So it’s ok for Troy because the media doesn’t make as big a deal of it? And why shouldn’t the football field be a place for group prayer? What better way to grow ad a team than to pray together? Troy could bow his head without making the sign of the cross. I’m not saying he should, but he could. People express their spirituality in different ways.
The Catholic version of Tebow is Jesus Christ: in that it is not about the the person, it is about Christ. There are millions of Catholics at any given moment doing what Tebow has made himself famous for, we just make it about Christ and not the person.
What Tebow has done is taken prayer/Christ that belongs to Christ and made it his own and is now the latest protestant celebrity to hit the scene. That is the sad thing about protestantism is that ultimately it always ends up being about the person and not about Christ.
Example, why is there only one Joel Olsteen and one Lakewood mega-church? Because people go to see Joel first, and Christ second. If it were not about Joel, there would be no need for a stadium converted into a church. He could have several ‘churches’ scattered about teaching about Christ. But, if he did that, the celebrity status would fade.
On the flip-side, the Catholic Church is 1000% Christ first, it is not about the individual. I can attend Mass at any Church and it is the same message. I do not have to seek out an individual to receive it.
The same with our personal life. Do we make a spectacle of our Christ-like actions, or take a back-seat and give all Glory to Him.
(my first post on CAF, i meant for it to be short… my apologies if i rambled a bit much)
Assuming what you said is true, the people you asked sound like lapsed or generally apathetic Catholics. Nobody gives such a brief answer like that if they truly practice and believe their faith.
You’re grasping at straws here. Many nations are poor today who have never been colonies of Spain. Our problems aren’t what Spain did. Every nation, every culture, has been oppressed by a conqueror at one point of its history or another. The fact that we as a culture haven’t figured out how to fix our problems 114 years after Spain left is not Spain’s fault anymore.
I agree, but Catholics are easy pickings for them. They can convert Catholics en masse because they don’t have to talk much about Jesus and the Bible because Catholic know about them. Would they dare go to China or the Middle East? Some do but a great majority doesn’t. Why risk their lives for a handful of converts when they can go to Catholic countries and form congregations of hundreds or even thousands in a few years. Its no secret that predominantly Catholic countries that are poor financially are also usually poorly catechized. The nation is financially poor because the level of education is low, and that includes catechesis. Enter the Protestants.
That’s not necessarily so. Many priests in the USA are now coming from places like Africa, the Philippines, and India. And having encountered them I can tell you they put many American priests, still lost in the sixties, to shame. So the Catechicis there must be superior to what we see in the USA.
Oh you need to watch more closely he does it on every single down he is in. But personally I do not see it as him making a spectacle of himself, I see him as shwoing glory to his God and could care less what people say.
I don’t think praying to Mary is any more an indication that Jesus isn’t first in Catholic lives than your posting here indicates that.
Hi Kathleen–[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]
, I’m intelligent, usually able to grasp nuances without a problem, and a good reader. But, I will readily acknowledge that I still don’t understand Catholicism.Well said. Kids are exposed to so much junk via popular media, and are under so much peer pressure to fit in. Do we have to run down one of the few good examples they see on television? I’m not a big Tebow fan, but compared to what else is out there, sheesh, leave him be.
No, you’re missing the point. I challenge you to find any cultural flaws in this country that cannot be attributed to Spain or any foreign influence. You’ll find little or none at all. (This is even assuming we have enough information on our pre-colonial heritage to begin with.)
I used to live in the Philippines so have some perspective.
Kathleen—
Hi Kathleen–[BIBLEDRB][/BIBLEDRB]
I think maybe you’ve said something more significant in your first sentence than you may realize: **Catholicism **can be easily misunderstood on the surface.
For nearly three years I’ve been part of another forum that’s mostly Catholic. I’ve been reading at CAF for one year. I didn’t grow up with anti-**Catholic **influence–I’ve always considered **Catholic **friends as Christians; my dad was subscribed to the partly-Catholic magazine “First Things” for much of the 90’s and I usually borrowed the issues from him; and I’ve read from **Catholic **authors during the whole time (30 years) I’ve been a Christian. And, though I say it myself
So, my reason for saying all that has to do with the second thing you wrote here. I strongly encourage you to be less judgmental, unless you have clear proof that you can share, than to say that prejudice against **Catholics **is “based on deliberate misrepresentation by certain Protestant leaders”. I think it more likely that they sincerely don’t understand the nuances of Catholicism, though they may think they understand it, rather than deliberate misrepresentation on their part. You know that Archbishop Sheen quote, I’m sure.
“Love believes the best…” We **Protestants **sure don’t get much love around here.
I am going to rewrite this posting for you in a variety of ways and ask you to read it and ask yourself some questions. Only you know those questions. I know a question I will ask you after I am done.
First where you see all the words red and bold ask yourself if you can see a peculiarity and then read the next posting concerning what you wrote.