I think even the author of OP would readily acknowledge that not all non-Catholics bash Catholics, though it certainly seems that way at times. As a life-long conservative Presbyterian I’ll frankly admit that the tone of Reformation theology by definition is a matter of reforming the Church from whatever ills were perceived at the time of the Reformation back to the pure religion of Holy Scripture and the teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Both prior to the Protestant Reformation, and during and following it Rome has also sought to continually purify both it’s actions and teachings in keeping with Christ’s guidance. Whether from the Crusades, the Inquisition, the largely Calvinistic Protestant religious wars of France and Germany, the Presbyterian drowning of Baptists, the Puritan hangings of so-called witches, discriminatory policies and actions against Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and, yes, even Protestants, we each have borne a responsibility for grievous sins against the other, both individually and as religious groups.
It’s doubtful that perhaps the most prized English translation of the Scriptures among Protestants, the KJV, would even have been undertaken had it not been for the extreme anti-Catholic sentiment expressed in a predecessor Calvinistic Geneva Bible. Growing up Presbyterian, as I still ardently am, I was subjected to a continuing stream of anti-Catholic sentiment, and to this day many of my Calvinist brothers consider an equalizing between Rome and the Whore of Babylon, just as most every Christian group has considered another whom they consider has “departed” from the ‘truth’.
It’s troubling that religious fervour often precludes religious tolerance, but there’s little disputing that either by degree of intensity or quantity of expression Christians of either a Catholic of Protestant persuasion bear the historical stigma of bashing one another to death, defying the very prayer of our mutual LORD, “may all be one” (Jn.17:21).
To my Catholic brethren I submit my apology. I have Catholic friends, and grew up with them. I have black friends, and grew up with them. My friendship does not erase lingering hostilities or enmity between others and myself, it only heightens that I am they and they are me despite our religious or racial differences, and indeed highlights our mutual need of and dependence upon the same Lord Jesus Christ. Religious fervour is a delight for those of us who cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts!”, but in the hands of us sinners it too often is wielded to terrible action and result. Never was there a time when I did not love Catholics or counter the railings against them by my own, but in holding Catholic-haters as my own I have torn the very fabric of love between all, and continue to do so in spite of myself. Praise God in Christ Jesus that He both purifies and heals individuals and His Church, in part and in whole.
The “Why?” of the thread title is a very complex question having both holy and unholy sources of intent, but where God hath said, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God”, I am indebted to those Catholics who would forgive me, and am daily challenged to conform my theological fervour to the blessed heart of Christ. I am wrong to try and correct wrongs wrongly, and I am wrong to abide wrongs in need of correcting, but I am wrong to bash either brother or enemy, and rather am humbled to give place unto wrath, for God is Judge.
