Why do Protestants hate the Catholic Church?

[Jerusha]

Who knows, maybe someday the NCR Forum will grow into two different forums: the ACNCR (Anti-Catholic Non-Catholic Religions) Forum and the PCNCR (Pro-Catholic Non-Catholic Religions) Forum. Maybe. :idea:

 

[rbarcia]

Why is it that most non-catholics (protestants) hate the Catholic Church? Every time someone knocks on my door, the first thing out of their mouths is something bad about the Catholic Church. I have a co-worker who, every time he sees me at work, he starts talking about the Catholic Church and how the Catholic teachings are not correct. I like hearing him because every time he tells me something (about salvation and works, Mary, the Eucharist, praying to the Saints, etc), I look it up and found information that makes me believe my Catholic faith even more.

His latest talk was about how the Catholic Church was created in 600 A.D. I said no, that it had been instituted by Christ and that it was born in Pentecost. He said that the CHURCH was born in Pentecost but that the Catholic Church was born 600 A.D. He then said that the Bible was formalized by the Council of Laodicea and that it has nothing to say about the Catholic Church.

So, I looked it up, and to my surprise, the Council of Laodicea does not include the books taken out by the Protestant Churches (Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, etc.) So I was confused. But upon carefully reading about the Canon in the Council of Laodicea, I found that the Book of Revelation was also not included in the Canon! So I did more research and found that the Canon was revised and in the Council of Carthrage (419 A.D.) added the book of Revelation along with Maccabees, Judith, etc. into the Canon. I also found that in many early Councils, especially on the Council of Nicea, the Catholic Church is mentioned.

So why do this protestant churches believe this??? Can’t they read??? Let’s become ONE STRONG CHURCH!

Calling a debate about books and councils hateful is just irresponsible? Hate is Raping people, killing people for faith, etc…

Whenever a catholic disagrees with theology, is it hateful? This is just the same type of “victim” mentality that lead to words like Islamophobia.

Having a debate about books and councils = Hate ?

I would say this statement

"Can’t they read??? "

Is hateful and insulting

 

[Peter_J]

Whenever a catholic disagrees with theology, is it hateful?

Well yes, in the sense that we “hate” the hatefulness of NCs.

 

[Mystophilus]

Calling a debate about books and councils hateful is just irresponsible? Hate is Raping people, killing people for faith, etc…

…]

I would say this statement Is hateful and insulting

While I appreciate the fact that the OP’s representation of Protestantism is less than fair, I would suggest looking at the context:

Every time someone knocks …] a co-worker who, every time he sees me

The OP appears to be responding out of frustration, not hatred. Maybe you have never been subject to that emotion, and thus have never exaggerated anything as a result, but I have and would therefore rather cut my fellow sinner some slack.

 

[Lucy107]

The OP appears to be responding out of frustration, not hatred. Maybe you have never been subject to that emotion, and thus have never exaggerated anything as a result, but I have and would therefore rather cut my fellow sinner some slack.

That’s too mild.
No goodness ever remains unpunished.

 

[CatholicJon]

I don’t know if it was posted yet.

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church…As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.” Venerable Fulton Sheen

 

[CompSciGuy]

I don’t know if it was posted yet.

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church…As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.” Venerable Fulton Sheen

This is a very frequently quoted snippet from Bishop Sheen. Unfortunately though when I have encountered anti-Catholicism it is fairly often that the people who I am encountering know full well what the Catholic Church teaches and even some idea of why she teaches it, and still hates the Catholic Church and what she teaches.

 

[Selah_KY]

Hate may be a strong word, but there is definitely distrust and the outright preaching that Catholics aren’t Christian.

I’m sorry but as a Protestant with many in my family Protestants as well, most don’t even think about the Catholic Church.

Noting your location, I would venture a guess that a lot of this is because of the culture you live in. I grew up in a Lutheran/Catholic culture and never really new there were denominations outside of them until I was in high school. It was quite a shock to me when we started homeschooling and spent more time living in the south, to find out that the vast majority of protestants believed that not only were Catholics not Christian, but neither were any people who were baptized as babies.

Then there was the time I discovered the anti-Catholic shelf at my favorite family-owned bookstore…

1. Everyone wants to be right and teach the teachings from Christ that they don’t understand that there is a unity in the teachings of Christ that we all share and a diversity in how it is manifested and lived.

In the end, it comes down to misunderstanding and simply not knowing the other and the mentality that we always have to be “right” which is terrible to say but that is unfortunately the root to the problem you and the Christian church is experiencing today.

