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03/17/2007: "Protestants vs. Catholics"
Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength: Protestant/Catholic Polemics: In Search of a Cease-Fire
I wish that Roman Catholics and Protestants would stop making such unjustified and uncharitable attacks on each other.
I have learned a lot about Catholic beliefs from sources other than official Catholic ones:
1. Angry Internet writers. This is where the whole "Whore of Babylon" theory comes into play. According to conspiracy theorists, the Papacy is the more-or-less the Anti-Christ. Clever and compelling arguments, but hardly loving or gracious.
2. My own church. Our pastor does a nice job of contrast-and-compare when speaking about other faiths. He is also kind and gracious about it all, as opposed to angry Internet writers. By learning more about the beliefs of others, we can better understand our own.
3. Television. If a character on a television show has struggles with his/her relationship with God, that character is probably Catholic. I don't know of many Baptist characters at all, do you? Inevitably, Catholics are not always shown on television in the best light. They are struggling with God, fighting their past, and show up for confession once every few years.
So, despite the best efforts of my pastor, television, and angry fire and brimstone Internet writers, I would consider myself to be rather ignorant of what Catholics actually believe. So, lobbing theological bombs at them is probably a really bad idea at this point.
I would love to take a class on comparative religion someday, or at least read a book on the subject. Even once I have a greater understanding of Catholics, does that give me the right to fight with them? No, I doubt it.
We should strive to remove the ignorance in our lives. We should also strive to remove the anger or disgust we may have towards other beliefs. Yelling at Catholics does no one any good.