Guest Jon Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 (edited) [color="#000080"]HI all, I ask this in all humility, though in writing things get misunderstood. In all humility, why do people care so much about if someone is Catholic or Protestant? If someone loves God the Father and Jesus His Son and the Blessed Holy Spirit -who cares if they are dancing around a fire with their faces painted on a full moon? I was asked kindly to butt out on a Prot/Cath area of another forum because as stated--"We WANT to debate and argue. Go to some flowery section of the forum." And I, of course, did with no hurt feelings. But, I did have an 'ah-ha' moment --"Oh, they WANT to have discord --oh, they don't WANT to have peace or understanding or reconciliation of any kind -they LIKE the energy of the battle. OHHHH, I [u]get[/u] it." Duh. I love peace -I love peace, boy, do I love peace. I have no desire to control people. I know that God works in peoples lives as needed --but, if someone already loves the Trinity -ok -move on with a smile and shine God's love to others that need to see His example. If I love the Pope and they don't , who cares -they love God and Jesus. If I pray the Rosary and [i]they[/i] think I'm making Mary more important than Jesus -who cares -I know my heart. They love God, too. Good. If they think I follow a false doctrine, who cares, they love God, I love God -who cares if they jump up and down and think they are better and I am a fool. Who cares? I love Jesus and they love Jesus. Who cares if one of us finds some obscure sentence in the New Testament and decides to (I'm making this up) dress in red all day ...who cares? They love Jesus by jumping on the hour and I don't, who cares how they express it or practice their external ritual to Him. It's the atheists that need my attention - as in demonstrating the peace and happiness God brings into my life. When they get all mad at things and worse things happen to me and I'm still smiling and having trust in "something" ---that's my work or mission here - to bring those to an awareness, little bit,by little bit that there is indeed a Higher Power that created them ---then later we can venture into that He had a Son that came here for us. Baby steps, gently demonstrating the peace and true joy that the Lord brings into our lives. So intoxicated with Him because He is our only focus - - that these little distractions like - oh you are becoming a Protestant Evangelical and you think I'm nuts - oh great - and then go back being drunk on the Lord - in your own way. God draws us to Him in whatever way He can. That is how much He wants our love --[i]You want to dance to Me in the light of a fullmoon? I'll take it.[/i] My perspective with all due respect, God Bless, Jon[/color] Edited November 14, 2008 by Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 [quote]In all humlity, why do people care so much about if some is Catholic or Protestant?[/quote] It's not whether or not they are Catholic or Protestant. I couldn't care less if some are Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, etc. it's only when they consider themselves anti-catholic and work to "convert" us that I get a little upset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Well, it matters because salvation is a very important thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisChildForever Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Peace is a beautiful and good thing, Jon. Jesus preached peace - "my peace I give to you." However, we can not confuse peace with silence. The Catholic Church is the [u]Truth[/u], [i]the[/i] Church. It is very important that this distinction is made when wondering what the difference is between Catholicism and Christian denominations. We are not a denomination - we are the first. I am not trying to be arrogant; rather, when one fully understands this, there is an amazing sense of humility [b]and[/b] a deep desire to show others, particularly our fellow Christians. For instance, if a fellow Christian (non-Catholic) says that masturbation is perfectly reasonable, or that homosexuals should get married, or that women should be priests, we can not sit back with a smile on our face and say "So long as you love Christ, that's okay." Because it is [b]not[/b] okay. Sometimes "tough love" is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisvilleFan Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Jon' post='1701096' date='Nov 14 2008, 08:50 AM'][color="#000080"]HI all, I ask this in all humility, though in writing things get misunderstood. In all humility, why do people care so much about if someone is Catholic or Protestant? If someone loves God the Father and Jesus His Son and the Blessed Holy Spirit -who cares if they are dancing around a fire with their faces painted on a full moon? I was asked kindly to butt out on a Prot/Cath area of another forum because as stated--"We WANT to debate and argue. Go to some flowery section of the forum." And I, of course, did with no hurt feelings. But, I did have an 'ah-ha' moment --"Oh, they WANT to have discord --oh, they don't WANT to have peace or understanding or reconciliation of any kind -they LIKE the energy of the battle. OHHHH, I [u]get[/u] it." Duh. I love peace -I love peace, boy, do I love peace. I have no desire to control people. I know that God works in peoples lives as needed --but, if someone already loves the Trinity -ok -move on with a smile and shine God's love to others that need to see His example.