Why do some Protestants hate us so much?

[Zahmir]

After signing on to a “Christian” discussion forum, I was utterly surprised by the hatred some of the Protestants expressed towards me and my fellow Catholics. They often did not want to listen and, instead, bashed the church on hot-topic issues: Mary, Tradition, etc…

Not only that, but the moderator himself - after I broke some forums rules (with good intentions) - writes, “This board is for Christian discussion, not the promotion of the false Catholic doctrines…” Well, after that, I did all that I could to get kicked off (again, in good taste).

Quite simply, is there no way to engage some of these Protestants in meaningful, rational debate? Anytime I tried to do anything, and I did make good arguments, they would only twist things around and go back on their own arguments…

 

[twosweetgirls]

Isn’t that something? I was talking with a friend yesterday, and we were discussing, among other things, our new parish priests. Apparently, she was talking with the one priest who said he had many skills in the financial and monetary realms, stating that he was on the financial board for two local summer concerts–one that was all country music and the other that was a non-denominational Christian music fest.

What was sad, she said and he acknowledged, that he’d rather be a part of the drunken, silly, rusted-out-Ford hillbillies at the country fest than the Bible-thumping, evangelical holier-than-thous at the Christian concert. She said the priest didn’t use those exact words, but his meaning–and sorrow–were clear. The divisions, misconceptions and prejudices that many Protestants have against Catholics is indeed sad.

Definitely something to pray about.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

Wounds. Some folks let the air heal them. Some folks cover them up with bandages until they fester. Some folks pick at them. Some folks lash out at the nearest convenient target. The Church btw is always near.

The solution is not textual. It is personal. It is to heal the wounds. Healing is not within our own powers but within the power of God who works through His Church.

Prayer is powerful.

 

[Teflon93]

After signing on to a “Christian” discussion forum, I was utterly surprised by the hatred some of the Protestants expressed towards me and my fellow Catholics. They often did not want to listen and, instead, bashed the church on hot-topic issues: Mary, Tradition, etc…

Not only that, but the moderator himself - after I broke some forums rules (with good intentions) - writes, “This board is for Christian discussion, not the promotion of the false Catholic doctrines…” Well, after that, I did all that I could to get kicked off (again, in good taste).

Quite simply, is there no way to engage some of these Protestants in meaningful, rational debate? Anytime I tried to do anything, and I did make good arguments, they would only twist things around and go back on their own arguments…

Sorry to hear about your experience. It sounds awful.

It should be some consolation that Protestants do not hate Catholics, they hate the warped view of Catholicism preached from their pulpits.

We live in an area with few Catholics. As such, Catholics are an ill-understood oddity around here, as opposed to Rhode Island, the most Catholic state percentagewise in the Union and where I grew up.

When you don’t know any Catholics, don’t get exposed to Catholic doctrine or practice, it’s very easy to demonize Catholicism.

Add to this the need of every Protestant denomination to justify its existence by justifying the Reformation and there’s a natural tension.

 

[Shain1611]

From Shain1611

I read your post and I must say that there are some boards out there that do spew out a lot of hate after claiming they are Christians. I run a Christian Board and I’m a x-Catholic and on my Board all are treated with respect. We may not agree but we can and should respect each others beliefs. We can have honest and respectful debates and we should.

Jim (Shain1611)

Come visit when you have a chance…

God Bless you

(Link removed to prevent possible Board Swarming as per CAF policy. Please see post below, and contact Jim via PM for the link if interested.)http://p208.ezboard.com/bfinalauthority48270

 

[Teflon93]

From Shain1611

I read your post and I must say that there are some boards out there that do spew out a lot of hate after claiming they are Christians. I run a Christian Board and I’m a x-Catholic and on my Board all are treated with respect. We may not agree but we can and should respect each others beliefs. We can have honest and respectful debates and we should.

Jim (Shain1611)

Come visit when you have a chance…

God Bless you

(Link removed to prevent possible Board Swarming as per CAF policy. Please see post below, and contact Jim via PM for the link if interested.)

