Why such hate? (observations from those I know)

[YinYangMom]

YinYangMom:

For them to acknowledge that about us they’d have to accept they’ve not had the Truth all along.

I should clarify that statement…

It’s not that they didn’t have the Truth, as much as they have a limited view of the Truth.

You’re kind of seeing that now, as you explore Catholicism, more is being revealed to you about what Is and what Isn’t, but if you are raised to believe one thing, you aren’t really to blame for not knowing about the rest of the picture.

But those who believe they have the entire picture are hesitant to consider there’s more out there.

 

[scylla]

When we started returning to the Church we let my sister in law know about it. We were going with her to Calvary Chapel, she started crying and wouldn’t speak to us.
(a lot more went on but that is a different story)

It took a long time for here to speak to us and want to associate with us again. Unfortunately there is a bit of a prejudice against Catholicism, just visit any Bible Christian forum and you will see it.

Most of this is from mis-understanding, I have since reconciled with my sister in law and she has started reading some Catholic books. She wont convert as all her friends are in Calvary Chapel and they give her work. (she believes in relativism and is ok with it right now)

What my point is most people discriminate against Catholicism as it is the last acceptable prejudice. As Catholics we should keep reaching out to our separated bretheren and keep building bridges.

Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence for the hope that lies within you, but do so with charity and love.
Good old Saint Peter giving some good advice,

God Bless
Scylla

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

streetcar, hang in there! When I began to investigate Catholicism, my protestant family, including the in-laws were appalled. Funny thing though, NONE of them has been in a church for years. They only “knew” that The Catholic Church is wrong - about everything!
I have been ostrasized by about half of them since I was confirmed. They refuse to even discuss religion with me and all I get are nasty asides and sarcastic looks.
But that’s their problem, not mine. Did not Jesus tell us in Luke14:26 that these divisions would occur if we make the decision to follow him?
I would change nothing. Though I do feel sad at the loss of affection from some of my closest family members, my joy in Christ far exceeds the sadness.
Look at it this way; they will eventually come to know the Truth. if not in this life, then in the hereafter.

Amen.

I’ve always liked Luke 14:27:

And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

 

[Della]

Welcome to the journey of discovery, streetcar!

Just to address what efforts are being made to reach out by the Church to Protestants–well, the Catholic Church acknowledges that there is a lot of good within Protestantism–even the sort that is virulently anti-Catholic. Whatever lifts human hearts to Christ has merit. There are commissions on ecumenicism that work very closely with not only Protestants but non-Christians, as well.

When I was going through RCIA our priest was emphatic about our being able to take our faith life that we had experienced into the Church with us. We weren’t told to dump everything we had learned as Protestants.

Having been deeply involved in both mainstream Protestantism as an Episcopalian and in the Evangelical side of Protestantism as a member of the Assemblies of God I can definitely say that Catholicism is much more accepting and understanding of Protestantism than Protestantism is of Catholicism.

The Catholic Church cannot sacrifice the truth in order to bring people back into the fold. That would truly be self-defeating. The Church is what it is because it was founded and formed by Christ. It cannot give up its character any more than Christ himself could.

 

[gardenswithkids]

streetcar:

…Now, my entire life I’ve never held such animosity for Catholics. I’ve always figured them as just Christian as I, just with different doctrines that even if I didn’t accept - it’s for God to decide if it’s right or wrong, not me. I still see the exact same passion for God/Jesus as I do in many protestants.

Thank you. Even if you never become Catholic, I appreciate you mentioning you see us as Christians with a passion for Christ. The accusation that we aren’t even Christian is the one that bothers me the most. The harder we try to live a Christian life, the more some accuse us not being Christian because they think we’re trying to “work” our way into heaven. :banghead: I suspect some of them simply believe what they’ve been told by others about us. Some also may know ignorant or bad Catholics who give poor witness to Christ, (and frequently the most anti-Catholics are the former Catholics who never learned the faith.)

streetcar:

Why hasn’t there been much effort for reconciliation?

I think there has been much effort for reconciliation. But often in trying to reconcile, Protestants become Catholics or Catholics become Protestant.

streetcar:

Even if I never become Catholic, I don’t fully understand - and I definitely don’t appreciate all of this hate.

Beyond what’s already been mentioned there may be another source of this hatred, shared by secularists and hard core anti-Catholic Protestants. If the Catholic Church is right, it means they are wrong and they can’t continue doing what they want to do. Since they want to keep doing what they are doing, they hate the Catholic Church for teaching they are sinning.

