I need to know why so many people don't like us...?

Question

It seems that alot of folk have quite a bit of resentment against us Catholics. In some cases, people don't even try and hide it, they just say they hate us. Why?? I mean i'm not a devout Catholic but i do respect my religion and all other religions. Also, alot of Christians don't seem to realize that Catholics are Christians too. What do you guys think?

Your answers are great thanks. Of course, it's totally fine to disagree with the teachings of any religion BUT not before you know what the religion actually teaches!!!

Visionsincarnate--Thanks for your well-informed answer NOT!!! Though someone does seem to agree with you

Oh and finally, i disagree with so many of the teachings of the Catholic Church. I think it goes against humanity that priests aren't permitted to marry and i think that forbidding contraceptives is insane so really i guess i just wanted to know why some folk generalize and say they hate US (the Catholics, not the church) without even knowing us!!! Thanks so much all

Answer 1

Some of my best friends are Catholic, and, as you may surmise by my avatar, I and my family are Baptist. As long as we are agreed upon salvation through fatih in Jesus Christ and his perfect life, suffering under Pontius Pilate, Death, Burial, and Resurrection; I would say that ALMOST everything else in scripture is negotiable. I can't support prayer to Mary as Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me; and Jesus told satan when He was tempted-Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only...and some perverted priests haven't helped, but neither have Jimmy Swaggert or Jim and Tammy Baker. Everyone is individually accountable for their own actions.
I think it is possible you have been hanging around small minded people, of which there seems to be no shortage of anywhere, including my church and this website. I pray that you find spiritually mature friends, as Iron sharpens Iron.
Since God is the ONLY one who truly knows hearts, who are we to say that a homosexual or alcoholic isn't really a Christian? I think the key is what kind of fruit are they bearing? I'm not nearly concerned about where they have come from, but where are they going?
Are any of us any better than the naked woman taken in adultery and thrown before Jesus and asked of Jesus "Master, what would you have us do with her?"--What did Jesus say? "Go and sin no more"
Personally, some of my Catholic friends I think are more spiritually mature than some of my baptist friends.
Our common bonds are greater than our differences. All of us are made of dust and shall return to dust.

Answer 2

Without trying to give an opinion myself here - some discord creating differences between the Catholic Church and many of the other Christian religions:
The infallibility of the Pope - Catholics are taught that the Pope 'speaks with God's voice' and therefore can't make mistakes, Protestant religions argue that the Pope is ultimately human and therefore can (and possibly does) make mistakes
The sacrament of penance / reconciliation - repentance need not be administered by the clergy. What power do clergy have to forgive sins in God's name?
The esteem given to The Virgin Mary and the saints - if you were to examine non-catholic Christian churches to make a comparison, you would see a lot less statues.

Catholicism is a religion steeped in tradition, and a lot of symbolism is still contained in that tradition - symbolisms that some catholics are no longer aware of yet blindly follow. Protestants argue that Christianity is more about the individual's journey and shouldn't be masked by symbolism - it is more important to understand.

I am not saying that you or any other catholic is somehow less Christian - I am merely pointing out the view that many protestant religions have on catholicism.

Answer 3

Well, one thing may be the long standing division between the Catholics and Protestants, all the way back to Martin Luther in Germany. If I'm correct, Ireland has been split heavily by that for some time. That may explain the other Christians, and, also, that may resent that a person can order them in religious ways, ie, the Pope. As for other people, I think it may be mostly preconceptions and stereotypes. Such may be is what was capitalized by the news reletivley recently, the various pedophiles in the Church. Though, not all are by any means, when things like that happen, it may darken and dim people's overall view of the Church. And for those who are outright not Christian, they may also resent very much Evangelical types who try to convert, and see this as having Christ shoved down their throats, and, the stereotypical Southern Baptist types. Hope this Helped.

Answer 4

From what I can tell Magsli it is all a misunderstanding.
People say false things like that we worship Mary, the Saints, or even the Pope. (Sometime they say even worse things)
The funny thing is, odds are none of these people have went through a RCIA Class (Catholic beliefs 101 basically). If they took the time to research Catholic beliefs,talk to Catholics and read books wrote by Catholics then they would see that we are not all that different from them. Yes we look at things different then a Baptist or Church of God person would. But we ALL have the same Lord & Savior. It really is very sad that people hate what they don't understand & that they refuse to hear us when we tell them about our beliefs.

If we all tried to understand each other we could get along.

Hope this helps God bless *HUGS*

Answer 5

Catholics are christians, they were the first christians and all other branches of christianity derived from there. However, many do not like to hear that because when they broke away, their belief systems became very different and thus it is a frictional relationship now.

I do not resent catholics no more than I resent other christians. I do not believe what the religion espouses but I do respect that you as an individual have the right to believe. So long as people respect my right to my agnosticism I have no trouble accepting others.

I have numerous cousins who are catholic and two of my very best friends are devout catholics.

Answer 6

I was raised Catholic, but I no longer consider myself Catholic. It is not because I don't like Catholics, it is because I just can't believe the things the church says I must believe. However, I still get offended by the venom I hear from supposedly "Christian" people. Maybe I am just sensitive to it, because when I was growing up, I went to a Church of England school for two years, and all the "good Christians" there spewed venom & hatred at me for being a Catholic (as well as hating me because I am American)
While I don't care much for the religion itself, this is America, and everyone has the right to voluntarily and harmlessly practice whichever religion they choose or no religion at all. I cringe when I see how hateful "Christians" can be over denominational differences, or how hateful they can be toward people who aren't Christian at all, or to agnostics and atheists.
I think religious bigotry is just as bad a racial bigotry. I only joined this board yesterday, but I see that this forum has become less of a question and answer format, and more of a hurling insults at people based on thier religion. (A question that begins with why are (Atheists, Mormons, Christians, etc )so stupid is not a question at all, just an insult framed as a question.
I don't dislike people for following a religion that I don't, but I will not hesitate to criticise any adverse ACTIONS that people take in the name of their religion (or idelogoy, or polical party) etc.

Answer 7

I never have understood why Christians don't know that yes, Catholics are considered Christians too. They should understand their own religion more. I like Catholics, I once asked if Christians thought all Jews would burn in hell and the only ones who said no were Catholics. Some people just let the actions of a few twisted old men affect their religious views, it's sad really.

Answer 8

There has always been resentment against Catholics, though be assured, catholics are christian, it does things differently to protestant churchs, and there is a fight to who is right, there are also things which catholics could say which are not right in the protestant church, like communion, where they use grapejuice instead of wine, and it is only symobolic, oh and protestant means to protest, it is protesting the catholic church which it broke away from and formed their own churches back in the 1500's. But Catholics are more loving towards other groups of Christainty then others are towards them, Catholics are turning the other cheek, and spreading love

Answer 9

Part of it is the same reason people hate Americans, because they are powerful and have a lot of money. A lot of people fear Catholicism because they seem to have more control over their members than a lot of other religions. I think this is more a holdover from earlier times when Catholics really toed the line as far as doing exactly what their bishops, etc., told them to do.

And part of it is the ritual. A lot of people nowadays are put off by the robes and ceremonies.

But the biggest reason is the same no matter what the problem - ignorance. People simply do not know anything about Catholocism, so they fear it.

Answer 10

It's not personal, it's just that they don't like the religion itself. For those who have previously been Catholics they know the false teachings the said religion has been advocating. I, too, was once a Catholic and when I studied the bible, it opened my eyes to a lot of contradictory teachings or theological discrepancies of the Church. However, my new faith did not make me arrogant or disapproving of other religions. Anyone can choose which faith or religion can best satisfy his quest for the truth.