Why So Much Anger

[SarahB]

Alright.....I'm going out on a limb here, cause I know there aren't too many Protestants around, but, anyway...

I used to be Catholic, but I'm not anymore. I still respect the Church, even if I don't agree with all of the beliefs. I still go to church with my mom sometimes(no, I don't recieve Communion, don't worry), and since I'm laid up for 3 months with a badly broken ankle, I've been watching Mass on Sunday since I can't get to my church and I can't stand most of the Protestant services they put on TV(I would rather stick a pencil in my ear than listen to Joel Osteen for example). But, to my point.....I've noticed from some people, on this board and on others and also in "real' life have an absolute hatred for the Catholic Church and, I daresay, Catholics. They hold no respect for Catholics as people, refuse to actually listen to what they say, and just want to bash them and that is somehow supposed to convince you guys to convert. I'm not saying I think you need to, but why is it that people think that by beating you over the head with all these things that Bishops have done wrong or whatever, that you're suddenly going to "see the light"? Basically, I'd like to apologize for anyone who treats you guys that way. I may not agree with everything you do, but I'm not here to try to convert anyone. I'm here to learn and to have fun and try to take my mind off of the fact that I'm stuck in my house for 3 months, lol.

And to anyone bashing.....honestly, stop. You're not only making youself look bad, but you're making the rest of us look bad, too. You're supposed to present what you believe in a loving way, not scream and yell. You're not ever going to be able to present a valid point if you can't calm down and respect the others and at least take a look at what they're saying.

*sigh* Sorry....I just had to get that off my back.

God bless,
Sarah

Edited September 10, 2007 by SarahB

[dairygirl4u2c]

i am in the same boat. as a former catholic who notices the sam thing

[homeschoolmom]

[RandomProddy]

True.

[hoosieranna]

Same here, though I've never been Catholic. If I ask questions, I actually read the answer. I'm not trying to convert anyone. I'm here to learn. It says so on my profile.


edited for accuracy

Edited September 10, 2007 by Nadezhda

[Sojourner]

It really doesn't bother me personally when people are angry due to ignorance. I think it reflects more on them than it does on me or my beliefs. People often act irrationally and out of anger when they don't have a good comprehensive understanding of the situation. It's easier to get angry and bash people who believe a certain way than to do the work of trying to understand people's beliefs and see things from other people's perspectives.

And, sometimes people form their prejudices based on some real or perceived injury, and are unwilling to forgive it ... forgiveness takes a lot of work, and takes admitting that perhaps your prejudices might be wrong. That's difficult to do because of pride and stubbornness (which most of us struggle with). So I figure the best thing to do is pray that God softens the hearts of those who hate irrationally, so they're able to one day come into true, full communion with the Church.

Thanks for the sentiments.

[IcePrincessKRS]

Thank you for that Sarah.

I think some people have genuinely had bad experiences that have turned them away from Catholicism, but others... they just plain don't know any better. They've been raised to believe all these ridiculous notions (Jack Chick anyone?) and have no real concept of what Catholicism truly is. I've had people tell me that they'd been raised thinking that their Catholic Granny was burning in Hell simply because she had been Catholic--no other reason given.


I had a friend tell me a couple months ago that her beef with Catholicism is that all our priests are hypocrites and pedophiles. Maybe I ought to have been outraged but it took me a minute to respond to the accusation because I was trying not to laugh. She really thought that! ALL of our priests!

Once I knew I wasn't going to burst out laughing I explained what an extremely small percentage of priests are like that--and said that the number of Protestant ministers who are child molesters is at least equal, you just never hear the media making a big deal about it. I also explained that just because they are priests doesn't mean they are incapable of sin--we're all human, all prone to sin of one sort or another. (And here I thought I'd have to explain infant Baptism, or praying to Mary, or Confession! She'd started off saying "You know what my problem with the Catholic Church is?!" I had braced myself for the worst, fearing I might not be able to answer her questions well enough.)

Even if they don't agree they can at least know what we really believe. Ya know what I mean?

[CatherineM]

I find that bursting out in laughter is actually a good way to make someone stop and realize that what they are saying is ludicrous.

[prose]

Generally I nod and smile. I know better. I am not going to abandon my faith because of childish insults.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1382625' date='Sep 10 2007, 02:53 PM']I find that bursting out in laughter is actually a good way to make someone stop and realize that what they are saying is ludicrous.[/quote]

My friend probably would have been offended... and since she'd been crying over some other hurt feelings just a few minutes pervious (from another person, not me) it was probably better I didn't laugh in that instance.

[fides quarens intellectum]

i think if we are under attack, we must be doing something right. If we weren't doing something right, Satan wouldn't bother spreading misinformation and anger - would be a waste of energy.

