Why Are Some Protestants So Angry?

[Th0t]

Now I know it might seem a little bit of wasted thread space but it’s something I want to get off my chest.

Everywhere I have read on the internet where the Catholic Church is under discussion and about religion, Protestants always seem to respond in a very angry manner of how the Church and religion is the devil and against God and etc. etc. etc. we all know the story…

For example: There was a story of a convert and people were posting comments about “how much are they paying u an hour to say your a Catholic?”

How sad!

 

[JustaServant]

Dispite being called the ‘worldwide web’, internet forums are a much smaller world then people realize. Many times the people you are encountering online are the fanatics. They do not represent mainstream Protestantism. Traffic on some forums can also be manipulated by the owners, as well as the usernames. There is a particular forum I will not name that is made up of mainly ‘sock puppets’ of the owner, his family and friends. So it appears you are talking to two or four people, but you are actually only talking to one person.

 

[GramdpaMunster]

The internet allows people to communicate ananymously, and that brings out the worst in some people. Which includes saying things they wouldnt say in public because they know it’s not true and would make them look foolish.

 

[JustaServant]

The internet allows people to communicate ananymously, and that brings out the worst in some people. Which includes saying things they wouldnt say in public because they know it’s not true and would make them look foolish.

I can see a time when communicating anonymously online will come to an end. European countries have already done that. We are right now in the ‘golden age’ of the internet. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Ya big jerk!

 

[bibagirl]

Now I know it might seem a little bit of wasted thread space but it’s something I want to get off my chest.

Everywhere I have read on the internet where the Catholic Church is under discussion and about religion, Protestants always seem to respond in a very angry manner of how the Church and religion is the devil and against God and etc. etc. etc. we all know the story…

For example: There was a story of a convert and people were posting comments about “how much are they paying u an hour to say your a Catholic?”

How sad!

Unfortunately no religion has a monopoly on angry fanatic views - even in these forums I´ve seem extremist angry catholic views. Everybody knows about Muslim fanatacism that is only a tiny minority of Muslims are like that yet they all get tarred with the same brush. there are angry Jews too (eg. Gaza strip). I haven´t heard anything about angry Hindus or Buddists, but maybe my knowledge is limited as I live in Europe and not Asia.

I´m of the view that extremist views of any type (including Catholic!!) are bad, because people lose touch with reality and justify drastic actions. I saw in some forum extremist Catholic pro-lifers justifying the murder or abortionists!! Jesus Christ would be horrified!!

 

[colliric]

The internet allows people to communicate ananymously, and that brings out the worst in some people. Which includes saying things they wouldnt say in public because they know it’s not true and would make them look foolish.

That’s true, however sometimes the converse is also true. It can also help people express good opinions sometimes.

 

[Jolly_Joe]

I think to some people all of life is simply a football game with the sole object being to “win”. If they can say something and intimidate or cause the other to withdraw, they consider that a win.

People even do the same in their own families. A disagreement is not something where they work through it and discuss it and try to reach a solutiion, no, they approach it like the sole purpose is to “win”. They hurl insults, they drag up old conflicts, it the other has ever had one moment of weakness or made a mistake they drag that up and throw it in their face.

And so they leave a wake of hurt in their path.

You can easily see it in man/woman relationships. People who have decided the opposite sex is the enemy and simply there to be hated and abused and used.

And the whole thing doesn’t stop with people who are members of some Christian group. I think they think of those in other groups in terms of a stereotype they’ve created in their own mind and don’t really deal with individuals as an individual human being. They use tired old argument techniques that are logically flawed and they take it upon themselves to attack wherever and whenever they can. For some reason, I think many of them think of themselves as some sort of hero.

 

[VociMike]

I can see a time when communicating anonymously online will come to an end. European countries have already done that. We are right now in the ‘golden age’ of the internet. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Ya big jerk!

Nazi!

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin’s_law)

 

[VociMike]

John Henry Newman wrote an interesting essay that claimed that Protestantism needs to lie about Catholicism to continue to exist. I think there is a similar need for anger against Catholicism.

 

[Debra_C]

Now I know it might seem a little bit of wasted thread space but it’s something I want to get off my chest.

Everywhere I have read on the internet where the Catholic Church is under discussion and about religion, Protestants always seem to respond in a very angry manner of how the Church and religion is the devil and against God and etc. etc. etc. we all know the story…

For example: There was a story of a convert and people were posting comments about “how much are they paying u an hour to say your a Catholic?”

