Why do fundamentalist Christians believe catholics worship Mary?

Question

So many catholic apologetics sites I've seen seem so frustrated with having to repeat the line that praying to Mary IS NOT worshipping her, that catholics do NOT worship statues, and other things - catholic.com makes these points as plain as day on their site, so why do fundamentalists continue to believe them? Why is intercessory prayer so offensive to them?

The first response to this seems to make it necessary to point out that because statues exist doesn't mean they are intended for worship.

mark101112: "IT" = intercessory prayer, i.e. asking someone else to pray to God on your behalf.

Twist - no, I'm not a religious zealot, but thanks for the vote of confidence.

Answer 1

*Catholics do NOT worship Mary.
*Catholics do NOT actually pray to Mary and saints in the sense that fundies seem to think. It's more like a structured conversation where we speak to them and ask for intercession IN ADDITION TO our direct prayers to God. During masses which include the saints, it is said that "we ask for" their aid because they are considered to be favored among God's children. It is said that Jesus can not refuse a request from his mother.
*Catholics pray directly to God.
*Catholics do not view priests as mediaries, but teachers and guides.
*Catholics take the Holy Sacraments very seriously.
*Catholics in general are very educated and value science as well as the Word of God, and most of us are able to reconcile the Bible with scientific proofs and theories because we are not literalists and recognize parables and flowery language and stories as teaching tools.
*Mary is important because she bore the world it's savior and raised him. Her own COUSIN hailed her and "created" the Hail Mary verse when the baby, John the Baptist, leapt in her womb at the sight of Mary.
*Catholics pray directly to God.
*Catholics do not worship idols. Statues are visual reminders only. They are decoration. They are not intended to be prayed to or worshipped.
*Catholics follow the word of Jesus. We believe he is the Messiah and Son of God, part of the Holy Trinity. That alone makes us Christian.
*Catholicism is the Original Denomination of Christianity from which all other denominations stemmed off from.
*Catholics do not denegrate and disown ANY Christian who is genuine in his or her faith. We consider ALL denominations of Christians to be Christians EVEN IF we happen to disagree on minute details.
*We do not generally condemn anyone to hell. We leave that up to the fundies.

ETA:
*Catholics DO NOT kiss the feet of statues. Where in the world did that come from?

"worship is an acknowledgment of a higher power that you honor as more powerful than you, and go to with your needs in prayer...... is that what you do with Mary?"

No, that is NOT what Catholics do with Mary. ONLY with God.

ETA: Catholics DO NOT place Mary as being equal to God. We don't even believe she's equal to Jesus. We DO NOT raise her to a level of divinity or deity. She was the human mother of the physical form of God, but that's arguing semantics and it's petty. She was just a human woman, but a very important human woman. That doesn't mean we worship her or consider her to be divine.

Answer 2

Because The major way Catholics “venerate” Mary and the saints is by praying to them. But prayer to anyone other than God alone is anti-biblical. Whether Mary and/or the saints are prayed to, or whether they are petitioned for their prayers—neither practice is biblical. Prayer is an act of worship. When we pray to God, we are admitting that we need His help. Directing our prayers to anyone other than God is robbing God of the glory that is His alone.

Another way Catholics “venerate” Mary and the saints is by creating statues and images of them. Many Catholics use images of Mary and/or the saints as “good luck charms.” Any cursory reading of the Bible will reveal this practice as blatant idolatry (Exodus 20:4–6; 1 Corinthians 12:1–2; 1 John 5:21). Rubbing rosary beads is idolatry. Lighting candles before a statue or portrayal of a saint is idolatry. Burying a Joseph statue in hopes of selling your home (and countless other Catholic practices) is idolatry.

The terminology is not the issue. Whether the practice is described as “worship” or “veneration” or any other term, the problem is the same. Any time we ascribe something that belongs to God to someone else, it is idolatry. The Bible nowhere instructs us to revere, pray to, rely on, or “idolize” anyone other than God. We are to worship God alone. Glory, praise, and honor belong to God alone. Only God is worthy to “receive glory and honor and power” (Revelation 4:11). God alone is worthy to receive our worship, adoration, and praise (Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 15:4).

Answer 3

For the first 1,500 years St Mary is always at the right side of Jesus. CC do not put her in the corner, cus she's the lst apostle of Crhist, since birth and esp when the Holy Family were fleeing in Egypt. CC believes n treasures all aspects of the life of Jesus: thus the flight in Egypt made St Mary represent Jesus as a infant.

Answer 4

Because most (Not saying that all) don't bother to even research what is going on between Catholics and Mary. Some would rather stick with what they know and continue in ignorance.

And they take the Bible literally, if they did, then they'd also know that Jesus urged people to love one another, since we all are brothers and sisters, and to not judge.

Answer 5

Catholics worship mary and statues which is idol worship.
Also, they don't get married which 1 Timothy 3:2 says religious leaders should be a husband of one wife.
1Timothy 4:3 says to stay away from those forbidding men to marry. That is a sin. To forbid men to get married and it causes all kinds of problems.
That is when men get into trouble. 1 Corthians 7:5 that is what it says.

Answer 6

What part of this do people not understand.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: (no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.)
The Word of GOD says nothing about intercessory prayer from mary.

Answer 7

Because many fundamentalists haven't met enough real Catholics to understand that. I can't tell you how many times I've heard fundamentalist believers say, "Well, I only knew this one Catholic once, and he acted this way...." If they have the bad fortune to run into a nominal Catholic instead of a devout one, they will get the wrong idea. Another reason stereotyping a whole group by one or two individual members is just stupid.

Answer 8

Where in the Bible is anyone ever shown to be praying to Mary. Throughout the Bible prayers are always offered to God alone. Prayer is a part of worship.

Answer 9

Yes you are right it's the "Hail Mary" and the "Rosary" that make people believe that Catholics pray TO Mary. I have tried to explain that the concept is to pray through her to her Son. I was told that is was unnecessary because you can pray straight to God. Don't even get me started on how I was made fun of trying to explain praying through the Saints. I'm still miffed about that. Oh I should add that all of this explaining I did was to Pentecostals when my parents converted. (I wanted to stay Catholic) They really think Catholics are twisted. They really shouldn't talk.
Peace.

Answer 10

You are correct, they may well say those things. The real problem isn't that they worship her, it is they place her equal to or above God. "Mother of God" is just one example. The problem with this phrase is it places Mary above the trinity. The correct statement is "Mother of Jesus".
To my knowledge, there are no reliable accounts of miracles that were attributed to Mary during her lifetime. This automatically shows her lack of divinity, unlike Jesus who had performed, at a guess, several thousand miracles (including bring back to life of dead people). But that alone isn't a reason proof of divinity, but it is one sign of it. What is proof is that there were many prophecies which he had to fulfill, and did, in order for him to be considered as divine.