Jim—thanks for your gracious response and invitation. It is the sort of thing we Christians should expect of one another.

 

[Kotton]

Just for the record, I’ve known Shain and posted on a board with him and several other ex-Catholics and Catholics years ago. There was a lot of exchange and, YES, there was a lack of knowing the doctrines of the Church by the ex’s.

From Shain1611

I read your post and I must say that there are some boards out there that do spew out a lot of hate after claiming they are Christians. I run a Christian Board and I’m a x-Catholic and on my Board all are treated with respect. We may not agree but we can and should respect each others beliefs. We can have honest and respectful debates and we should.

Jim (Shain1611)

Well, Jim may allow Catholics on his board and perhaps he dosn’t ttreat them like some of the radicals do, but there are still complete misrepresentations of Catholic belief. I just scanned his thread ‘Why we are ex-C’ and found his reasons off base on just about every one. This brings me to the point of why I say, “Every ex-Catholic on the web doesn’t know Catholic doctrine”. They claim that they were Catholic for X years and KNOW what the Church teaches, and THEN post a contradiction within the next paragraph.

Kotton

 

[Teflon93]

Just for the record, I’ve known Shain and posted on a board with him and several other ex-Catholics and Catholics years ago. There was a lot of exchange and, YES, there was a lack of knowing the doctrines of the Church by the ex’s.

Well, Jim may allow Catholics on his board and perhaps he dosn’t ttreat them like some of the radicals do, but there are still complete misrepresentations of Catholic belief. I just scanned his thread ‘Why we are ex-C’ and found his reasons off base on just about every one. This brings me to the point of why I say, “Every ex-Catholic on the web doesn’t know Catholic doctrine”. They claim that they were Catholic for X years and KNOW what the Church teaches, and THEN post a contradiction within the next paragraph.

Kotton

There is a big difference between honest error and dishonest error, though. Jim’s responses and threads on this board ought to provide good indications over time as to whether his are the former or the latter. If the former, I’d have no problems taking part in his forum.

 

[myfavoritmartin]

After signing on to a “Christian” discussion forum, I was utterly surprised by the hatred some of the Protestants expressed towards me and my fellow Catholics. They often did not want to listen and, instead, bashed the church on hot-topic issues: Mary, Tradition, etc…

Not only that, but the moderator himself - after I broke some forums rules (with good intentions) - writes, “This board is for Christian discussion, not the promotion of the false Catholic doctrines…” Well, after that, I did all that I could to get kicked off (again, in good taste).

Quite simply, is there no way to engage some of these Protestants in meaningful, rational debate? Anytime I tried to do anything, and I did make good arguments, they would only twist things around and go back on their own arguments…

Honestly, and I mean no offense by this…But would you prefer that they lie to you? Especially if they believe your salvation is in jeopardy based on their theology.
Jude 1:3 tells us to earnestly contend for our faith and of the salvation we have, and
Acts 17:11 tells us to check what we are taught to scripture,

don’t take offense! use it to sharpen yourself… Use their POV as a learning tool…Honestly I have the RCC and this forum to thank in the forwarding of my theological understanding…

 

[Michael_Francis]

**Guys,

Though your heart is in the right place, your posts have been edited due to the inclusion of a suggestion for other forum members to visit someone else’s website for the purposes of apologetics debates.

In an effort to illuminate and explain the Catholic faith, CA makes every effort to provide our participants with a pleasant and informative place on the internet where Catholics and non-Catholics may gather.

It is our hope that respectful dialogue and discussion will lead to better faith understandings. And so in charity, we ask that our forums not be used for encouraging mass visits to other websites. In the past these kinds of efforts, although perhaps well intentioned, leave participants at other websites with negative impressions.

Your cooperation in helping promote these aims of faith exposition, hope for fruitful discussion and charity in implementation are sincerely appreciated.

Very sincerely,
Michael Francis
Apologetics Moderator**

 

[Zahmir]

**Guys,

Though your heart is in the right place, your posts have been edited due to the inclusion of a suggestion for other forum members to visit someone else’s website for the purposes of apologetics debates.

