What is the biggest misconception about your faith?

Question

I see a lot of questions that imply all kinds of doctrines in religions other than the one asking. I see relgious groups like catholics, jehovah witnesses, mormons, and others portrayed as the spawn of Satan. Here is your opportunity to clear up half truths. I am an atheist, so I have no dog in this hunt. I just dislike misinformation, even when it refers to beliefs that I do not share.

Answer 1

I am a Christian
I have never told anyone that they would go to hell.
I believe in evolution
I love science
I do NOT hate gays, I am for gay marriage.
I have never insisted that any one be christian before I gave charity.
I do not think that all "no believers" go to hell.
I am pro choice.
I do NOT hate any religious group, although Theistic Satanist make me nervous.
I have never knocked on any one's door. I have talked about my religion WHEN someone has asked.

Answer 2

Well, I am glad you asked. I also like to have accurate answers when I ask others about their beliefs, rather than hearing a bunch of lies/rumors from those who don't really know to begin with. Here are just a few about the Catholic Church.

1. That we pray/worship to the Virgin Mary
2. That we believe the Virgin Mary to be equal to God
3. That we pray to the saints
4. That we value "man-made" traditions over the Word of God
5. That we think the Pope is God in the flesh
6. That we think the Pope is a "perfect" being
7. That we worship graven images
8. That we have to do the sign of the cross in order for God to know we are talking to Him
9. That we are only saved by works alone
10. That we re-crucify Christ at every Mass
11. That we have crucifixes because we don't believe in the risen Lord?!?
12. That we confess our sins to a priest and not to God
13. That we are not Christians
14. We follow a false Gospel
15. We are a cult
16. The church hates homosexuals

The list could go on. Even some ex-Catholics may tell you falsely some of these things, but that is probably because they never fully understood the truth. I would be more than happy to clear up any of these or the any of the other 5 million misconceptions people have. God Bless!

Answer 3

There are a great many misconceptions about Wicca and Witches still swarming around us in the world today. Yes, we've come a long way from the burning times. In many ways, and yet.. in many ways things have not changed. People still fear us, misunderstand us, and then there are those who simply do not care. Although we can no longer be burned at the stake, many still continue to cloak themselves in the shroud of secrecy for fear. The burning times have not ended. They are as evil and alive as the day the were forged.

In a new form and a new era, the beast of the Burning Times has reared it's ugly head to try and silence our cries for justice. Though it acts not with flame, it's fire burns in a cauldron of rage ready to burn the very fabric that keeps you alive. When one comes out of the "broom closet" they risk a number of things. And it is these things that keep so many of us in the dark room, away from the verocity of a world still not ready to accept us for what we are.

Again, we can not be burned (at least not like that of the Witch trials), however our homes can. We can be harrassed at work, at home, in the neighborhood, have our lives and those of our loved ones threatened. We can even so much as have family members turn their backs on us all for what we believe in.

Why is this you ask? It's a universal question. I'll try to give you the best universal answer that I know of.

Because they don't understand exactly who we are or what we do, and that scares them. Deep down in the core of their being they are terrified of hearing the answer. But if they only knew how not so horrible the answer was, what a wonderful world we could make together.

Answer 4

Good question - I'm not fond of misinformation, either.

I'm Wiccan. What bothers me most is when people slam "religion" but they really mean to criticize one of the Abrahamic patriarchies. My religion is so different from those, that most of the objections those people think they have toward "religion" are not true of my religion.

It isn't what you believe, but how and why you believe it that counts. You can be a fundamentalist atheist or an open minded Christian. In my case, I'm educated and intelligent, and I spent many years finding and refining my religious beliefs. It is pure arrogance for people to assume that I'm some kind of nut because I practice something they don't understand. A truly intelligent person would ask what my reasons are, but few do.

"Great spirits have always encountered violent oppostion from mediocre minds." -- Albert Einstein

Answer 5

My religious affiliation (not "faith") is Ethical Culture. Most people know very little about it. But I suppose the biggest misconception would be that we either have a doctrine or a god we worship. Nope. We believe in "deed before creed." The purpose of the group is to foster better ethics in ourselves and in our world. We are basically humanitarians, although quite a few people do have a spiritual belief they brought with them.

The founder, Felix Adler, was a reformed rabbi who went "one step further" than reformed Judaism, and threw membership open to anyone who wanted to join. Many are Jews or Unitarians or other "liberal" religions, a lot are Buddhists, there's a smattering of Christians or former Christians, some pagans, and a lot of atheists. Most of us have specific projects we are working on, such as health care reform, care for seniors, civil rights, gay rights, global warming and other green issues, separation of church and state, lots of things. We have a Sunday school, a "coming of age" class for teens, and perform various celebrations about the stages of life.

If there is any misconception, it is probably that we are prudes or self-righteous, or whatever, just because of the name.