This is what I think. I think often that need to be “right” comes from a place of fear. Grace is such a hard thing to understand and there’s always the possibility that if the RCC is “right”, then my denomination must be “wrong”, so therefore I’m not “saved”.

Agreed. I have spent time on another “christian” forum site and they list Catholicism as a heresy. The “christians” on that site are hateful. On this site things are much different and you are a good example of that very nice difference. Thank you.

I’ve run into this more than once.

I call my Pastor “Pastor Meier” but have been in other churches where I have been encouraged to call them Pastor - along with their first names.

LOL! Missouri Synod pastors are not EVER to be called by their first name. I’ve been to a ton of LCMS churches in seven states and that has been a universal. It was really funny because we were close friends with our pastor for years and even his WIFE called him Pastor or Pastor Lastname. That’s one thing that’s been an adjustment for me in the RCC because our priests are Father Firstname.

What is ELCA?

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The largest synod of Lutheran churches in America and decidedly liberal. That said, there are a lot of wonderful, Christian people who belong to ELCA churches.

It is not only the Catholic Christians who are being persecuted…Many, many others have been and still are being persecuted. We should pray for all as they endure these atrocities…God forbid that we ever have to be in a position such as they…

Blessings

Amen! True persecution is a very scary thing. Something Americans of all denominations aren’t really in a position to comprehend.

Always.

At some point, we are going to need to fit it into one of the prayers: “And this week, we are praying for the motley Communion; may God have mercy on us all.”

I love this!

The OP appears to be responding out of frustration, not hatred. Maybe you have never been subject to that emotion, and thus have never exaggerated anything as a result, but I have and would therefore rather cut my fellow sinner some slack.

I think so, too. It gets really, really old.

 

[Peter_J]

I don’t know if it was posted yet.

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church…As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.” Venerable Fulton Sheen

This may seem a little random, but I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried to turn this around (following a supposed “symmetry” between Cs and NCs):

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate Non-Catholics. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Non-Catholics …As a matter of fact, if we Non-Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against Non-Catholics, we probably would hate Non-Catholics a thousand times more than they do.”

Doesn’t really work (at least in my opinion – though of course NCs could say that I’m biased, being a C myself ).

 

[Peter_J]

I’m sorry

Apology accepted.

but as a Protestant with many in my family Protestants as well, most don’t even think about the Catholic Church.

So then don’t you have to wonder if, deep down inside, they realize that they would have to stop being NCs if they started thinking about the alternative?

 

[CatholicJon]

This may seem a little random, but I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried to turn this around (following a supposed “symmetry” between Cs and NCs):

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate Non-Catholics. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Non-Catholics …As a matter of fact, if we Non-Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against Non-Catholics, we probably would hate Non-Catholics a thousand times more than they do.”

Doesn’t really work (at least in my opinion – though of course NCs could say that I’m biased, being a C myself ).

That was interesting…I don’t think it worked either. I was going to say you might have to narrow it down and make the statement for each denomination for the statement to work?

 

[CatholicJon]

This is a very frequently quoted snippet from Bishop Sheen. Unfortunately though when I have encountered anti-Catholicism it is fairly often that the people who I am encountering know full well what the Catholic Church teaches and even some idea of why she teaches it, and still hates the Catholic Church and what she teaches.

I have found the complete opposite and I’m talking with 3 people who are considering converting because of it.

I’ve also found that they might know the teaching or even the reason of something but they don’t truly get it. There is still a small disconnect that just hasn’t been put together yet and it hasn’t sunken in yet. Sometimes it is stubbornness and a lack of being willing to be really open. I can relate because I was in that same position just several years ago.

It’s very hard to explain this disconnect in words but I see it all the time.

 

[Picky_Picky]

I grew up in a Protestant family in what I think was a predominantly Protestant area (insofar as religion figured much in most people’s lives). I don’t recall Catholicism being discussed in my family at all, and I certainly don’t recall any suggestion of hatred. Some of the boys at school were Catholic, but there was no notice taken of this among their schoolfellows, except that they (along with the few Jewish boys) were excused Morning Assembly (which made them envied rather than hated). I suppose that, if we thought about it at all, we regarded Catholics (and Jews) as a bit different from us ordinary folk; there was a slightly “foreign” feeling about the little we knew of their religion (this was in London, I should say) but it didn’t occur to me or those of my friends who were not Catholic that this “difference” was in any way to be disliked, let alone hated. Perhaps I was just lucky in where I grew up.