In an effort to illuminate and explain the Catholic faith, CA makes every effort to provide our participants with a pleasant and informative place on the internet where Catholics and non-Catholics may gather.

It is our hope that respectful dialogue and discussion will lead to better faith understandings. And so in charity, we ask that our forums not be used for encouraging mass visits to other websites. In the past these kinds of efforts, although perhaps well intentioned, leave participants at other websites with negative impressions.

Your cooperation in helping promote these aims of faith exposition, hope for fruitful discussion and charity in implementation are sincerely appreciated.

**Very sincerely,
Michael Francis
Apologetics Moderator

I sincerely love this forum. The people are so nice. hehe

 

[Shain1611]

To all

I can assure all posters here that I’m not here to debate. I have learned a very long time ago those who are x-Catholics do not go on Catholic forums because they are not welcomed or must not engage in any forum of debating. I see that Kotten has already made some claims about my Forum but somehow failed to list any of those points here that he claims I’m in error on.

Anyway thanks and have a great day…

 

[Atemi]

After signing on to a “Christian” discussion forum, I was utterly surprised by the hatred some of the Protestants expressed towards me and my fellow Catholics. They often did not want to listen and, instead, bashed the church on hot-topic issues: Mary, Tradition, etc…

I find too many Catholics translate hostility to what others believe to be dangerous false doctrine to hostility to themselves. Yet I also find that they do not apply the same standard for themselves all too often.

For example, on the board you speak of, us non-Catholic Christians are openly called “protestors” who “hate” the Body of Christ and follow “Luther’s gospel”…that is when we are not going to our “sects” which are “from the devil.”

I think all of this is just from the last week alone, and only from what I can remember in 2 minutes.

If that is some sort of moral superiority, you got me.

Not only that, but the moderator himself - after I broke some forums rules (with good intentions) - writes

You cannot break the rules of the board with “good” intentions.

You agreed to abide by certain rules and gave your word that you would do so. Saying you broke those rules with “good” intentions is an embarrassment, IMV.

“This board is for Christian discussion, not the promotion of the false Catholic doctrines…” Well, after that, I did all that I could to get kicked off (again, in good taste).

Again, there is absolutely no “good taste” in divisiveness and willfully breaking your word which you gave before you signed on. I am sure CA would love if all non-Catholics would willfully break the rules they agreed to here…but with “good” intentions, of course.

Please do not expect any different for yourself than you expect from others.

…

 

[Zahmir]

I find too many Catholics translate hostility to what others believe to be dangerous false doctrine to hostility to themselves. Yet I also find that they do not apply the same standard for themselves all too often.

For example, on the board you speak of, us non-Catholic Christians are openly called “protestors” who “hate” the Body of Christ and follow “Luther’s gospel”…that is when we are not going to our “sects” which are “from the devil.”

I think all of this is just from the last week alone, and only from what I can remember in 2 minutes.

If that is some sort of moral superiority, you got me.

You cannot break the rules of the board with “good” intentions.

You agreed to abide by certain rules and gave your word that you would do so. Saying you broke those rules with “good” intentions is an embarrassment, IMV.

Again, there is absolutely no “good taste” in divisiveness and willfully breaking your word which you gave before you signed on. I am sure CA would love if all non-Catholics would willfully break the rules they agreed to here…but with “good” intentions, of course.

Please do not expect any different for yourself than you expect from others.

…

Haha, yeah… I guess there is a lot of back and forth. I could easily ask the question, “Why do some Catholics act so unChristian?” I’ve done my best to be charitable, and I can say that I, personally, have never made ad-hominem attacks… except for some of my fellow “Catholics” who think they’re Catholic… hehe… (inside joke…)

And, to be honest, didn’t know I was breaking board rules at first… And I had no bad intentions whatsoever. I really just wanted for Catholics to be of one mind on different issues, and I was told - basically - that we have “false doctrines” and that we can’t promote Catholicism. I don’t know how I would have been promoting Catholicism and we certainly don’t have “false doctrines.” Even if I think that Protestants are wrong, I would never call them flat-out “false.” And this came from a Moderator!

