why am i being bashed for being a Catholic?

Question

in my previous question you'll see that i was talking about this "Born Again" Christian that claimed that since i'm a Roman Catholic, I should find the truth. of course this man, after asking questions cause he didnt just reveal it, was in jail for having drugs, so i told him "Look, I got it right the first time around, I didnt have to do drugs or go to jail to get Jesus". he had the balls to tell me that Catholics do not read the Bible and that we are all going to hell! yea an ex con drug addict is telling me that i'm going to hell! the audacity of it all! but then on here i realise that people think that Roman Catholics do not read the Bible?? since i started to read until now, my priest has always told me to read the Bible and find answers and if i couldnt find any to talk to him, so where the hell do these people get the idea we dont know the Bible???

Sword/Lord maybe that's the trend in Latin America [which i truly doubt because i ahve Catholic Latin American friends] but in the Carebbean and in the USA, it is not.

isnt it Christian of him Midge?

to CMO i never had any doubt in my faith, not at all. i know about the Bible and follow it, i dont read it for a night lecture, i read it to learn and follow? so that's what most of you tihnk about Catholics? we read the Bible as a novel and put it aside? no! we read it to learn from and the true ones follow it. i have no doubts in my faith, so please dont evne go there friend

Answer 1

Do not be concerned. To those that have been given much, much is expected. We have been given more than all the other denominations and they do not like it. There is a lot of jealousy here.

wwwstat says they should not bash you (as he proceeds to bash you) they are ridiculous

Answer 2

You will notice that most anti-Catholic claims are fallacious. They don't really hate the Church, they hate their perception of the Church. I do not know where their perceptions come from but, if you do this sort of thing long enough, you will see the same old garden-variety claims recycles over, and over, and over, again.

As Catholics, we should expect this.

We're online for one thing. The relative anonymity that the the Internet allows causes some people to be far more audacious in the electronic world than they would ever be in the real world.

Also, in the real world, it's easy to group together (only) with others who share a common interest. On the Internet, however, many different people with many different "agendas" are thrown in together. This makes us bumping into unsavory characters almost inevitable. It also makes bumping into decent people inevitable too.

We shouldn't question the possibility this ex-con has found God. If we are to believe in our own redemption, we have to believe the redemption of others. It is entirely possible for a con to find God, repent for wrongdoing, and become a Christian.

Having said that, this does not justify one's condemnation of another. The ex-con in question has absolutely no authority to proclaim anyone either saved or condemned. Such a judgement is for God and God alone.

The idea that Catholics do not read the Bible is fallacious, bigtime. However, such a claim is a perfect example of the garden-variety anti-Catholicism I was talking about.

Where do such people get the idea Catholics don't read the Bible?

Ignorance is how. Ignorance begets ignorance as sin begets sin. Sin is a kind of ignorance as ignorance is a kind of sin.

Ignorance often leads to hatred because people tend to hate that which they don't understand. Consider that God IS Love. The opposite of love is hatred.

Who/what embodies hatred AND is the opposite of God? Answer that question and you will know why there is so much hatred towards God and, by association, His Church.

Answer 3

When I was a Protestant I thought Catholics were weird. I asked a few Catholics about their beliefs and got weird answers...such as "yes, we worship statues" and "purgatory is where you go if you sinned and died before getting to confession."

Once I became Catholic, and of course found the most precious love for Christ I have ever known, I was not prepared for the persecution. Boy have I had to do my homework.

It's common misconception that Catholics don't read the Bible. But it comes from the old days, when many people couldn't read and there weren't many Bibles...so people didn't own them. The reformation happened just as the printing press was getting underway...so suddenly people were getting Bibles..from the reformists. So, it became an idea that Catholics didn't read the Bible.

If a Protestant came to Mass they'd be surprised to find that we read quite a bit of scripture...and in context.

Many Protestants know particular verses that support their beliefs...but many do not know the Bible as a whole. Some do...but many don't. They are taught a few good verses for evangelizing and that's it.

But also...Catholicism is not a Bible church. We have Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium as our guides as well. This also leads to the impression that we are not biblically educated. That's just rubbish.