How sad!

Somone else may have already offered these two possible answers, but here’s my best shot.

plssibility number 1: they have been taught incorrectly about just what Catholics believe, either maliciously or out of ignorance, and see us as idol worshippers that sell forgiveness in advance for the right donation among other things.

possibility number 2: They resent the difficulty of keeping the tenets of the faith, particularly precepts and/or obligations they find difficult to accept or understand and the authority of the pope. They don’t wish to have to change their lifestyle to be Christian, and find it arrogant that the Church would expect such. Some examples of such difficult precepts might include the prohibition on contraception, the absolute pro life stance, the lack of ordination of women (all of which are interpreted by the world as keeping women in servitude), the Church’s refusal to bend on homosexuality and other subjects that the world at large sees as hateful or discriminatory, and perhaps most importantly, the sacrament of Confession and the Real Presence.

I think the anger comes largely from the fact that the natural law is written on the hearts of men, and so, deep down inside we all really do know better. But admitting it means giving up all those worldly and selfish pleasures we become so attached to and accepting God’s will rather than insisting on our own.

I myself was once angry about the seeming many hardships my family has had to struggle with that other people don’t seem to have to. Now I can see that He has used these things to draw us to Him in a very special way and strengthen us.

 

[Debra_C]

Unfortunately no religion has a monopoly on angry fanatic views - even in these forums I´ve seem extremist angry catholic views. Everybody knows about Muslim fanatacism that is only a tiny minority of Muslims are like that yet they all get tarred with the same brush. there are angry Jews too (eg. Gaza strip). I haven´t heard anything about angry Hindus or Buddists, but maybe my knowledge is limited as I live in Europe and not Asia.

I´m of the view that extremist views of any type (including Catholic!!) are bad, because people lose touch with reality and justify drastic actions. I saw in some forum extremist Catholic pro-lifers justifying the murder or abortionists!! Jesus Christ would be horrified!!

Angry Hindu extremists recently went on a 3 month rampage in one province of India, burning homes, forcing Christians to renounce their faith, etc… a number of Catholic priests and religious and Protestant ministers were killed. Several hundred families were left homeless. Churches were damaged and burned. Very ugly stuff. I beleive it was at last controlled by military intervention. This is, of course, not typical of Hinduism, either. The squabble apparently began when a terrorist assassinated a well known guru of a particularly devout sect. Christians were blamed for the death.

One thing all should be able to learn from human history is that none of us are truly immune to falling into terrible sin and violence, regardless of race, culture, or creed. We must always remain watchful.

 

[Al_Masetti]

I think to some people all of life is simply a football game with the sole object being to “win”. If they can say something and intimidate or cause the other to withdraw, they consider that a win.

People even do the same in their own families. A disagreement is not something where they work through it and discuss it and try to reach a solutiion, no, they approach it like the sole purpose is to “win”. They hurl insults, they drag up old conflicts, it the other has ever had one moment of weakness or made a mistake they drag that up and throw it in their face.

And so they leave a wake of hurt in their path.

You can easily see it in man/woman relationships. People who have decided the opposite sex is the enemy and simply there to be hated and abused and used.

And the whole thing doesn’t stop with people who are members of some Christian group. I think they think of those in other groups in terms of a stereotype they’ve created in their own mind and don’t really deal with individuals as an individual human being. They use tired old argument techniques that are logically flawed and they take it upon themselves to attack wherever and whenever they can. For some reason, I think many of them think of themselves as some sort of hero.

One of my non-Catholic friends said he believes in the bumpersticker: When you die, whoever has the most toys wins.

 

[bibagirl]

Angry Hindu extremists recently went on a 3 month rampage in one province of India, burning homes, forcing Christians to renounce their faith, etc… a number of Catholic priests and religious and Protestant ministers were killed. Several hundred families were left homeless. Churches were damaged and burned. Very ugly stuff. I beleive it was at last controlled by military intervention. This is, of course, not typical of Hinduism, either. The squabble apparently began when a terrorist assassinated a well known guru of a particularly devout sect. Christians were blamed for the death.

One thing all should be able to learn from human history is that none of us are truly immune to falling into terrible sin and violence, regardless of race, culture, or creed. We must always remain watchful.

Thank you Debra, I was not aware of Hindu extremism or or what happened in India. In my post I wasd trying to get across exactly what you so well articulated in your last two sentances.