Answer 6

Lemme see,

I've been called a sinner, told I'm going to Hell, I'm nothing but a damned Papist and called a witch. Depends on the religion of the accuser. In the end, that speaks more about their problems, I think.

I have exposed myself to so many religions and doctrines, I don't care so much about misconceptions of my faith, as much as I dislike the knee-jerk reaction to any other belief, without thought.

People and religions have more in common, than they have differences. That belief is enough to get me called names.

I like the Unitarian Church, Buddhism, these days. I'm not sure I would even call Buddhism a religion.

I never could see Jesus as the same as God. Teacher, prophet, yep. Interchangeable with God? Not so much. Put me out of Christianity, regardless of how I was baptized. I was baptized in a Methodist church and they'll tell you it doesn't "take" unless your dunked. Whatever. The Baptists raise Hell with me, while they're not even allowed in their own church 'cause they gamble or dance.

Best phrase I've ever heard, "God don't make no junk!"

Pretty much sums it up for me. Homosexuals were born that way. Athiests were born like that. Fanatics were born to give us Hell. We're here to question them. In the end, it's our job to be what we are.

Answer 7

That Christians cannot JUDGE others.... and the idea that WHENEVER someone judges, it is WRONG to JUDGE!

The constant misinterpretation of the Bible makes everyone think (Christians and non-Christians alike) that only God judges, and that Christians are not to judge. This is not true.

And here may I quote from the "gotquestions.org" article cited below... to give you a brief overview of this misconception....

When Jesus told us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), He was telling us not to judge hypocritically.

In Matthew 7:2-5, Jesus warns against judging someone else for their sin when you yourself are sinning even worse. That is the kind of judging Jesus commanded us not to do.

However, if a believer sees another believer sinning, it is their Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with their sin (Matthew 18:15-17). This is not judging, but rather pointing out the truth in hope of bringing repentance in the other person (James 5:20).We are to "judge" sin, but always with the goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences (John 14:6).

Therefore, we can judge, as long as we are not hypocritical in our judging. AND when we say, "You have sinned," that is not a judgement, it is a statement of fact, they have sinned, or they are wrong. It is not hypocritical either, because Christians know they also are sinners. It would be like saying, "Hey, you're wearing blue jeans." That is not a judgement, it is a statement of fact. However, these days, whenever any Christian states anything that remotely sounds "judgemental" others are quick to throw the "Thou shalt not JUDGE" concept at us.

If a teacher is teaching someone math, and the student says "2+2=6," when the teacher says, "Sorry, that's not right," do we then jump all over the teacher and say, "HEY! Don't tell that kid he's wrong! That's JUDGING HIM and you're not supposed to JUDGE him!" (Yes, I know today's secular-prograssive society is even leaning towards not allowing THIS either!) But this sort of "judging" is not wrong, it is corrective.

If a murderer is on trial, and the jury says the defendant is "Guilty," THIS is a form of judgment, but it is NOT WRONG for this judgement to take place, it is justice.

So I would just LOVE to see people DROP this DUMB idea that ALL JUDGING is wrong, and that Christians are not ALLOWED to be judgemental.


Have a blessed day.

Answer 8

Toughie. There's a bunch of em.

I think the biggest is that pagans are satan worshipers or some other accusation along those same lines.

Pagans aren't neccessarily anything. It just means someone who values spirituality, and is spiritual, and follows a different path than any world religion. Satanists are generally considered pagan as well, granted, but there's a whole lot more types than that.

Most pagans I know are very serious about their beliefs, and generally very good people. Generally.

Answer 9

As a Catholic, I would tell you that the biggest misconceptions about my religion are these.

1. That Caholics worship the Pope.
2. That many Catholic priests are pedophiles.
3. That we worship Mary and the saints.

We venerate (respect) Mary; we do not worship her.

For the broader spectrum of Christianity in general, the misconceptions are

1. That all Christians believe the Bible is the literal, infallible word of God.

Answer 10

So many people see the choices as "black" and "white".

Either Christian or Atheist.

Maybe they might see it as Muslims and Christians vs Atheists and Agnostics.

If they have been on Y!A for a while they might see it as Abrahamic religions vs Atheists/Buddhists, Agnostics, Pagans, and Wiccans.

Really there is a whole plethora of beliefs, cultures, and ideologies. Example: how often does anyone address a question to a Hindu? or a Hawaiian (I forget the term for the religion)?

Answer 11

Well God Bless you for asking! Really! I am not really firm on organized religion, but I am definitely a believer in Christ Jesus. I was raised Catholic, PG at 17 and shunned by the church. I belong to a Methodist church now, because I like the Pastor and I play in our Praise Band and love singing new Christian worship music. I believe that the biggest misconception about Methodists' is that they are not open minded. I am a 60's hippy girl, with tats and piercings and our congregation is full of diversity; black, white, brown, yellow, old, young, traditional, contemporary, gay,straight...Jesus saved us all, no question in my mind. Man makes the rules that are impossible to follow, like celibacy of Priests by the Vatican....