Why Catholics and Westboro Baptist Church are different?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheTrinitySaves
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TheTrinitySaves

Guest
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
 
Your friend is not worth engaging. He’s an anti-Catholic bigot. Next time such a terrible analogy is employed, tell him Kim Jong Un and Jeffrey Dahmer were athieists, therefore you need to be careful of his view, he might want to eat and or torture you.
 
SyroMalankara said:
Your friend is not worth engaging. He’s an anti-Catholic bigot. Next time such a terrible analogy is employed, tell him Kim Jong Un and Jeffrey Dahmer were athieists, therefore you need to be careful of his view, he might want to eat and or torture you.
Click to expand...
Yes, but he specifically said the Catholic church believes in Jesus like the Westboro church did and I did not now how to respond.
 
Explain to her that the Catholic Church was founded 2000 years ago by Jesus Christ and has spread to all parts of the world, governed by an unbroken line of successors going back to the men Jesus himself chose to lead the Church.

The Westboro Baptist Church was started in 1931, has 40 members who are primarily the extended family of its founder.
 
Well right, heres the thing. People say the same about literally EVERY GROUP ON EARTH. I.E. Republicans are KKK activists, Democrats are Communists. etc. Its a absurd arguement on the idea that you belong to the Catholic church, which believes in Christ, and that because there is some insignificant fringe group out there being violent in the name of Christ, must mean that by extension you are violent. This is absurd and is the fallacy of guilt by association. If everyone did this, we would be at each others necks all the time. It is still absurd that people make this assumptions without any fact or evidence to quote.
 
LordHaveMercy said:
Explain to her that the Catholic Church was founded 2000 years ago by Jesus Christ and has spread to all parts of the world, governed by an unbroken line of successors going back to the men Jesus himself chose to lead the Church.

The Westboro Baptist Church was started in 1931, has 40 members who are primarily the extended family of its founder.
Click to expand...
Excellent response.
 
The difference is as simple as love vs. hate. God is love and His Church is love. Even the hard teachings have their source in love - once properly understood. WBC is mainly hatred of all that they disagree with (which apparently is quite a lot).
 
I would think your friend is referring to both churches at their core holding fundamentalist biblical beliefs. For example, when the bible says marriage is between a man and a women, both Catholicism and Westboro believe it. The difference is the Catholic Church uses foundational biblical concepts to promote love and the historic faith, Westboro maybe not seen as doing the same.

That said, your friend appears to be twisting truth to support a preconceived belief that the Christian Faith is bad. This is called Confirmation Bias and is a foundational concept of contemporary liberal philosophy. Facts and evidence don’t matter, only what they believe is true.

The best way to counter statements such as your friends is to learn more deeply about your faith and then you will have the answers at hand.

Good luck.
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
Click to expand...
Point to the tabernacle in the Catholic Church. If the sanctuary lamp is lit then Jesus Christ – body, blood, soul and divinity – is present.
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
Click to expand...
What would you say to someone who called your mother a prostitute and used the word indicating your dad’s parents never married?
 
Maybe he thought those Catholics he has come across (especially on web sites) are bossy.

With my Catholic hat on I have found the Catholic faith as free and easy as those I consider true protestants. Many other Catholics have told me they think it should be far harder going.

Therefore your friend will never hear two opinions alike, even from the horses’ mouths!
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
Yes, but he specifically said the Catholic church believes in Jesus like the Westboro church did and I did not now how to respond.
Click to expand...
Westboro “believes” in their version of Jesus, not the Christ we worship. They can claim anything, while rejectimg the Church and Apostolic Faith, the Bible is uaed as a weapon.
 
Westboro claims that God hates gays. The Catholic Church does not. Simple as that.
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
Yes, but he specifically said the Catholic church believes in Jesus like the Westboro church did and I did not now how to respond.
Click to expand...
It appears your friend is just trying to connect the CC with hate, which is futile. WBC could care less about Jesus, who He was, and what He did. Their goal is to always find excuses, using Jesus as their poster boy, to throw mud and take delight in hate. Who in their right mind would take pleasure in damning people to hell while protesting funerals of our fallen heroes? I can promise you, you would NEVER see the CC condoning this sort of behavior.

Using “believe in Jesus” as common ground for WBC and the CC is like saying Mother Theresa is just like Hitler because they tied their shoes the same way. Really?
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
Click to expand...
If he makes a claim, HE must defend it! The burden is not on you, but on HIM to explain to you and make his case that the Catholic Church is or was like the Westboro church. You don’t need to know all the answers. Ask HIM questions! Make HIM back that claim up. You have not lost any argument, for there was no argument to start with.
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
Click to expand...
This is about divine vs human tradiion

Fred Phelps invented the Westboro Baptist Church in 1954
Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church #34, Open up all the internal links. A condensed history of the 1st 400 years
 
MrZoom said:
Westboro claims that God hates gays. The Catholic Church does not. Simple as that.
Click to expand...
But engaging in gay relationships is an abomination to God, he may not hate gay people, but he does hate gay behavior so to speak.

Im not sure I would call Westboro a hate group though, I mean, Ive never seen a member kill or attempt to harm anyone, they seem to just enjoy being vocal and protesting, thats not exactly dangerous, and really the same thing is happening on college campuses all over the country right now, but on the flip side.
 
Challenge him. How does he know they are similar? Make him explain it or tell him that you are offended and make it take it back since he is talking about things he does not understand.

If he simply remarks that the things he hears WBC say are similar to what he hears the CC say, tell him that his opinion is superficial if it is only based on hearsay. Make him spell it out.

Do not be forced into defending the CC until he spells out what his comparison is.

Also do not empower the WBC by making them the topic. They are just looking for attention with their provocations. Do not make the WBC the topic.

Your atheist friend has an issue with the CC. Make him spell it out.

Remember that what people hate about the CC is some lie they have been told. You have to find out what their particular misunderstanding is. It is like therapy. Make them do the talking. Make them describe their reasons.

BTW, the WBC is a fundamentalist church that has misinterpreted the old testament to mean that God hates most people. This idea is based on a Calvinist, predestination theological error and is contradicted by the New Testament. The WBC fails to consider the bible in its whole, makes their own erroneous personal interpretation and is heretical. To compare them to the CC is insulting and you have every right to make your friend know you are insulted by his ignorance and ask him to apologize.
 
TheTrinitySaves said:
My friend who is an athiest said that the Catholic Church was similar to Westboro. I obviously strongly disagreed, but I was not sure why in full. Can anyone give me some advice next time he brings it up so I can engage in a better conversation and will allow me to the defend the faith better. I feel ashamed because I felt like a lost the arguement when I tried to explain why Catholicism is so much different and so much better then the Westboro.
Click to expand...
Your friend is an idiot. Some democrats have murdered people, so all democrats are murderers? That’s basically what he is saying.

How about because Catholics don’t believe they can point fingers and day people are in hell? How about because Catholics generally aren’t in the habit of saying ‘God Hates insert demeaning insult here’. How about because Catholics aren’t all crazy attention seekers who only care about getting air time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top