes as worship

Friend- uh, wearing shoes is not worship

Me- neither is bowing

Friend- yea it is

Me- well if you can arbitrarly define what worship is for me why can’t i do it for you?

Friend- uh but why do you worship statues

INSANITY
 
Your friend for whatever reason has forgotton some very basic ideas about what it means to be a human being. Human beings are spiritual beings but also physical/tactile beings. In other words, humans need physical reminders of spiritual truths because it can be very hard to understand what you can’t see. Look at it this way. If a person has a picture of a loved one (spouse child, etc) and that person in the picture is far away (for whatever reason) and a person kisses the image in the photo, does that mean that the person loves the photo? Of course not. It is a sign of affection. If a person bows to am image of the BVM, they are showing respect in the same way that one would address a judge in court room as “Your Honor”. If a person is holding a newborn baby and says “she’s so adorable” does that mean the person is seriously contemplating worshipping the baby? No. That person is simply expressing a emotion or feeling thru words.Part of the issue with Protestantism is that many of them come from a heritage of iconclasism, where any religious images for them are associated with idolatry. The problem with that view point, is that it denies how God made us. To be human has always been and always will be to express ourselves and our beliefs in tactile mediums, be they statues, icons, paintings, carvings, etc. No one worships a statue, they show respect to the image it represents because the reality represented by the image itself is holy. Hope this helps.
 
willy032 said:
Your friend for whatever reason has forgotton some very basic ideas about what it means to be a human being. Human beings are spiritual beings but also physical/tactile beings. In other words, humans need physical reminders of spiritual truths because it can be very hard to understand what you can’t see. Look at it this way. If a person has a picture of a loved one (spouse child, etc) and that person in the picture is far away (for whatever reason) and a person kisses the image in the photo, does that mean that the person loves the photo? Of course not. It is a sign of affection. If a person bows to am image of the BVM, they are showing respect in the same way that one would address a judge in court room as “Your Honor”. If a person is holding a newborn baby and says “she’s so adorable” does that mean the person is seriously contemplating worshipping the baby? No. That person is simply expressing a emotion or feeling thru words.Part of the issue with Protestantism is that many of them come from a heritage of iconclasism, where any religious images for them are associated with idolatry. The problem with that view point, is that it denies how God made us. To be human has always been and always will be to express ourselves and our beliefs in tactile mediums, be they statues, icons, paintings, carvings, etc. No one worships a statue, they show respect to the image it represents because the reality represented by the image itself is holy. Hope this helps.
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Great answer!
 
I don’t think anyone could hate Catholics or the Catholic Church if they actually knew what it was all about. It’s easier to block out information that counters one’s preconceived notions and then they can continue to go about complaining about it.
 
jenniferpet88 said:
Recently I saw a video about atheism (calm down moderators this isn’t what the topic is about) and it had me questioning alot of things. But in it all i found a solution. Are atheists insane? No. They may attack a belief in God but there is nothing crazy about that because God really exists and so does our belief in Him. However this is what is insane…

Protestant: Why do Catholics adore Mary?
Catholic: They don’t.
Protestant: But why do they?
Catholic: Ugh!

Protestant: Why do catholics worship statues?
Catholic: They don’t
Protestant: But bowing is worship
Catholic: No, God defines worship not us
Protestant: but bowing is worship

NOW THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF INSANITY…to attack beliefs that Catholics do not really believe and they state over and over and over again that they do not really believe such things…it is exhausting i had this argument with a friend to show him how ridiculous his catholic accusations are

I said…okay well why do you believe in the earth god, because you are wearing shoes it shows you are honoring the sky god because otherwise you would walk with your bear feet to show honor to the earth god and that is how i know you really believe in the earth god so why do you worship the sky god, i mean i define wearing shoes as worship

Friend- uh, wearing shoes is not worship

Me- neither is bowing

Friend- yea it is

Me- well if you can arbitrarly define what worship is for me why can’t i do it for you?

Friend- uh but why do you worship statues

INSANITY
Click to expand...
I undertand you too well…Mine experience too…
 
I thought of my best argument at 7 against my friends 7th day adventist mother.

“you worship mary”
“no i dont”
“you have her picture”
“and Henry has a picture of Michael Jordan”
“well you have a statue”
“and its not even as big as henry’s basketball trophy”
 
If bowing is a type of worship, then most people in Asia are worshipping each other 😛
 
i tried all those arguments and NOTHING gets through to him, i used the comparison to pictures…he says “what is the point of praying to a saint when you can pray directly to god” and i said because since a saint is a holy person maybe they would pray to God for you even more fervently then you would pray for your own self—now how is there a better answer than that…still no good, he wants specific biblical references…here is a summary of his ridiculous beliefs

1the catholic church used to be good but turned bad someone

2there is supposed to be only one church and body of christ but that church is invisible and consists of all people who truly follow god, it does not refer to specifically the catholic church

3there is something wrong with the catholic church but he can’t put his finger on it
the same feeling that led him to god and tells him right from wrong also keeps him away from the catholic church

4jesus did indeed give the apostles to forgive sins but that power died with them just like the ability to write scripture

5mary is of no importance at all

6the catholic church is wrong but protestants are even more ridiculous but since he follows god he considers himself part of the body of christ

7the catholic church is not evil b/c there are good people in it however he is good also yet will NEVER become catholic