I admit that seeking to get kicked off the Christian board was a little low - but I simply wanted to talk to someone about why my idea was so wrong and worthy of suspension… The moderator was rude to me, and I was a little rude back… and so I was suspended. Lol… sigh

There can be a lot of passion on those boards. CAF is pretty laid-back. And if you are the same “Atemi” from CARM - greetings.

 

[Church_Militant]

And if you are the same “Atemi” from CARM - greetings.

Yeah, he is.

I find too many Catholics translate hostility to what others believe to be dangerous false doctrine to hostility to themselves. Yet I also find that they do not apply the same standard for themselves all too often.

For example, on the board you speak of, us non-Catholic Christians are openly called “protestors” who “hate” the Body of Christ and follow “Luther’s gospel”…that is when we are not going to our “sects” which are “from the devil.”

Oh, and you and your fellow n-Cs have never engaged any of us with similar rhetoric…nor with the errant intention of proselytizing us?

hostility to what others believe to be dangerous false doctrine

Where is there any scriptural support for such “hostility”? Certainly not in 1st Peter 3:15-17 is it?

Moreover, all too many vitriolic rants of a-C propaganda exist for anyone to assume (especially given humanity’s history of demonizing their “enemies”) to allow any thinking Catholic the luxury of assuming that any of it is meant in Christian charity.

As for the citations of terms that you make, I’ve seen them too and try to use better and more accurate terms, but in the context where they are used, most of them have been used accurately. And on their worst days here at CAF, I find the Catholics here still far and away more charitable than the folks on your other favorite forum Atemi, so on a relative scale, you’re trying to justify a-C rhetoric that just doesn’t wash.

If that is some sort of moral superiority

, you got me.I don’t think anyone here at CAF is seeking “moral superiority”, though with all the atheists, agnostics, pagans, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and just generally non religious people in the world, I do often wonder why anyone would bother with us Catholics.

Though so long as guys like you come along with descriptions of our most holy faith as “dangerous false doctrine”, an offensive statement to begin with, then guys like me and my Catholic brothers and sisters here at CAF and other good Catholic forums will continue to step up. My thinking is…any time you get tired of hearing it…feel free to get off our case and go bother someone else who can’t answer you.

You cannot

break the rules of the board with “good” intentions.Really? Haven’t you?

You agreed

to abide by certain rules and gave your word that you would do so. Saying you broke those rules with “good” intentions is an embarrassment, IMV.That’s one reason that I boycott so many a-C forums. Their “good intentions” do not apply to me…therefore I am not welcome there and will not support them.

Again, there is absolutely no "good taste"

in divisiveness and willfully breaking your word which you gave before you signed on. I am sure CA would love if all non-Catholics would willfully break the rules they agreed to here…but with “good” intentions, of course.I seem to have seen that happen quite a bit. In fact, in PM conversations with Apologetics Mod Michael Francis, he did in fact lament to me that he tries to keep from having to discipline many of the n-Cs here but that often there is little choice when someone comes in here with inflammatory and vitriolic rhetoric and little else. He even sent me this link to the CAF Statement of Purpose which I think is one of the most balance statements I’ve seen in any religious forum. IMO, the staff here at CAF work very hard to live up to that statement and maintain that atmosphere.
I know it can’t be an easy task.

Please do not expect any different for yourself than you expect from others.

So…you’re saying that you feel justified in giving as good as you get huh? I can understand that…I get that way myself sometimes, and most recently in an exchange with MfM (That we both had to cool off from), but in the end, what does Our Lord tell us?

Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: 45 That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans this? 47 And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens this? 48 Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. (Luke 6:27-ff, also)

“hostility”? :dts:

 

[Kotton]

To all

I have learned a very long time ago those who are x-Catholics do not go on Catholic forums because they are not welcomed or must not engage in any forum of debating.