Some of the Church teachings hit right between the legs. The teachings demand that we abandon habits that we may not personally understand as sinful. Birth control is frequently an issue they disagree with, (to be honest few Catholics in America follow that Church teachings and I struggled with it too.) Remarriage following a divorce troubles others. (Anti-Catholics statements by Protestants who remarry following divorce sometimes leave me wondering if a Church saying they shouldn’t do that inspires their hatred as they try justify their own actions instead of truly becoming justified through obedient faith.) Obedience to Catholic Church teachings is hard, and while many simply ignore them, serious Christians can’t. Some simply disagree and let it go, some study the Church’s teachings and accept them, but others instead fight the Church and it’s teachings with hatred and venom.

 

[Kay_Cee]

I concur with everything gardenswithkids said. I would like to add that I think it highly probably some Protestants are so worried Catholicism might be true that they refuse to examine the Church’s teachings. How else can we explain someone insisting we make Mary a goddess? You can argue until you’re blue in the face that we don’t, you can show that the Church’s teachings deny that we do, but that person will still insist we make her a goddess.

In other words, it’s a lot easier to avoid looking at something that might prove you wrong than to examine it. It’s not intellectually honest, but, then again, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to have my belief system pulled out from under me. In some cases it would mean having to admit that people I loved and trusted had either lied to me or been horribly mistaken.

 

[Joey1976]

The hatred should confirm that you are doing the right thing. Jesus Christ was hated and his Church is also. He is a quote from Fulton Sheen.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world
today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the
world. In other words, I would look for the Church, which the world hates. My
reason for doing this would be that if Christ is in any one of the churches
of the world today, He must still be hated, as He was when He was on earth in
the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not
get along with the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being
behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having
learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they
sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which
is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by
Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of
bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ
and thought they had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the
world rejects because it claims to be infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ
because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the
confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and
respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will
grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it
is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is
other-worldly it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ
Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely hated and infinitely
loved. Therefore, the Church is Divine"

(from his introduction to Radio Replies).

---

(commentary)

Down through the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has been the biggest
target of religious hatred, although some cults and other religions have also
been hated. But they have been hated more for their un-Christ-like qualities
than for their Christ-like ones. The Catholic Church is unique; it is hated
for following the counter-cultural Christ.

It is only this Counter-Cultural Christ that offers us life and salvation
(John 6:66-68). He speaks life in the midst of our culture of death. There is
no place for contraception, or its handmaiden, abortion, in the Kingdom of
God. The true Christ teaches that we must deny our very selves in order to
inherit this Kingdom, even in sexual matters. He teaches that re-marriage
after divorce is adultery. He exalts the status of women. But he deliberately
chooses not to appoint any woman to be an Apostle. This Christ teaches that
the Holy Eucharist, which is His very Body and Blood, plays a vital role in
our salvation. He also teaches that His Church speaks with God’s authority.
It is His Church, the Roman Catholic Church, that teaches all these hard
sayings which lead to eternal life.

 

[Ignatius]

streetcar:

Now, my entire life I’ve never held such animosity for Catholics. I’ve always figured them as just Christian as I, just with different doctrines that even if I didn’t accept - it’s for God to decide if it’s right or wrong, not me. I still see the exact same passion for God/Jesus as I do in many protestants.

I honestly don’t know how you Catholics put up with it daily.

We’ve been warned; Christ said, “The servant is not grater than the master, If they persecute me, they will persecute you.” It’s a pretty good sign that you’re on the right track. Expect the adversary to do all he can to keep you out of the Church.

May the Lord cause His face to smile upon you. May the Lord be gracious to you. May the Lord grant you peace.

Your brother in Christ.

 

[BeluvdLily]

Ahimsa:

Don’t forget. Part of the reason the British came to America was to make sure the Catholics didn’t take over all of the New World and leave Protestantism behind.
Old prejudices die hard.

Were you being serious here? I don’t mean to be stupid but I have never heard of this and only had the impression that they came to be able to worship as they pleased without persecution. If it is true, can you tell me where the info came from?

Amie

 

[deb1]

Mystery5:

Dear Lily,
Without a doubt…

Really, I sometimes wonder the efficacy of the Sacraments when I listen to my fellow Catholics, or read their comments on this venerable site.

when you read a Catholic making a offensive comment then please call them on it. Do it through email if you want to be private. We should call one another on rude behavior.

 

[deb1]

Lilyofthevalley:

I am certain if a Catholic informed their Catholic friends they were converting to "born again"Christianity they would be met with guffaws and disdain and the use of the word Protestant as a slur.

I wouldn’t. My sister is Lutheran and my baby brother is Assembly of God. I love and respect both of them.

 

[alekzander]

Don’t sweat it! If you are comfortable in your faith you should be able to blow these people off! You have two thousand years of succession from the APOSTLES…any more questions?

 

[Genesis315]

streetcar:

Why hasn’t there been much effort for reconciliation?

Actually, there has been unprecedented effort on behalf of the Catholic Church. Since Vatican II, the Church has been all about reconcilliation–it’s the point of ecumenism.

