Why do other Christians "hate" Catholics?

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28562 said:
I’m sure many of you have had some of the same experiences I have regarding many Protestants. I’m not sure what it is that makes them so hateful, judgmental, and rude towards Catholics. What is it? I feel that a lot of it is ignorance about who we really are, but what is their reasoning for their opinions?
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What makes Catholics hostile towards non-Catholics? What makes Sunni Muslims hostile towards Shia Muslims? What makes humans hostile towards other humans?
 
SteveVH said:
It seems to me that the word “hate” just comes on way to strong in describing various views among Christians. I will say that there is little doubt that the Catholic Church in general is truly “hated” by some segments of our society in which we are accused of shoving our morals down people’s throats (never really understood that one).

But while we can get into some heated arguments and sometimes be less charitable than we should, I can’t imagine “hating” any poster on this forum and I don’t think there are many that do. As far as misunderstanding the Catholic faith, there is plenty of that, but an equal share in the misunderstanding of Catholics when it comes to various Protestant denominations. I just don’ think it translates into “hate”.
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I basically agree that hate is a strong word, but I think many of them do hate the institution as opposed to the people in it who they see as trapped in a false religion and in need of salvation.

I mean descriptions like “Satan’s greatest accomplishment” and “Whore of Babylon” are not just tongue in cheek statements.
 
28562 said:
I’m sure many of you have had some of the same experiences I have regarding many Protestants. I’m not sure what it is that makes them so hateful, judgmental, and rude towards Catholics. What is it? I feel that a lot of it is ignorance about who we really are, but what is their reasoning for their opinions?
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I am a convert to Catholicism in a very Protestant Western Colorado Community. I know that many of my friends do not understand why I became a Catholic but I have never ever been treated in a hateful manner what so ever.

One of my closest friends is a wife of a Southern Baptist minister. We pray for each other. I of course pray that she and her husband will find their way home. She probably prays for my soul as well.
 
28562 said:
I’m sure many of you have had some of the same experiences I have regarding many Protestants. I’m not sure what it is that makes them so hateful, judgmental, and rude towards Catholics. What is it? I feel that a lot of it is ignorance about who we really are, but what is their reasoning for their opinions?
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Rebellious children often ‘hate’ their parents. Until they grow up.
 
28562 said:
My question was inspired by the many ignorant and hateful, if not just stupid and disrespectful comments I have gotten throughout my life from non Catholics. It’s not imagined, it’s things they actually said. If I’m not mistaken, the worst offenders were Pentecostal holiness members and church of Christ members. Extremely judgmental would be putting it lightly.
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I was a church of Christ member (Campbellite) before I converted. And on that score you are absolutely correct. But it is not solely Catholics that they hate. They hate everyone but themselves. Sunday after Sunday I had to I had to listen to LONG diatribes on how they were %100 correct and everyone else was wrong.

C of C along with other Restorationists like Mormons and SDA believe the original church became “totally apostate” and ceased to exist until their founders ‘restored’ the original true church back into existence.

There churches which they call ‘buildings’ are extremely barren because Catholic churches are decorated. They have their own vocabulary in opposition to Catholics and everything Catholic. So they call hymnals ‘song books’, churches become ‘buildings’ and ‘auditoria’. Even Sunday School not really a Catholic term, becomes ‘bible classes’.
 
Hockeygurl said:
This and…

I just want to point out that I don’t hate Catholics… I am married to one!

My husbands rather large family is almost entirely Catholic… so what I know, I know from them.

**1. It is frustrating to some when you hear that “it’s the true church” and “fullness of truth” and then in the next sentence state that you don’t agree with the church on Birth Control. **
  1. Catholic Education around here is sorely lacking. It’s pretty bad when I have to tell them what the CCC states on an issue.
  2. Those who are relatively well educated tend to be overly scrupulous… very annoying to listen to.
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That specifically kills me. It’s one of the single most frustrating things I hear a person say. Not specifically birth control, but anytime someone says, “I’m Catholic but [let me tell you all the ways the Church is wrong].”
 
RedFox0456 said:
That specifically kills me. It’s one of the single most frustrating things I hear a person say. Not specifically birth control, but anytime someone says, “I’m Catholic but [let me tell you all the ways the Church is wrong].”
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The best one I ever heard was from a young lady who accosted me after a public theology debate I took part in about how I was wrong about gay marriage; but then a few sentences later announced she did porn because it “empowered her” :rolleyes:

Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. It gave me a good laugh either way, especially when she said she taught RCIA! :rotfl: :coolinoff:
 
andrewstx said:
I was a church of Christ member (Campbellite) before I converted. And on that score you are absolutely correct. But it is not solely Catholics that they hate. They hate everyone but themselves. Sunday after Sunday I had to I had to listen to LONG diatribes on how they were %100 correct and everyone else was wrong.

