First, bpbasilphx, I’m glad to see you back. I thought for a while that we may have lost another one of our highly-esteemed Orthodox posters.
As to your observations, Xiaahmad, yes, it is true that many televangelists are corrupted people. It is perhaps not surprising when you consider the vast amounts of money that they receive from their flock, which goes some into their pocket and some into running their huge media outlets (Trinity Broadcasting and whatever else) and other places (their political organizations, universities, etc). I think it is a bunch of garbage personally, though I can see some benefit to the more strictly religious programs (like Bible study) for those Protestants who are home-bound due to illness.
Televangelism is, as you can see from the name, television first and evangelism second. Not very good for the serious Christian, I think. There is more that can be learned in a day of quiet study and reflection than in hundreds of hours of Benny Hinn, Jimmy Swaggart or any of those other show-off men. I am not interested in following any man who produces a “show” instead of a service. This is what I like about the Catholic network, EWTN (the few times I’ve seen it): It shows actual masses, adorations, etc. This what you are missing if you can’t get to mass for some reason, anyway! Not just some guy with a nice suit yelling about Islam or something stupid like that, like this Hagee fellow. I had never heard of that guy until recently because I don’t travel in those circles, but now that I know him I don’t like him. He is, of course, anti-Catholic, so for his stupid views to be inflaming both Muslims and Catholics…well…that’s a large part of the world population, isn’t it? Of course there is a certain kind of Protestant Evangelical, I am sad to say usually in or from the United States, who sees this sort of damaging blather as being the work of the Lord. It is as though the more indignation they cause among their “enemies” (the Catholics and the Muslims, apparently), the more they are sure God will reward them in the afterlife. Maybe they have never read Jesus’ words that the road they are to follow in Him is narrow, so they are not at all so guaranteed, no matter how much money, power, and wealth they accumulate while spreading their message.
If anti-Catholic voices are growing, it is probably a result of this sort of attitude, that they are knocking down a “false Church” or something like that, in order to bring people to the “true” teaching (which is, of course, whatever their particular sect, no matter how small, happens to teach!). The people who claim these things (and they are not all Protestant Evangelicals; some are Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Atheist, etc.) generally wouldn’t know Apostolic Christianity from a hole in the ground, so I do not take their objections very seriously. The ex-Catholics (no matter what religion) who also have that same mentality have generally rejected one or more point of Catholic teaching, and so hammer away at that one point because the Church won’t give them their way on the ordination of women, the acceptance of homosexuality, etc. Similarly, the very obvious “axe to grind” makes it hard for me to take them very seriously, either.
Anti-Catholic sentiment from the Orthodox is much more difficult to hear, but since they make up such a small part of the USA (especially in comparison to the Evangelicals, like the people you are talking about), I don’t often hear it outside of this board. Which is good, cos I love and respect the Orthodox very much (both Oriental and Eastern)!
Outside of those few, broad groups, I don’t see much anti-Catholic sentiment. Well, there are also athiests…but they’re anti-religion as much as specifically anti-Catholic, so I’m not sure they’re fair to include.
