Why do "some" or "many" Protestants have a visceral HATRED of the Catholic Church?

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I recently joined a non-denominational Christian forum (Worthy Christian Forums) and there is apparently no shortage of people there that seemingly HATE the Catholic Church and despise Catholics.

Why is that?
 
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It’s not so much that they are Protestants as it is the fact that hateful people tend to congregate on the Internet under the cover of anonymity. In my experience, most Protestants don’t hate Catholics/Catholicism or even give Catholicism much thought.
 
Thanks. I didn’t mean to imply that “most” protestants hate the church, but it sure seems like “many” do. Perhaps you haven’t visited many protestant message boards.
 
In my experience, message boards attract the most dedicated and extreme people, no matter what the topic is. I wouldn’t take people who post on online message boards as especially representative of any interest.
 
Lou2U said:
In my experience, message boards attract the most dedicated and extreme people, no matter what the topic is. I wouldn’t take people who post on online message boards as especially representative of any interest.
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Well said and that’s good advice, Lou! Thank you.
 
Not all do, it is bad to generalise.

Your church environment sounds quite toxic. At Church , in any denomination we should be there to worship God, not to hate others who are also worshipping God.
 
Thats ok, I took it from your title

Why do Protestants.
 
if i’m going to throw my 2 cents in (and it’s a pretty useless 2 cents as i’m not a christian) it’s the perception that the catholic church is corrupt, in the sense that’s it’s done some questionable things throughout history, and that the canon and rules of the catholic church draw heavily from the pope, a figure not present in the bible
 
It’s because the Catholic Church is God’s own church and the Devil is constantly trying to attack it by making people hate it.

Also, the people you meet on such message boards tend to be extreme in their views. There are plenty of regular Protestants who don’t hate Catholics and don’t spend time on hateful Internet forums.
 
Possibly because they believe that the Catholic church is full of idolatry (especially when it comes to Marian devotion). Another possible reason is that it’s so big. It has over a billion followers and some people are envious of that. It’s not uncommon to see hate directed towards something that is popular; it’s like that in music, politics, video games, etc…
 
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ConsistantlyBaffled said:
if i’m going to throw my 2 cents in (and it’s a pretty useless 2 cents as i’m not a christian) it’s the perception that the catholic church is corrupt, in the sense that’s it’s done some questionable things throughout history, and that the canon and rules of the catholic church draw heavily from the pope, a figure not present in the bible
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The church’s “handling” of molestation cases has been (and apparently remains) an abomination. . . . I have no problem with criticizing the church for their many failures. With that said, I think there’s more to it, but I’m not sure that I can put my finger on it. Maybe the previous poster is correct in that it’s related to demonic influence, assuming that I gleaned his post accurately.
 
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i cant say that demons are responisble, but from the viewpoint of protestants i would guess that the current catholic church looks more like a business than a religion, from their perspective
 
Imo it’s learned behavior, based on its various founders’ rejection of the Church’s authority in exchange for their own flawed understanding/opinions/pride…

This along with the kind of behavior that comes from not receiving Christ’s Body and Blood worthily, as He said we must do in order to have life in us. Because if we do not receive Him worthily, this makes it easier to disregard the commandments He said we must keep in order to remain in Him. (John 6, 15; 1 Corinthians 11)
 
The problem is you are looking for a rational answer to irrational behaviour.

There are some Protestant ecclesial communities that do have a visceral hatred for the Catholic Church. It is not confined to people on the Internet. Before St John Paul II visited the UK in 1982 such groups strongly protested about his visit and we certainly didn’t have the Internet back then.

If you could talk to one of these Protestants in a calm, non-threatening way they would be severely challenged to give you a well-explained reason for their hatred of Catholicism and Catholics. They have been brought up in this way and know no different. Just the same as their parents were and generations going back. In Northern Ireland particularly, but in some other pockets of the UK, Catholics and Protestants are brought up from the cradle to hate each other. That has how it has been for as long as either party can remember.

I remember even as a child some people would treat me differently. ‘Oh’ he’s a Catholic’. Sometimes I felt like a leper and wondered if I ought to go around ringing a bell to warn others of my approach.

I find it very sad that Christians hate each other when fundamentally we all share a common belief in God and the Risen Christ.
 
The non-Catholic Christians who hate the RCC get their information from other places than the RCC.

As a Confessional Lutheran, I celebrate our similarities and pray that our disagreements can be resolved.
 
K9Buck said:
I recently joined a non-denominational Christian forum (Worthy Christian Forums) and there is apparently no shortage of people there that seemingly HATE the Catholic Church and despise Catholics.

Why is that?
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Because as much as they don’t consciously realize it, or deny it to themselves, the Catholic Church must be wrong if their belief system is to have any merit. In other words, the Catholic Church must be wrong for them to justify their existence.

Because if the Church is right and teaches the truth, then there is no reason for their group to exist, because their history traces back to the Reformation, which was a separation from the Catholic Church.

Since the Catholic Church bases its authority on Christ and the Apostles, it does not have the same worry about these groups.
 
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