C of C along with other Restorationists like Mormons and SDA believe the original church became “totally apostate” and ceased to exist until their founders ‘restored’ the original true church back into existence.

There churches which they call ‘buildings’ are extremely barren because Catholic churches are decorated. They have their own vocabulary in opposition to Catholics and everything Catholic. So they call hymnals ‘song books’, churches become ‘buildings’ and ‘auditoria’. Even Sunday School not really a Catholic term, becomes ‘bible classes’.
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Interesting. So it’s actually something taught in some churches. I was curious about that. My dad grew up in the C of C. His family still is. His brother is a pastor. My mom was raised Catholic. When they got married, his family refused to come. My parents had been married for 30 some years and my dad was considering conversion to Catholicism. (Might as well, he’s gone to Mass with us every Sunday as long as they’ve been married) he told his pastor brother about it and he told my dad he shouldn’t do it and it would be “the worst thing that has EVER happened to their family”.
My dad didn’t convert. Come to think of it, maybe I should see how he feels now. That was probably 10-15 yrs ago.

What is the coc reasoning for believing everyone else is wrong?
 
I do not think all Christians hate Catholic’s or other people’s religious faith or beliefs. I think that there are those who do but are the minority and not the majority.
 
whatsmyname said:
There seem to be many, many accusations on these boards that others “hate” Catholics.

It always brings to mind the quotation, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what other people think of you if you knew how seldom they do.”

For the non-Catholics or former Catholics, were your lives really filled with seething hatred of Catholicism before your conversion or did you spend your life like I did - never giving one thought to Catholicism at all, never having one conversation about Catholicism? Did your churches really preach hatred or judgment of Catholicism or did they preach Christianity and scripture? Has my life experience attending literally scores of non-Catholic churches all over the world and never ever hearing Catholics or Catholicism mentioned been such an extremely rare thing? Are Catholics paranoid?
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A lovely, interesting post 👍 Good for you 🙂
 
28562 said:
Interesting. So it’s actually something taught in some churches. I was curious about that. My dad grew up in the C of C. His family still is. His brother is a pastor. My mom was raised Catholic. When they got married, his family refused to come. My parents had been married for 30 some years and my dad was considering conversion to Catholicism. (Might as well, he’s gone to Mass with us every Sunday as long as they’ve been married) he told his pastor brother about it and he told my dad he shouldn’t do it and it would be “the worst thing that has EVER happened to their family”.
My dad didn’t convert. Come to think of it, maybe I should see how he feels now. That was probably 10-15 yrs ago.

What is the coc reasoning for believing everyone else is wrong?
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That will take some explaining and even a bit of history. The c of c is an extremely fundamental group. They were founded by basically three men in the 1800s who became very tired of all the fussing between Protestant groups at the time. So they decided to scrap all theological forms and start all over. They felt that all churches were ‘apostate’ and bad. So they started a new denomination to be the only Church founded on a strict literal interpretation of the bible and excluded all others.

They taught a Restorationist view. That all the extent churches were ‘totally apostate’ worst of all was the Catholic church. That’s why all the hate for Catholics began.

They thought the way to go is by a literal word by word interpretation of the bible. any thing ordered specific in the bible was ‘from God’ anything not ordered specific in the bible is ‘not from God’ and therefore condemned. They are very particular, that is why they don’t have organs in their ‘buildings’. The bible does not specifically order their use so therefore organs are forbidden.

When I left the c of c and converted I was told by my family that I 'had left Christ and THE church".

The c of c is very southern, with all the anti-Catholic sentiment that usually incurs.
 
I don’t think other Christians hate us… but rather they think we’re under the spell of some wicked cult that is leading us all to hell. They think:

~The Catholic Church is not “Christ-centered”.

~The Catholic Church is not “Bible-centered”.

~Idolatry.

~Worship of Mary/Saints.

~Salvation through works.

and others…

Just look at some of the major Protestant/Reformed websites/forums and see what they have to say about us. They may not hate “us” per se; but numerous Protestants (but by no means the majority, though) have no love or respect for our faith.
 
RedFox0456 said:
That specifically kills me. It’s one of the single most frustrating things I hear a person say. Not specifically birth control, but anytime someone says, “I’m Catholic but [let me tell you all the ways the Church is wrong].”
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They irritates me too.
 
andrewstx said:
I was a church of Christ member (Campbellite) before I converted. And on that score you are absolutely correct. But it is not solely Catholics that they hate. They hate everyone but themselves. Sunday after Sunday I had to I had to listen to LONG diatribes on how they were %100 correct and everyone else was wrong.