That being said, we’re not going to compromise Truth to do so. And of course, most Protestants are convinced they have the Truth. And when it comes to Truth about God, people don’t compromise (as well they shouldn’t). So don’t expect reconcilliation until the Protestants admit they are wrong

 

[ElizabethJoy]

One of the things that made a big impression on me with regard to the Catholic Church was its people - starting from the time I was very small.

They don’t proselytize, they don’t get pushy, they don’t get judgmental and nasty with non-Catholics. (not the ones I’ve ever known) They have the truth - but they aren’t snotty about it. They have the sacraments - maybe that’s what keeps them from being holier-than-thou. I don’t know - it’s just always impressed me.

Even when I was very anti-Christian (and especially anti-what-I-thought-was-Catholicism) I wasn’t ever anti-Catholic. I think I always loved the people, despite any wrongs that I believed that their church had committed.

I don’t think most Catholics would treat Catholics who were converting to Protestantism with derision or laughter.

Pain, maybe. Sorrow. Attempts to try to get the straying one to talk about what’s happening and get them back to the pillar of truth. But, not cruelty.

As I contemplated conversion, the example given to me by the Catholics that I have known made it very easy to think that I wanted to be like them. Becoming a Catholic was not a frightening proposition at all, partly because of the wonderful examples I have known in my life.

 

[VociMike]

streetcar:

…Now, my entire life I’ve never held such animosity for Catholics. I’ve always figured them as just Christian as I, just with different doctrines that even if I didn’t accept - it’s for God to decide if it’s right or wrong, not me. I still see the exact same passion for God/Jesus as I do in many protestants.

I honestly don’t know how you Catholics put up with it daily.

Why hasn’t there been much effort for reconciliation? Even if I never become Catholic, I don’t fully understand - and I definitely don’t appreciate all of this hate.

I think it’s because Protestantism sprang from Catholicism and for Protestantism to be right, Catholicism must be proven wrong. Catholicism does not claim that it exists because God’s previous Church went off the rails, but Protestantism does make this claim. Thus it must constantly strive to show how Catholicism went off the rails.

Read what John Henry Newman had to say about the situation you describe back in mid-19th century England:

LINK

 

[Mystophilus]

streetcar:

Another half was even worse - they acted as if I was going to join a cult!

Many people not only accept that they themselves belong to a group, but actually proceed to subsume that affiliation into their self-identity. Rather than being “Ms. J. Smith”, a person becomes “Ms. J. Smith, Protestant, American, Republican, pro-lifer, cat-lover”. Because “Protestant” is now part of her self, Jane now reacts to any possible criticism of Protestantism as a personal attack upon her. One of her friends departing from Protestantism to join the ‘opposition’ (i.e., the big, bad, Mary-worshipping, quasi-occultic Catholic Church from which Luther, Calvin and Henry VIII delivered the right-thinking) would definitely represent such a criticism: for her friend to depart is for that friend to make the strongest possible statement that the belief, her belief, is wrong. Her friend is attacking her belief; thus, her friend is betraying her.

Of course, none of this is articulated as such by Ms. Smith; she only knows that she feels confused, sad, and angry.

You, the potential convert, merely get caught in the crossfire between her insecurities and her doubts. Sorry.

 

[kim_wilson]

They hate Catholocism because they consider it to be a non-christian cult rather than a Christian religion. Many of them would sincerely like to convert us and save us. I know this because I used to be S. Baptist and converted to Catholocism. I used to pray for the salvation of my Catholic friends. Then I started investigating, and now I’m a mackerel snapping, Mary loving Catholic.

As a Montgomery, Alabama rabbi once said to me, “We have something in common; I am not a Christian, and most people around here don’t think you are a Christian either.”

 

[Mystophilus]

kim wilson:

They hate Catholocism because they consider it to be a non-christian cult rather than a Christian religion. Many of them would sincerely like to convert us and save us.

Which none of the Catholics who post here would like to do to Protestants, of course, because all of them accept Protestantism as a fully valid form of belief?

I think not. Catholic acceptance of Protestantism is neither better nor worse than Protestant acceptance of Catholicism, and sectarianism is all just such an enormous waste of time.

 

[deb1]

Mystophilus:

Which none of the Catholics who post here would like to do to Protestants, of course, because all of them accept Protestantism as a fully valid form of belief?

I think not. Catholic acceptance of Protestantism is neither better nor worse than Protestant acceptance of Catholicism, and sectarianism is all just such an enormous waste of time.

The difference is that Catholics don’t automatically consider Protestants nonChristian. We consider Protestants our seperated brethen.

 

[VociMike]

deb1:

The difference is that Catholics don’t automatically consider Protestants nonChristian. We consider Protestants our seperated brethen.

Neither do we have things like Chick tracts or books, magazines and websites declaring Protestantism to be the Whore, the Beast, the Antichrist, etc.