And yet there are Catholic boards that allow you to debate in their APOLOGETICS forum, but you must back remarks with solid research. Too much ‘Catholic doctrine’ posted on many sites is distorted to completely false. That is the main reason Catholic posters sign on, to set the record straight.

I see that Kotten has already made some claims about my Forum but somehow failed to list any of those points here that he claims I’m in error on.

The only claim I made was that the thread ‘Why ex-C’s leave the Church’, sounds as though they slept through catechism class. I cannot relate to most of them, because what I learned contradicts those statements.

Kotton

 

[NonDenom]

twosweetgirls;2501929]Isn’t that something? I was talking with a friend yesterday, and we were discussing, among other things, our new parish priests. Apparently, she was talking with the one priest who said he had many skills in the financial and monetary realms, stating that he was on the financial board for two local summer concerts–one that was all country music and the other that was a non-denominational Christian music fest.

What was sad, she said and he acknowledged, that he’d rather be a part of the drunken, silly, rusted-out-Ford hillbillies at the country fest than the Bible-thumping, evangelical holier-than-thous at the Christian concert. She said the priest didn’t use those exact words, but his meaning–and sorrow–were clear. The divisions, misconceptions and prejudices that many Protestants have against Catholics is indeed sad.

Definitely something to pray about.

Hi All
Not trying to pick a fight but I have been called ignorant, arrogant, uncharitable, and have been told that I don’t know the fullness of truth and that I will not go to Heaven. Sad to say that I have used a few of these myself.( ignorant, arrogant, uncharitable) My point is that before you throw stone across the fence, take a look in your own yard as well. We from both sides have had moments that we should not be proud of. I believe that the main reason that some Protestants dislike the Catholic church is for the same reasons that I mentioned above, we are told that we don’t have the fullness of truth or that we cannot belong to the “One true Church” (which we believe to be Christs Church, and are very much a part of.)
We both have alot of learning to do and alot more loving to do.

 

[Afterburned6387]

Well, as a good Southern Baptist, I guess I’ll add my two cents, especially as a member of the most historic bible-beating denomination in existence.

Do I hate Catholics?
No, not at all, many of them are my Christian brothers and I’m quite fond of them. That said, I am honestly scared to death for them.

Before about eh, 2 or 3 months ago, I really didn’t give Roman Catholicism much attention, I just knew they were another denomination, with maybe a few weird ideas, but that all changed when I found out we don’t even share the same bible.

We had endless discussions on whether or not they should be included in scripture, and I’ll save my arguments for another thread, but anyway, it got me curious, so I started researching the Church.

I started with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, per my friend’s advice. In it, there were many things that I didn’t agree with, that I felt I could provide a strong biblical defense of a counter-position, but nothing that indicated this was some kind of cult (which I still believe it is not a cult), just denominational differences. So then I went about trying to find out what it was that Catholics had to do to get into heaven, after all, everything else in theology are just fun head games, but salvation is the most important thing to figure out. Now, I’ll post below so far as I’ve found out what constitutes salvation so I can be responded to. set straight, whatever.

1. Get baptized, preferably as an Infant (Sacrament of Baptism)
2. Get confirmed, I think around age 13’ish (Sacrament of Confirmation)
3. Try to live a good life, avoid sin, but if you commit a sin knowingly (mortal sin) as opposed to on accident (venial sin), you have lost your salvation, and now must go confess to a preist to get it back, along with some kind of penance (Sacrament of Penance)
4. To atone for your venial sin, you must participate in the Masses (Sacrament of the Eucharist)
5. When you die, you still don’t get to go to Heaven, you must go through purgatory and be cleansed of your remaining sinful ways before you enter heaven
6. Heaven exists forever, there is no resurrection (Symbolic Amillennialism)

Something here struck me. First of all, is this not the most self-absorbed religion I’ve ever heard of? one sacrament after another to secure one’s own salvation, sounds like a lot of work, and here’s the big catch. The church is the central player in it all, you confess to the church, you are baptized by the church, etc. etc. etc. It seems to me that not only is Protestant Eternal Security much more biblically accurate (once again, another time), but provides far more freedom to go and serve God in the hardest places of the world, far from any church parish, because your personal salvation is taken care of, you get to go serve in freedom.