HELP PLEASE
 
his former view was that the catholic church was completely evil and that it was the whore of babylon and that the pope was the antichrist and that all catholics were going to hell, so he has progressed a long way, but he feels he committed an almost unforgivable sin i took him to a priest for confession and he said if his guilt went away after confession that he’d become catholic, it didn’t therefore neither did he, i explained he is forgiven if he is sorry but once again no logical explanation is good, he determines everything by his own inner feeling and he interprets scripture based on how he believes, but he does admit it when he is proven wrong, so there is hope, however we all know that not every single little thing can be proven in scripture
 
jenniferpet88 said:
Recently I saw a video about atheism (calm down moderators this isn’t what the topic is about) and it had me questioning alot of things. But in it all i found a solution. Are atheists insane? No. They may attack a belief in God but there is nothing crazy about that because God really exists and so does our belief in Him. However this is what is insane…

Protestant: Why do Catholics adore Mary?
Catholic: They don’t.
Protestant: But why do they?
Catholic: Ugh!

Protestant: Why do catholics worship statues?
Catholic: They don’t
Protestant: But bowing is worship
Catholic: No, God defines worship not us
Protestant: but bowing is worship

NOW THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF INSANITY…to attack beliefs that Catholics do not really believe and they state over and over and over again that they do not really believe such things…it is exhausting i had this argument with a friend to show him how ridiculous his catholic accusations are

I said…okay well why do you believe in the earth god, because you are wearing shoes it shows you are honoring the sky god because otherwise you would walk with your bear feet to show honor to the earth god and that is how i know you really believe in the earth god so why do you worship the sky god, i mean i define wearing shoes as worship

Friend- uh, wearing shoes is not worship

Me- neither is bowing

Friend- yea it is

Me- well if you can arbitrarly define what worship is for me why can’t i do it for you?

Friend- uh but why do you worship statues

INSANITY
Click to expand...
This makes sense - if there is one thing I can agree with Catholics about, it’s that Protestantism is questionable - but you can’t fault Protestants for taking issue with Mary-honoring when Mary has more feast days than Jesus (or Joseph) does, and the idea of praying to Jesus “through Mary” didn’t make sense to me even as a Catholic. Why not just pray to Jesus? Clearly Jesus is humble enough a God to not be offended by your praying directly to him (or God the Father, as Jesus does in the Bible).

But you haven’t heard of religious insanity until you’ve seen that Jesus Camp song clip. Even if I were a Christian I would find that creepy. :eek:
 
jenniferpet88 said:
Recently I saw a video about atheism (calm down moderators this isn’t what the topic is about) and it had me questioning alot of things. But in it all i found a solution. Are atheists insane? No. They may attack a belief in God but there is nothing crazy about that because God really exists and so does our belief in Him. However this is what is insane…

Protestant: Why do Catholics adore Mary?
Catholic: They don’t.
Protestant: But why do they?
Catholic: Ugh!

Protestant: Why do catholics worship statues?
Catholic: They don’t
Protestant: But bowing is worship
Catholic: No, God defines worship not us
Protestant: but bowing is worship

NOW THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF INSANITY…to attack beliefs that Catholics do not really believe and they state over and over and over again that they do not really believe such things…it is exhausting i had this argument with a friend to show him how ridiculous his catholic accusations are

I said…okay well why do you believe in the earth god, because you are wearing shoes it shows you are honoring the sky god because otherwise you would walk with your bear feet to show honor to the earth god and that is how i know you really believe in the earth god so why do you worship the sky god, i mean i define wearing shoes as worship

Friend- uh, wearing shoes is not worship

Me- neither is bowing

Friend- yea it is

Me- well if you can arbitrarly define what worship is for me why can’t i do it for you?

Friend- uh but why do you worship statues

INSANITY
Click to expand...
As an atheist, I know all too well this feeling. Even on this board, so many Catholics have crazy ideas about us and will insist that we believe things, or do things, that we do not.

My advice:

First, you definitely need to be one-on-one with this person in a place that they’re not threatened or pressured.
Secondly, they have to want to learn about your beliefs. If they don’t, you’re wasting your time.
Thirdly, answer any questions he may have in a direct, clear manner and be careful not to push your beliefs onto him. I think many Christians, in general, either don’t realize they are being pushy about their beliefs or they simply don’t care. Being clear with your answers will help progress the conversation forward, as well.

Good-luck!
 
the thing i don’t get is what is up with all the double standards…i have to prove everything i say in the bible, whereas he can have an outlandish belief with no biblical support, these people aggravate me after awhile and make no sense
 
Jennifer -

Has your friend read Luke 1:48? “From now on all generations will call me blessed…”

To call her Blessed would be a start. 🙂
 
Planty_Business said:
…when Mary has more feast days than Jesus (or Joseph) does…
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chuckle Whatever gave you THAT notion? Do you not know that ALL days of ALL years are passover? That EVERY day and ALL creation sings of the glory of Christ?

Jesus doesn’t HAVE feast days because He doesn’t need them. We honor Christmas and Easter (as well as several other events) as HAPPENINGS in the Lord’s life, but we honor the Lord at all times.
 
i heard a good quote once, don’t worry about loving mary too much because i’m sure you do not love her as much as Jesus does
 
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