Answer 4

If you're reading the Bible, you'll realize (I'm sure) that despite the fact that he is an ex con, it still means that he is forgiven (so long as he has accepted Jesus as his Savior and has repented) and that God loves him as much as He loves you. People make generalizations about other religions because they don't know a lot about them. Some people think they have "all the answers", but in reality we need to realize that only God knows everything and that we can only do our best by studying the Bible and try to follow what is in there. That includes forgiving others and try to be understanding when other people make judgements about you because you're of a particular religion. Instead of getting angry with him, try to approach him as someone who's trying to understand how he got that idea and have an intelligent conversation with him. It sounds like you're being very offensive, which will leave a bad impression--furthering his prejudices towards Catholics!

Answer 5

Its a bit of inter-denominational prejudice. Back in the 16C the Catholic church got secular rulers to go to war to try to impose catholicism on protestant nations and converts. The catholic church abandoned that kind of behaviour pretty much by the 17C. But as someone above said, there is still some residual ill-feeling, although it is completely unchristian.

I was brought up C of E, they used to get mocked quite a lot as they traditionally accept christian people with such a wide range of positions.

Answer 6

I'm sorry people are saying these things to you.

I'm a born again Christian, and I don't care about small details in differences in Christian denominations.

All that matters is that as long as you repent from your sins, ask for forgiveness from Jesus, and have all faith in him - you will be saved.

Answer 7

If you really cared about the mud, someday it's bound to stick.

If in doubt, measure your faith and deeds to attain salvation against what the bible teaches. If you find that your religion hinders you ability to achieve what Jesus commanded us to do, and you are convicted in your heart that it is so, then it is time to abandon religion to walk with Christ.

Many criminals of the bible were transformed by God to be instruments to doing His Will. Our humanity likes to think we are in a better position with God just because we haven't committed any heinous crimes. But remember God cancels all sins if we repent and accept Jesus as Savior. This is because we are all sinners by Adamic sin, and hence despite the sins we are conscious of committing within our own lifetime, we are all still guilty by default of the sin committed by Adam and Eve. By God's grace, Jesus paid for our death penalty in full. So we must all repent regardless if you have lived a relatively good life compared to the jailbird next door.

It is easy for our humanity to judge others, but God is the ultimate judge. If one repents and accepts His only begotten Son, He will be your "Wonderfull Counsellor", presiding attorney defending you til the very end.

Just reading the bible will not make the cut off with God. Your acceptance into eternal life with God will depend on His way, not yours. You must sanctify yourself to be a sheep instead of a goat, in His eyes (matt 25:31-46 NIV). And the only way to know how to proceed is to pray in intercession through the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the truth. Then you will follow the convictions of your heart to know how to proceed in your current religion.

May God Bless you!

Answer 8

Pastor Billy says: AMEN sister preach the WORD, "Can I get an, Amen?"

PS Sword/Lord's avatar is of a ....... Catholic Tetonic Knight what irony that is lol

Answer 9

if thesse "born again" or "bible" christians actually read the bible properly the would be catholic, the catholic church gave us the bible afterall. if they would attend mass atleast once they would see teh whole procession is from scripture line for line, even what is in the church example the candles,incense etc..........don't let it get to you though, it happens frequently on here so be kind and charitable and through your words and by acting christian which we are hopefully you can reach a few of them. our seperated brothers and sisters in christ have alot to learn about catholicism and being christian which the said gentleman wasn't being when you had to deal with him. this ofcourse does not apply to all protestant christians but is offered as my humble opinion. peace be with you.

Answer 10

what people claim is that some things in the Bible are ignored or misinterpretted. the reason people believe in being born again is because of John 3:3 "no one will see the kingdom of Heaven unless he is born again". the explanation is given in the rest of John 3.

that's why people believe it. they don't believe in "born once, die once", it's "born twice, die once" (being the preferred life).

Answer 11

Unfortunately, there has been a lot of bad blood between protestants and catholics. There are many who will say "Lord, Lord" and I will say, "depart from me, I never knew you"....the Bible says that many will call themselves Christian but not actually BE Christian. The problem is that ONLY God knows who those people are...so we can't really judge. I'm sure a lot of protestants are hellbound, as are many catholics. I'm just not prepared to say who IS and who IS NOT because I can't see inside of peoples hearts.