So what about this scares me about rank-and-file Catholics? Simply, it is entirely possible to go through every sacrament the church has to offer, and completely miss the most important thing that saves you, a genuine faith that brings repentance, and a repentance of Love, not Duty. In this way, through ignorance, I fear the Catholic church is condemning millions, if not billions to suffer for a lack of understanding the basics

So what about this scares me about my Catholic Friends? They spend so much time in the church doing sacrament after sacrament, stagnating in their faith, and without the time they need to really go out there and SERVE, and build the kingdom of God. You know, actually doing what Christ commands?

So once again, do I hate Catholics? No, not at all. Do I hate the Catholic Church? Well, honestly, in reading through the Catechism, the decrees of Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II, I was enraged at how the Catholic church was conducting itself, and yes, for a time I did hate the Catholic Church, but now that I’ve had time to calm down, that hatred has turned to deep disappointment and concern for my Catholic brothers.

Hopefully I speak for all protestants who research the Catholic Faith when I say, I wish to be proven wrong, and see that the Catholic church is indeed biblically accurate, and all the Catholics I know, both those I would describe as Christians and Otherwise I will see in Heaven, but at the same time I will vigorously defend the tenets of the Faith as I understand them with the end of making more Catholics born-again, washed in the blood of Christ Believers.

p.s. While the problem with the Catholic church may be empty ritual, I will admit the problem with Protestants is the false notion of “Fire Insurance”

 

[twosweetgirls]

First of all, is this not the most self-absorbed religion I’ve ever heard of?

Absolutely not! I was from a Methodist/Baptist/non-denom background, so I’m very familiar with the Protestant belief that “all you need is Jesus”. But until I felt Jesus leading me home to the Catholic Church, I had no idea how truly “do it myself, when I want, on my terms” way of thinking my Protestant belief was. Like, all I needed was Jesus–Who I knew I had–and everything else was secondary and, really, unnecessary. I could talk to Him, worship Him, study about Him whenever I wanted, however I wanted. That, to me, is about as self-absorbed as you can get.

Fast forward to me being Catholic now. . . I have structure! I have a reason for worshiping Him the way He says to! I have Sacraments I can avail to help me in my walk with Him! Yippee, I have structure and reason now! And I’ve never been happier.

Did that make sense?

 

[AKG]

After signing on to a “Christian” discussion forum, I was utterly surprised by the hatred some of the Protestants expressed towards me and my fellow Catholics. They often did not want to listen and, instead, bashed the church on hot-topic issues: Mary, Tradition, etc…

Not only that, but the moderator himself - after I broke some forums rules (with good intentions) - writes, “This board is for Christian discussion, not the promotion of the false Catholic doctrines…” Well, after that, I did all that I could to get kicked off (again, in good taste).

Quite simply, is there no way to engage some of these Protestants in meaningful, rational debate? Anytime I tried to do anything, and I did make good arguments, they would only twist things around and go back on their own arguments…

I have a friend who is an ex-Catholic and considers himself an expert in all things Catholic (if you know what I mean). He does not consider me to be a true Christian, even though I had once “prayed the sinners prayer” and “accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior” because I continue to be a practicing Catholic. My friend said if I were really saved according to the Bible, I would immediately reject the Catholic faith. Strange thing is that I couldn’t find that exact directive in the Bible.

I once asked him if he believed that once someone accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior that person was saved once for all, and he said yes. His rationale seems inconsistent to me. He also believes that evangelical Protestants that promote ecumenical dialogue with Catholics are false teachers.

My friend is enamored with the teachings of Bill Jackson, Mike Gendron, and the late Richard Bennett.

I suppose you have to take it all with a grain of salt. You can’t change these people. They are so deeply convinced that they are right and that you are headed straight to hell in a handbasket.

Good luck!