[SarahB]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' post='1382583' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:56 PM']I had a friend tell me a couple months ago that her beef with Catholicism is that all our priests are hypocrites and pedophiles. Maybe I ought to have been outraged but it took me a minute to respond to the accusation because I was trying not to laugh. She really thought that! ALL of our priests![/quote]

That's the one that gets me the most. Yes, it's terrible what happened to all of those people. But you don't reject a religion based on the people in it, and you can't generalize like that. It's insane and lazy. Ugggh.

[ironmonk]

[quote name='SarahB' post='1382560' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:40 PM']Alright.....I'm going out on a limb here, cause I know there aren't too many Protestants around, but, anyway...

I used to be Catholic, but I'm not anymore. I still respect the Church, even if I don't agree with all of the beliefs. I still go to church with my mom sometimes(no, I don't recieve Communion, don't worry), and since I'm laid up for 3 months with a badly broken ankle, I've been watching Mass on Sunday since I can't get to my church and I can't stand most of the Protestant services they put on TV(I would rather stick a pencil in my ear than listen to Joel Osteen for example). But, to my point.....I've noticed from some people, on this board and on others and also in "real' life have an absolute hatred for the Catholic Church and, I daresay, Catholics. They hold no respect for Catholics as people, refuse to actually listen to what they say, and just want to bash them and that is somehow supposed to convince you guys to convert. I'm not saying I think you need to, but why is it that people think that by beating you over the head with all these things that Bishops have done wrong or whatever, that you're suddenly going to "see the light"? Basically, I'd like to apologize for anyone who treats you guys that way. I may not agree with everything you do, but I'm not here to try to convert anyone. I'm here to learn and to have fun and try to take my mind off of the fact that I'm stuck in my house for 3 months, lol.

And to anyone bashing.....honestly, stop. You're not only making youself look bad, but you're making the rest of us look bad, too. You're supposed to present what you believe in a loving way, not scream and yell. You're not ever going to be able to present a valid point if you can't calm down and respect the others and at least take a look at what they're saying.

*sigh* Sorry....I just had to get that off my back.

God bless,
Sarah[/quote]


God Bless and thank you....

Since you have some free time, here are a few links that might help you understand the faith better...


[url="http://www.catholic.com/library.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/library.asp[/url]
[url="http://www.scripturecatholic.com/"]http://www.scripturecatholic.com/[/url]


There is big money in pulling away ignorant Catholics from the Church... people like Jack Chick, Ian Paisley, etc... all make their living by attacking the Church built by Christ.

God Bless,
ironmonk

[ironmonk]

I think St. Augustine said it very well....

[b]City of God
Book 18
Chapter 51.—That the Catholic Faith May Be Confirmed Even by the Dissensions of the Heretics.[/b]
But the devil, seeing the temples of the demons deserted, and the human race running to the name of the liberating Mediator, has moved the heretics under the Christian name to resist the Christian doctrine, as if they could be kept in the city of God indifferently without any correction, just as the city of confusion indifferently held the philosophers who were of diverse and adverse opinions. Those, therefore, in the Church of Christ who savor anything morbid and depraved, and, on being corrected that they may savor what is wholesome and right, contumaciously resist, and will not amend their pestiferous and deadly dogmas, but persist in defending them, become heretics, and, going without, are to be reckoned as enemies who serve for her discipline. For even thus they profit by their wickedness those true catholic members of Christ, since God makes a good use even of the wicked, and all things work together for good to them that love Him. Romans 8:28 For all the enemies of the Church, whatever error blinds or malice depraves them, exercise her patience if they receive the power to afflict her corporally; and if they only oppose her by wicked thought, they exercise her wisdom: but at the same time, if these enemies are loved, they exercise her benevolence, or even her beneficence, whether she deals with them by persuasive doctrine or by terrible discipline. And thus the devil, the prince of the impious city, when he stirs up his own vessels against the city of God that sojourns in this world, is permitted to do her no harm. For without doubt the divine providence procures for her both consolation through prosperity, that she may not be broken by adversity, and trial through adversity, that she may not be corrupted by prosperity; and thus each is tempered by the other, as we recognize in the Psalms that voice which arises from no other cause, "According to the multitude of my griefs in my heart, Your consolations have delighted my soul." Hence also is that saying of the apostle, "Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation." Romans 12:12

