Catholics - what is it about non-Catholic Christianity that turns you off?

Question

Another poster posted the question "Non-catholics: What is it about Catholicism that turns you off?" I would like to see what Catholics say about non-Catholic Christianity.

Answer 1

The absence of sacrements. I feel that celebrating communion is such an act of closeness with the Lord.

Answer 2

I used to be Catholic, and many of my friends still are. I don't hate Catholics or Catholicism. But you asked for turn-offs, so I will tell you why I left the RCC: the pedophilia scandal that broke wide open about 4 years ago. I can't put money in a collection plate knowing it might be going to fund a settlement that protects a pedophile. My own father, from whom I am estranged, is a pedophile, and I suffer from PTSD as a result. I never officially left; I just stopped going. The last time I felt a serious need for Confession, I went to an Episcopalian priest, and may at some point join an Episcopal Church. The fact that they ordain women (who are far less likely to be pedophiles than men) and married men gives them a "thumbs up" in my book.

Answer 3

Non Catholic Christianity is so vast from E Orthodoxy to Quakers. What is the biggest turn off to me is the"cultivated misconceptions "(which is a polite way of saying bigotry or even hatred) that is all to common among "the zealous" from such diverse groups as ROCOR Orthodox to"inclusivist" Episcopalians to Assembly of God folk who label us the AntiChrist. You can talk Scriture,Reason and Church History until you are blue in the face and the hatred is undimmed.
I appreciate and respect non Catholic groups rights and charisms . I often see one or another aspect of Catholicism preached and lived with greater clarity among different non Catholic groups or in individual members of our"separated brethren" in family in Jesus than I see among many Catholics.
Nevertheless, I am turned off by the fragmentation of disunity not just among the 30,000+ denominations and sects but often within where there is no Papal seat of unity. We don't need to import the the teachings of and war between the Modernists and Fundamentalist which are already harming so many Catholics who are uninstructed in the Faith
Among Protestants especially the Bible Alone principle leads to constant separations and rival denominations. The loss of the reality of the communion of Saints beyond death, the loss of the Eucharist as Real Presence and the loss of the sense of regeneration in Baptism are just some of the things that are a turn off among most of the Non Lutheran and Non -Evangelical- Catholic -Anglican type Protestant groups.

Answer 4

The non-Catholic Christain's seem to accept "Divorce & Birth Control" too lightly. I have only read about this, however, and it is through writings that I see that since Henry VIII divorce has run rampant. Additionally, Christopher West writes (1):

"... Until 1930 every Christian denomination was unanimous in its condemnation of contraception. That year (1930) however, the Anglican Church made history as the first Christian body to break with this teaching. At the time, Catholic, Protestant, and even non-Christen voices predicted that acceptance of contraception would logically lead to social chaos, starting with a dramatic rise in marital breakdown and divorce ... US Pres Theodore Roosevelt, for example, condemned contraception as "the one sin for which the penalty is national death, race death; a sin for which there is no atonement." ... Sigmund Freud, the founder of modern psychoanalysis and an atheist, observed: "The abandonment of the reproductive function is the common feature of all perversions. We actually describe a sexual activity as perverse if it has given up the aim of reproduction and pursues the attainment of pleasure as an aim independent of it." ... When a committee of the Federal Council of Churches in America issued a report that suggested following the lead of the Anglican Church, The Washington Post published a stinging editorial with the following prophetic statement: "Carried to its logical conclusions, the committee's report if carried into effect would sound the death knell of marriage as a holy institution by establishing degrading practices which would encourage indiscriminate immorality. The suggestion that the use of legalized contraceptives would be 'careful and retrained' is preposterous." <"Forgetting Religion," WP 3-22-1931> ... ...
... The twentieth century witnessed every major Protestant denomination shift from condemning contraception, not only to accepting it, but oftentimes advocating it. The Catholic Church alone - withstanding unimaginable global pressure - has stood firm. Even staunch Protestant leaders, when they wake up to the evils of contraception (as more and more are), marvel at the courage of the Catholic Church. As on Evangelical Lutheran put it: "That a Roman pontiff would lead the opposition -often painfully alone - to contraception at the end of the twentieth century is no small irony. Perhaps the Catholic hierarchical model, reserving final decisions on matter of faith and morals to a bishop whom Catholics believe is successor of Peter, has proved more resilient in the face of modernity than the Protestant reliance on individual conscience and democratic church governance."

Answer 5

There are many "turn offs" (using the term lightly - they at least have a shared faith in God).

"Sola Scriptura" - it is WRONG!

The fact that many do not take the time to learn what we really actually believe. That just annoys the jeepers out of me. They hear something from a very anti-Catholic preacher, who heard it from his/hers, who heard it from . . . . Come on people, if you have a heart question, you don't ask your mechanic do you? Have a question about the Catholic Church, ask a Catholic.

The main "turn off" however is the Eucharist - someone said before me that grape juice and crackers are NOT the Body and Blood of Christ, and it IS NOT symbolic. Jesus said several times to eat His flesh and drink His blood. At the last supper He didn't say "Take the bread and eat it, it represents my body. . . . take this cup and drink from it, it represent the new and everlasting covenant." No He said "this IS my body. . . this IS my blood".

There are many others, but I will not take up the space to list them all.

Answer 6

For the most part, nothing. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and for that reason, I respect those who are of a different faith.

The only thing that turns me off about *some* (not all) non-Catholics is their assumption that we are wrong for including tradition as well as Scripture as the basis of doctrine. The truth is that many Protestants have based their form of worship on the Mass, borrow Catholic hymns, and have other traditions that they follow, as well. . .and yet they accuse us of being wrong.

Other than that small group, I have no problem with non-Catholic Christians.

Answer 7

1. The misconceptions that they cling to about us, insead of finding out the truth.

2. The lack of respect for the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Baptism.
Grape juice and crackers does not equal the body and blood of Christ. Baptism is NOT only an outward display but a requirement given by Jesus.

3. From some non-Catholics, the whole 'personal Lord and Savior' and 'once saved always saved' theory.

This world of ours is already so focused on the "personal" that thy tak it way too far in regards to our elationships with Jesus Christ - so far tha they exclude others, as if they had any right to tell God what He's going to do.

Answer 8

I firmly believe that there is good and bad to every faith and religious group, except maybe that group (I refuse to call them a church or denomination) which protests soldier's funerals.

Of course, my outlook is slanted because I was raised Catholic. I find the whole idea of Sola Scriptura odd, to say the least. Sola Scriptura is not in the Bible. In fact, the book of John (I think it is in John) says that Jesus did many other things which are not written in this book.

I think back to my college days. Some professors simply taught what is in the textbook. Others started from the textbook and expanded from there.

Answer 9

Well there was a time when we Catholics used to kill non-catholics by order of our leader the Pope.
if they refused to join us. But today that would not be acceptable so we just keep our mouths shut. Too much info out there of all our atrocities to our fellowman. And besides this child-abuse stuff doesn't go down well either. Apart from that we get embarrassed with non-catholic Christians when they question our beliefs, since for the most part we are ignorant of the true Christian message. We feel it is better to bow down and worship idols and relics of dead men and women, since we can see what we worship rather than a God we cannot see.
Hope that is helpful.

Answer 10

Probably not praying through Mary.

Don't know where in the Bible that is a requirement but it is a church tradition.