Why is there so much anti Catholicism

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Padres1969 said:
But is that really anti-Catholicism or anti-Catholic positions on social issues? I’ve never seen the secular media attack the church for anything other than the abuse scandal (which was totally legitimate to attack it about).
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“Legitimate to attack?” Isn’t the media’s job to report, not attack?
I worked in foster care for decades. Children in the custody of the government were very often molested, or neglected and abused in other ways; occasionally killed, by the foster parents we had certified, adults who often had blatant problems that should have kept them from ever being certified.

Very little of this was reported in the media, and when it was, it was always an isolated case, never an indictment against the incredibly inefficient, uncaring government system. Workers who should never have been allowed to work in human services (mental illness, lazy, corrupt, etc) were retained for 20 years or more because of civil service protection, and the union. They were constantly moved around, always in a job where they would make decisions impacting on children, or adult protection clients.

In my city there are repeated cases that hit the newspaper - just once - about some public school teacher who is convicted, molested a child. Then the story disappears. There is no digging, no follow up, no editorial or summary of all the kids who got molested in public schools, no questioning “why are we allowing this dangerous government school system to go on”? Odd they never notice a trend.

It’s not anti-Catholic to report a priest who molested, or weak administrative response. It is anti-Catholic to zero in, and magnify the Church’s issue, and to minimize the same issue in the government, the same or much worse pattern of “cover-up”, or transferring problem people that goes on in the public sector.
 
Trad_Catholic27 said:
My fellow Catholics why do you think that there is so much anti Catholicism in the world today among not only secularists but even protestants and orthodox Christians
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I can think of a lot of reasons. If the people who loved and raised you indoctrinated you in anti-Catholicism, you’re more likely to believe it. There’s also, I believe, a certain amount of pride wrapped up in it (I’m better than you because I’m saved, and you’re not!). And, of course, in order for Protestantism to be right, Catholicism must be wrong. Worst of all, if Catholicism is right, you’d have to become Catholic, and that would mean no contraception, no re-marriage after divorce, and obligatory attendance at church on Sunday.

I’m sure those aren’t all the reasons, but they may be a few.
Have you ever been attacked for your Catholicism
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Sometimes when a person finds out I’m Catholic, the room temperature drops about 100 degrees.
 
The media supports movements that “bend with the times”; in other words, the media wants religions that follow the media, that emphasize what the media proclaims, and quiets down about doctrine or morals that the media does not approve. Churches that obey the media trends are labelled “compassionate” or “pastoral”. Churches that follow some other guidance are labelled “rigid”. It really is the Magisterium that the media is directly opposed to.

The media’s idea of Christianity excludes any idea of obedience, of fixed dogmas or absolute truths, of fixed concepts such as the Natural Law, and any standardized doctrine of the supernatural. They do demand the following from Christianity: equality, men-women interchangeable, each person define their own doctrines, flexible ethics that change with the times, and the supernatural only in the personalized sense of “this is what makes ME feel spiritual”, not what may be absolutely true in itself, for everyone. The media would like the churches to talk about Peace and Justice 80% of the time, and maybe 20% for the New Age Movement. The media defines truth as “what’s trending now”.

That’s why the media is anti-Catholic.
 
Trad_Catholic27 said:
Yes I am referring to the Church being slandered as being called by protestants as the whore of babylon or how many orthodox view Catholics as heretics because of our accepting the Filoque and always blaming us for the schism between us.
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Couple of things. First, in light of recent and ongoing events, I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that Muslims in the West would trade positions with you in a heartbeat. (Meaning they would gladly endure the abuse that you are referencing if you’ll take the abuse that they are receiving).

Second, the “whore of Babylon” thing is a dying relic of the past that only continues to be repeated by Protestants who don’t know what they’re talking about. I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that all but the smallest and most backward of Protestant seminaries squash that notion every time it comes up, even the extremely conservative ones. Some people complain loudly in those terms, but on the whole there has been a wide, effective, and comprehensive effort to build and support exegetical arguments against that conclusion. In Protestant academia, the correct conclusion is the undisputed winner. I understand why it would be upsetting for this to have ever been a thing in any capacity, but this really is one of those things that is best described as withering on the vine.

I don’t know as much about the Orthodox, although some of the information I’ve seen concerning the reunion of ROCOR with the ROC indicates that the vast majority of Orthodox involved were aligned with a relatively Catholic-friendly position, and a very tiny splinter group consisting of three men in truly senior leadership and 9 bishops (if memory serves) scattered across 3 different continents were the only ones who were willing to carry on a truly anti-Catholic stance apart from union with actual Orthodoxy.