C of C along with other Restorationists like Mormons and SDA believe the original church became “totally apostate” and ceased to exist until their founders ‘restored’ the original true church back into existence.

There churches which they call ‘buildings’ are extremely barren because Catholic churches are decorated. They have their own vocabulary in opposition to Catholics and everything Catholic. So they call hymnals ‘song books’, churches become ‘buildings’ and ‘auditoria’. Even Sunday School not really a Catholic term, becomes ‘bible classes’.
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I grew up in this Church as well, and once again I have to say, I did not experience this as hate. I was loved as a child in this Church and I was taught to love the Bible and Christ. I became a Catholic because I did not agree with the teaching of this Church, but I loved the people and I was able to bring all that love and embrace everything else that the Catholic Church has given me.

I understood why that Church taught such strict simplicity but I disagreed with it. It is possible to disagree and still love.
 
whatsmyname said:
There seem to be many, many accusations on these boards that others “hate” Catholics.

It always brings to mind the quotation, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what other people think of you if you knew how seldom they do.”

For the non-Catholics or former Catholics, were your lives really filled with seething hatred of Catholicism before your conversion or did you spend your life like I did - never giving one thought to Catholicism at all, never having one conversation about Catholicism? Did your churches really preach hatred or judgment of Catholicism or did they preach Christianity and scripture? Has my life experience attending literally scores of non-Catholic churches all over the world and never ever hearing Catholics or Catholicism mentioned been such an extremely rare thing? Are Catholics paranoid?
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All I can tell you is, if you read any internet news stories about the Catholic Church, it’s always something negative and so are the comments. Stories about the Pope can be either positive, negative or neutral but the comments are always overwhelming negative. Lately I’ve noticed that the comments have gone from merely negative to actually advocating that Catholics be killed. I’m not exaggerating. It isn’t paranoia to notice these things.

As for other churches, my mother, before she came back to the Church, had attended several other churches, Baptist and non-denominational. At every one, the preacher railed on and on about Catholics! It was so bad on one occasion, that the friend who invited her later apologized for that insulting sermon.

Savaging Catholics and their beliefs seems to be fashionable nowadays.
 
When I wish to explain how Catholics worship Christ and the Mass, then they refuse to have any more dialogue, still more focused on our relationship with Mary.

I pray for them…am always open … for an opening…but now I find out they have disagreements and divisions in their own families, different members going to different churches.
 
I find the title of this thread rather offensive. I am not sure why these types of generalizations about other Christians keep popping up as questions, like why do … believe this or understand that or hate us or Jesuits etc. We need to stop lumping all other Christians together. Most other Christians which ususally 90% of the time are Protestant don’t hate Catholics. There is only a small group of fundamentalists that actually teach what could be called “hatred” but if they do, they are just as hard on other Protestants as well and us Catholics are not alone in the hatred department. If we want to have an intelligent charitable conversation, the generalization of other religions and beliefs need to stop. All it shows is immaturity on our part. I wish the moderators would bann these types of titles on these types of threads. All this does is cause arguments, defensiveness and does not promote discussion.
 
robwar said:
I find the title of this thread rather offensive. I am not sure why these types of generalizations about other Christians keep popping up as questions, like why do … believe this or understand that or hate us or Jesuits etc. We need to stop lumping all other Christians together. Most other Christians which ususally 90% of the time are Protestant don’t hate Catholics. There is only a small group of fundamentalists that actually teach what could be called “hatred” but if they do, they are just as hard on other Protestants as well and us Catholics are not alone in the hatred department. If we want to have an intelligent charitable conversation, the generalization of other religions and beliefs need to stop. All it shows is immaturity on our part. I wish the moderators would bann these types of titles on these types of threads. All this does is cause arguments, defensiveness and does not promote discussion.
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Thank you, robwar.

Do you folks really care about people who hate you? Seriously? I don’t care myself if strangers were to hate me unless: 1) They could actually harm me; or 2) I wanted fellowship with them and felt excluded. Are any of you really in fear for your life or safety from such people here in the US? Do any of you really want fellowship with these people and honestly feel hurt?
 
Good grief. I certainly expected reasonable grown adults to be able to understand that a reasonable person who is clearly posting rationally would obviously know that all other people don’t “hate” Catholics. And I certainly figured that most people would understand the intent behind putting the word hate in quotes. Guess I was wrong. :rolleyes: Arguing semantics is one of my biggest pet peeves.
 
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