Wow, it took reading the other answers to your question to get me to post, but I'm struck by the defensiveness of some of the responses to your question. In fact many of these folks aren't responding to the question you asked at all. Your question strikes me as a fair-minded and open-ended question along the lines of "what do you think"? But many of your respondents are evidently reading it as an all-out attack on their beliefs. As an agnostic with many deeply religious friends whose beliefs I respect, I have to wonder: if your deeply-held beliefs can't withstand such gentle probing as you have offered up, doesn't that indicate that maybe you're not as assured in your faith (as you've come to it on your own and/or as it's been handed down to you) as you'd like people to think? Why the defensiveness? Thanks for your thoughtful question.
2007-06-29 17:20:10
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answer #1
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answered by Leslie D 4
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absolutely not! And I am not Catholic. But I have Catholic friends and relatives. A good friend is a Catholic priest and I have attended many masses and other events. It really depends what you put into it and what you believe. It is not pomp and ceremony. It is a holy ritual. It is where you can experience the life (and death) (and life) of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The mass brings alot of comfort to many people all over the world. I believe that every denomination brings a piece of the whole. For example, the Pentacostal church brings the gifts of the Spirit. The United Church of Canada is known for its outreach. The Catholic church brings tradition, prayer, etc.
You will get out of it what you give to it. And when you understand that, you will know the answer to your question. God bless you.
2007-06-30 00:00:20
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answer #2
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answered by Shine! 3
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Not for those of us who understand the Mass and love the Eucharist. I derive great peace and comfort from the liturgy, and receiving Christ in the Eucharist is more beautiful than I can begin to explain. The focus is purely on God and remembering Christ's great Sacrifice for us on the Cross.
I've sat in many Assemblies of God and Pentacostal services, and whereas people are singing all these songs about what Jesus has done for them, quite frankly, the focus is on themselves -- not worshipping God. And the less said about some of the jumping up and down and hollering as a form of "worship," the better.
I've walked out of those services with a splitting headache and no sense of having had any quiet time to worship God or spend time hearing His voice. That's never the case when I leave church at the end of Mass.
2007-06-30 00:03:21
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answer #3
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answered by Wolfeblayde 7
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The external pomp & ceremony has evolved over 2000 years.
All Catholic & Orthodox churches share similar rites.
Sight, sounds, & actions, are intended to give glory to GOD.
For centuries, people were mostly illiterate, there were no sound systems or television screens. This was how people communicated what was going on.
2007-06-29 23:59:00
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answer #4
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answered by Robert S 7
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I am a catholic and proud of it. I think that religion holds people up to a higher moral standard....which is a GREAT thing. If catholcism wants me to make it to ten and I work at it and make it to 6 ...well thats more than I would have made with out the religion.
2007-06-29 23:55:43
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answer #5
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answered by Jaab 3
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I was born and raised Catholic and have long since left that religion because of the hypocrisy I saw within its teachings. Yes I think there is too much pomp and circumstance and ritualism and too many questions left a unanswered for me to accept it as my religion. As far as LOOKING religious, they certainly put on airs and the believers are hooked, but I think a lot of it just looks ridiculous. But to each his own.
2007-06-29 23:57:16
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answer #6
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answered by Katykins 5
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You know, I went to a Catholic Mass once, and I thought it was more sincere than any Christian worship service I'd ever been to. Seriously, if I ever believed in God, I'd probably be a Catholic.
2007-06-29 23:55:07
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answer #7
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answered by Becca 6
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No it's a true representation of the Heavenly court. If you study the book of Revelation you will see many similarities between that and the Mass. Read The Lambs Supper by Scott Hahn and it will really open your eyes.
2007-06-30 00:33:30
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answer #8
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answered by Midge 7
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in my opinion, most religions are pomp and ceremony. religion is supposed to teach people how to get a spiritual connection with a higher power (God). but most are stuck in the ritual and not the teaching
2007-06-29 23:54:25
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answer #9
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answered by oldguy 6
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Obviously, you should go back and read your bible from the beginning, since you can't even grasp the simplest teachings in your religion that it is a sin to judge anyone.
I would have thought "Judge not, lest ye be judged" were one of the things ychristians actually remembered most.
You should also go and start learning that christianity is still a young religion, onyl a few hundred years od, where Catholicism gave birth to christianity, and is thousands of years older, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhaism and Paganism.
2007-06-29 23:57:45
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answer #10
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answered by Lief Tanner 5
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