I do have one question about the Orthodox thing, though. My understanding is that the Schism was precipitated by legates of a recently-deceased Pope who interrupted Mass at the Hagia Sophia in order to lay papers of excommunication on the Altar of St. Sophia- which, a couple of centuries later, would be stolen and then broken by Western Crusaders. As you fact-check these statements, does anything jump out at you that seems inaccurate or misleading?
 
Trad_Catholic27 said:
My fellow Catholics why do you think that there is so much anti Catholicism in the world today among not only secularists but even protestants and orthodox Christians

Have you ever been attacked for your Catholicism
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I don’t think it matters who or what a person is. There will be an anti-what-ever-it-is faction against it.

When ever I run into some anti-Catholic statement, I just put it down to ignorance and move on.
 
ricmat said:
The secular media “mocks” Catholicism 24/7/365. By pushing free sex, abortion on demand, “take God out of our lives”. Also, forcing the Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for contraception. Or Obama and his “clinging to guns and religion” comment.

Look at TV and the movies. I can’t remember the last time I saw a portrayal of a devout practicing Catholic as a good guy.
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You do have some parts of a point, but I do believe other parts of this comment are demonstrably off base, or at least somewhat misleading.

First- the secular media sure does push free sex, abortion on demand, and to a certain extent freedom from religious influence in ethical considerations. This, however, is a more general rejection of certain aspects of orthodox Christianity on the whole, and I use a little “o” because in America this has more to do with white Evangelical Protestants than anything else. Also, those who are completely atheistic and especially anyone who’s anti-religion is treated with more suspicion and dislike than any other major group of people in this country. Not as much by the media, but it does occasionally show an awareness of this and it doesn’t sympathize with those people very often.

Second. “Clinging to guns and religion”? How do you think of Catholics when you hear that? I immediately think of angry white Southerners who are, once again, white Evangelical Protestants. These are redneck Republicans for whom their Baptist/Protestant/Evangelical religion and right-wing politics go hand in hand, somehow. It actually doesn’t work that way for Catholics in this country, who are equally likely to be Democrat or Republican. There really is no meaningful link between American Catholicism and a particular political party, and there’s far less of a meaningful link between Catholicism and a love for the Second Amendment that extends to the defense of high capacity weapons with armor piercing bullets. Sadly, there is a meaningful link between white Evangelical Protestantism and all of those things. To me, it’s pretty clear who Pres. Obama was talking about. And if he had been talking about Catholics, he probably would have referenced the Culture of Life while acknowledging that American Catholics are all over the political spectrum.

Third. TV and movies do, as a matter of fact, very rarely portray a Catholic priest (or other Catholic clergy) doing their actual jobs in a way that they should, in a way that they are trained to, or in the way that they pretty well always do. On the whole, that is extremely accurate. I will mention a couple of exceptions though, without trying to argue that you’re wrong. On the whole, you are quite right, but my exceptions are Father Brown over on WTTW, your Window to the World (inspired by the writings of GK Chesterton, of course) and I’d also point to Blue Bloods, which is extremely friendly to the justice system in general, to all the devout practicing and well informed Catholics that are main characters (which happens to be everybody), and to the Church leadership that is regularly portrayed, usually in ways that are reasonably realistic. Relatively speaking, anyway. It does show areas of potential conflict, and some of the interaction explores how a church leader and the police commissioner want different things in a given situation. But the church leadership in this show is consistently portrayed as being among the smartest people in the room at any given time, genuinely good, and consistently deserving of the deference that the truly main characters give to them. If you don’t watch the show you really should, get it started and get caught up.

I also want to point out one example of where CBS gave a bit of protection to Catholics who might have been offended by something that was censored, and along with that, a reminder that we usually don’t ever find out about things that got cut for these sorts of reasons, but it does happen.
givememyremote.com/remote/2008/03/25/chuck-lorre-productions-vanity-cards-198-198-censored/
 
FYI I have been asked my religious affiliation at a job interview. I said I was Catholic and of course didn’t get the job.😉 Other than that I get to hear about Purgatory being started as a money maker for the Church and that Catholics are not Christians, and so forth.
 
MSSheBear said:
FYI I have been asked my religious affiliation at a job interview. I said I was Catholic and of course didn’t get the job.😉 Other than that I get to hear about Purgatory being started as a money maker for the Church and that Catholics are not Christians, and so forth.
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Pretty sure that you can’t be asked your religious affiliation on a job interview. And to do so is grounds to sue.
 
Padres1969 said:
Pretty sure that you can’t be asked your religious affiliation on a job interview. And to do so is grounds to sue.
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Actually they don’t so much care what your technical affiliation is, but whether you currently agree with the Catholic Church. They can, and do, ask if people applying for jobs, graduate school in human services, and medical school, if they support legal abortion, and/or same sex marriage. Given that many social agencies, hospitals, and university departments are publicly supporting those things, that means if you agree with the Catholic Faith, in effect your chances of hiring or acceptance are lessened.