For it is not to be thought that what the same teacher says can at any time fail, "Whoever will live piously in Christ shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12 Because even when those who are without do not rage, and thus there seems to be, and really is, tranquillity, which brings very much consolation, especially to the weak, yet there are not wanting, yea, there are many within who by their abandoned manners torment the hearts of those who live piously, since by them the Christian and catholic name is blasphemed; and the dearer that name is to those who will live piously in Christ, the more do they grieve that through the wicked, who have a place within, it comes to be less loved than pious minds desire. The heretics themselves also, since they are thought to have the Christian name and sacraments, Scriptures, and profession, cause great grief in the hearts of the pious, both because many who wish to be Christians are compelled by their dissensions to hesitate, and many evil-speakers also find in them matter for blaspheming the Christian name, because they too are at any rate called Christians. By these and similar depraved manners and errors of men, those who will live piously in Christ suffer persecution, even when no one molests or vexes their body; for they suffer this persecution, not in their bodies, but in their hearts. Whence is that word, "According to the multitude of my griefs in my heart;" for he does not say, in my body. Yet, on the other hand, none of them can perish, because the immutable divine promises are thought of. And because the apostle says, "The Lord knows them that are His; 2 Timothy 2:19 for whom He did foreknow, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son," Romans 8:29 none of them can perish; therefore it follows in that psalm, "Your consolations have delighted my soul." But that grief which arises in the hearts of the pious, who are persecuted by the manners of bad or false Christians, is profitable to the sufferers, because it proceeds from the charity in which they do not wish them either to perish or to hinder the salvation of others. Finally, great consolations grow out of their chastisement, which imbue the souls of the pious with a fecundity as great as the pains with which they were troubled concerning their own perdition. Thus in this world, in these evil days, not only from the time of the bodily presence of Christ and His apostles, but even from that of Abel, whom first his wicked brother slew because he was righteous, 1 John 3:12 and thenceforth even to the end of this world, the Church has gone forward on pilgrimage amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.

[missionarybelle]

I like it when people are happy and get along. I know that there are times when we are called to argue (Jesus said he was here to divide) but I still really like it when people like you are honestly just curious about something new and respectful of those who believe differently.

of course. I do sometimes enjoy a good fight. I just think that the internet is a VERY difficult place to have one.

[SarahB]

[quote name='ironmonk' post='1383221' date='Sep 11 2007, 12:12 AM']God Bless and thank you....

Since you have some free time, here are a few links that might help you understand the faith better...
[url="http://www.catholic.com/library.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/library.asp[/url]
[url="http://www.scripturecatholic.com/"]http://www.scripturecatholic.com/[/url]
There is big money in pulling away ignorant Catholics from the Church... people like Jack Chick, Ian Paisley, etc... all make their living by attacking the Church built by Christ.

God Bless,
ironmonk[/quote]

Ohhh...Jack Chick. I know we're not supposed to say bad things about people, but I have a hard time with him. I mean, like I said, I don't agree with everything the Catholic faith teaches, but he's simply mean-spirited and dead wrong on most things he says.

And thanks for the links. I may take another look at them, but I do know what the Church teaches. I used to post on here and on Onerock as a devout Catholic. And then my dad died and other stuff and...well, it's a long story but now I attend a Brethren church. Well....at least I did until I took a flying leap feet first into a 3 foot deep pool. I never said I had any common sense, lol. And dont tell my pastor , but I said the Jesus prayer over and over during the ambulance ride to the hospital. It took my mind off of the pain.

[ironmonk]

What is it that you disagree with? no need for answer here... please look it up on Catholic.com and ScriptureCatholic.com.

I do not know how familiar you are with Scripture, but the Catholic Church is the only church with traditions of God... since it was Christ that started the Church with our first bishops - the Apostles. All others have traditions of men, their teachings are based on their founder's view of the bible, not Christ.

I have been reading the bible since I was 6... I'm 34 now... Since around 2000, I've been researching and debating every attack against the Catholic Church that someone through at me or I could find.... I have never found the Catholic Church to be wrong on faith or morals.

The Catholic Church is not a bible church, because the bible is a Catholic book.

Please check the links or email me what your points are and I'll be happy to show you with Scripture and the first Christian writings that can help you understand better. I've met many Catholics who think they know what the Church teaches but have been mistaken due to years of not looking or bad teaching.

God Bless,
ironmonk

Edited September 11, 2007 by ironmonk

[SarahB]

I've looked. I have books, and looked at websites(Catholic.com was always my favorite, and I have Karl Keatings book), etc. I can explain stuff like praying to the saints and infant baptism to my friends who have questions about why the Catholic church does this or that. I just don't agree. But anyway.....if I do have any questions, I'll be sure to either email you or direct a thread to you.

[ironmonk]

[url="http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/brethren.html"]http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu...s/brethren.html[/url]

This?

God Bless,
ironmonk

[ironmonk]

Couple more things...

Fatima and Pio.

[url="http://www.CatholicSwag.com"]http://www.CatholicSwag.com[/url]

[url="http://www.peterkreeft.com/audio.htm"]http://www.peterkreeft.com/audio.htm[/url]

God Bless,
ironmonk

Edited September 11, 2007 by ironmonk