 

[CatholicJon]

I grew up in a Protestant family in what I think was a predominantly Protestant area (insofar as religion figured much in most people’s lives). I don’t recall Catholicism being discussed in my family at all, and I certainly don’t recall any suggestion of hatred. Some of the boys at school were Catholic, but there was no notice taken of this among their schoolfellows, except that they (along with the few Jewish boys) were excused Morning Assembly (which made them envied rather than hated). I suppose that, if we thought about it at all, we regarded Catholics (and Jews) as a bit different from us ordinary folk; there was a slightly “foreign” feeling about the little we knew of their religion (this was in London, I should say) but it didn’t occur to me or those of my friends who were not Catholic that this “difference” was in any way to be disliked, let alone hated. Perhaps I was just lucky in where I grew up.

Thanks for sharing that. I think the title of the thread should just be “why do some” emphasis on the word some because I don’t think it is the majority by far although region to region it could vary. I’m sure somebody has done a study on it tho. There’s a study for everything lol

 

[spedteacherita]

I don’t know if it was posted yet.

“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church…As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.” Venerable Fulton Sheen

Gotta love Fulton Sheen!!!

 

[jupiter2]

Apology accepted.

So then don’t you have to wonder if, deep down inside, they realize that they would have to stop being NCs if they started thinking about the alternative?

As an NC becoming the alternative, I can say that for some within Protestantism the anti-C sentiment is very calculated and subtle. What I mean is that they are critical of Catholicism without coming out and linking the criticism to Catholicism. As one example, as a Protestant for many years I’ve heard about the debate between the theology arising out of the cities of Antioch and Alexandria during the early church, but I’ve never heard them grapple specifically with the logic behind the viewpoints. What I have heard were things like “Nothing good has ever come from Egypt!” after conducting what would amount to a smear job. Catholicism is never mentioned, but the underpinnings of the RCC are often attacked and stick into your subconscious. Another such thing was saying that the Codex Sinaiticus was found in a trash can by someone very unscrupulous and made into a biblical translation.

I would say that these things have been very deliberate by some, and picked up on by others. Furthermore, the RCC has many times been given the short end of the stick in the media; examples abound, but the Catholics are painted as the bad guys and depending on the narrative, the Protestants come out as the virtuous heroes whenever they do come into play. All of this has an effect on the mind. Ultimately, there are some powerful few, in my opinion for what ever it is worth, that fully realize that the only institution capable of standing up to real evil - of the diabolical, the demonic - is the RCC. These are the movers and shakers that are behind this, and are ultimately responsible to ensure that certain influential individuals are well paid to propagate this agenda, and has tentacles in Protestant churches as well as many other places in society.

Just an opinion.

 

[Peter_J]

As an NC becoming the alternative

We could call you a STBFNC (soon-to-be former Non-Catholic) … But maybe that’s too many abbreviations.

 

[jupiter2]

I like STBFNC. I wish I could be a STBTFNC (soon-to-be transitional former Non-Catholic) about to receive confirmation, or an AOTASTBTFNC (at one time a soon-to-be transitional former Non-Catholic) but that’s a ways off.

Next, I better look up the AAAAA (American Association Against Acronym Abuse) and consider attending.

 

[Tommy999]

I guess I didn’t get the memo that said I was supposed to hate the Catholic Church.

I was flipping channels on my radio dial on my way home from work one day last May and came upon a local Catholic radio station that was playing Gregorian chants. I thought it was cool, mesmerizing, soothing, and peaceful all at the same time, so I kept listening.

A little later, *Catholic Answers Live * came on, so I kept listening as radio listeners who were non-Catholic asked questions, some who were sincerely interested in learning more about the Catholic faith (like me) and some who wanted to argue or challenge certain Catholic doctrines or beliefs with the hosts. That was also a good learning experience for me because they were asking some of the same questions I had.

I’ve been hooked ever since to Catholic radio and have learned a lot about Catholicism since then. I’ve always respected Catholicism but it was always that nebulous and mystical faith entity that I was supposed to just leave alone and stick to my protestant upbringing if I knew what was best for me, according to those in my protestant faith tradition.

I decided to see for myself what Catholicism really was from Catholics, so I came to CAF last May. I’ve continued to learn and grow in knowledge and faith ever since, although I remain a protestant.

I guess I never got invited to the “hate Catholics” party. Was I supposed to attend?

 

[czarlazar]

I am not protestant, but in general I feel the disdain for the RCC is the bloody and questionable moral history that usually cannot be defended from a Christian stand point…this is what causes issues. That and a lack of actual understanding of the faith outside their own.