In the media, or politics, it won’t hurt your chances if you are a baptized Catholic who disagrees with the Faith - you may even get priority over non Catholics.
 
=Trad Catholic27;13434392]My fellow Catholics why do you think that there is so much anti Catholicism in the world today among not only secularists but even protestants and orthodox Christians
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Have you ever been attacked for your Catholicism
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From the time of Christ “visitation” hatred has existed. That is WHY dear friend He was Crucified;

Lk. 19: 41-44 “And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: ***because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation”. *** This destruction took place in 70 AD

Today it exist primarily on two fronts:

Atheist and agnostics

And the multitude of non-catholic-Christians who necessarily find themselves in opposition to “MY CHURCH” singular: Mt, 16:18; and have to both distance themselves from Her teachings and try to establish themselves by discrediting Her. This is to be expected, and we are in charity to defend our faith with facts, avoiding our own personal opinions as much as is possible.👍

God Bless you and lets keep praying for complete unity of faitsa as is God’s desire.🙂

Patrick
 
Padres1969 said:
businessinsider.com/when-hr-asks-about-religion-in-interview-2014-5

Just one of many sources. Asking religious affiliation during a job inrerview is highly illegal. 👍
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But there is a huge loophole, some social agencies and schools, including Med School, can and do ask about opinions on public policy, such as abortion and same sex marriage, which are also Christian doctrine. Those who adhere to the position of the Catholic Faith, or LCMS, or a few others, will give the answer that the employer, or graduate school does not want to here. They can then be discriminated against. The company or school won’t say it is because you are Lutheran or Catholic.

The same is true of those seeking advancement in politics.
 
Trad_Catholic27 said:
My fellow Catholics why do you think that there is so much anti Catholicism in the world today among not only secularists but even protestants and orthodox Christians

Have you ever been attacked for your Catholicism
Click to expand...
There are hateful people of every color and side. There are non-Christians who are anti-Catholic, there are non-Christians who are pretty pro-Catholic. There are Orthodox people who are anti-Protestant, and there are some that are pro-Protestant. There are Lutherans who are anti-Methodist, and Lutherans who get along great with Methodists. Even in the Catholic Church are there some like this, anti-Protestant, anti-Orthodox, anti-Jewish, anti-football. Especially when dealing with a group as large as Christians (depending on who you ask, 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 people claim to be one), your gonna get all kinds of people.

I think in general, the world is getting more anti-religious, and anti-Christian in general.
 
Pretty sure that you can’t be asked your religious affiliation on a job interview. And to do so is grounds to sue.
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It depends on the country and the employer. I actually interviewed with one company (in Texas, USA) and one of the first questions was what church do you go to. It was a faith based financial planning/investment company, so it was completely legit for them to ask. But, your right, most companies can’t legally ask that*.
  • I am not a lawyer, this is my opinion and understanding of the law. Always consult with a lawyer for all legal advice.**
**(Used to work in the investment world, so force of habit to add disclaimers like that)😉
 
the most difficulty being a Catholic I have received is from a particular parish who is one as Pope Francis speaks of…closed off from others outside their group.
 
Padres1969 said:
businessinsider.com/when-hr-asks-about-religion-in-interview-2014-5

Just one of many sources. Asking religious affiliation during a job inrerview is highly illegal. 👍
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I went to job interview for graphic design. They asked whether i was religious or not and whats my religion. The reason they asked was apparently because they produced gay magazine. I didnt know this.
“I’m sorry. I respect you and your company. But i can’t work for you, for I’m Orthodox.”
“Orthodox??”
huffff…! :rolleyes:
“I stand with the Catholic Church!”

(Got to say Catholic Church because i wanted to leave quick. Didn’t want to go into detail on what Orthodoxy is about. I think that Orthodoxy is the best kept secret religion in this land 😦 )

In this case, knowing about your religious views can be important
 
Trad_Catholic27 said:
My fellow Catholics why do you think that there is so much anti Catholicism in the world today among not only secularists but even protestants and orthodox Christians

Have you ever been attacked for your Catholicism
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Not seriously. The only time I was attacked is kind of humorous. When I was in high school, my friend and his girlfriend wanted to “set me up” with one of her friends (innocently, not anything inappropriate), so I messaged her, and the first thing she said was “Are you Catholic?” She then proceeded to go on for what felt like forever about how evil the Church is. Needless to say, I didn’t speak to her again.

Up until a few months ago I lived my entire life in the northeast USA, which isn’t exactly an anti-catholic area, even if it’s not very religious.
 
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