[/quote] Good question... it's certainly something we should check ourselves on. I'm sure sometimes I get into debates more for the energy and intellectual challenge than out of love for God and the person I'm debating with. Maybe for Advent I should give up debating... except on Sundays, of course Those who love God should also love peace... they kinda go hand in hand. However, faithfulness to God also requires us to oppose false statements and beliefs, and at those times we must ask which we love more: peace or God? Just as some allow social justice to become a god, or charismatic gifts, or the 1962 Latin Rite Mass, or fishing, or sex... these are all great gifts from God, but if we ever find ourselves at a point where we can't love God without them, that's a good sign the wonderful created gift from God has become our god. Same thing with peace (and debate too)... we must lay down every crown before the Throne. So, yes, we are obligated to correct the errors of fellow Christians, whether they be a faithful Catholic or a completely fallen away Baptist who believes he is saved by a prayer he said as a teenager. More importantly, we do so because we love our neighbor, and we also love the Truth and long for all our neighbors to love to the Truth just as much, and our love for neighbor and Truth are an outpouring of our love for God. If this is how we are living, then our behavior whether sharing peace or being in disagreement will show people that the Holy Spirit is working through us. And in my experience, this is more important to most Protestants than our Catholic doctrine (probably because my experience isn't in southern Alabama... much of Kentucky, at least the cities, actually has a pretty strong Catholic history and culture... seems like everyone you meet was raised Catholic, so we manage to soften up the Baptists ). Edited November 14, 2008 by LouisvilleFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Love is not about accepting the errors people believe. I agree, debating for the sake of it is wrong and silly. If we enter into debate with anyone, it should be with the intention of uncovering the truth, not to prove another person wrong. But if we claim to love our neighbour, we must also make the effort to show them what is true and good. Jon, you can't follow and believe in false doctrine and claim to love God. You can't reject Mary and claim to love God. You can't reject the Eucharist and love God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'm still really sad about this. These are my friends, you know? Sigh. Things just haven't been the same since, and I really don't know what to do. I've been praying for them. I guess that is all I can do. I wish I could just sit down and talk to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote name='Selah' post='1765104' date='Jan 28 2009, 10:41 PM']I'm still really sad about this. These are my friends, you know? Sigh. Things just haven't been the same since, and I really don't know what to do. I've been praying for them. I guess that is all I can do. I wish I could just sit down and talk to them. [/quote] Did they just decide to convert you, or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Not yet. I suppose I shouldn't worry. I tend to do that a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I have a 'friend' kind of friend who's Protestant and ridiculously anti-Catholic. At one point I just stopped talking to her. It wasn't debating, it was her yelling an emotional response that actually didn't make much sense. So I gave up. There was no point. I don't talk to her anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'm so sorry I hope one day you guys can be friends again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote name='Selah' post='1765146' date='Jan 28 2009, 09:03 PM']I'm so sorry I hope one day you guys can be friends again.[/quote] Your situation is more important; sounds like they were closer friends of yours. There's a distinct possibility I never see her again after we graduate. Or maybe just a couple times a year. I'm not torn up about it, but it is a shame to think that some friendships will never occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) I trust God knows what He is doing, though. I trust He will help them understand. I just pray they want to. Edited January 29, 2009 by Selah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote name='Selah' post='1765160' date='Jan 28 2009, 09:09 PM']I trust God knows what He is doing, though. I trust He will help them understand. I just pray they want to.[/quote] That's what we pray for. I guess we can trust that in the end, everything will be fine. One way or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 You could always invite them here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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