Ask a Catholic

[leo]

I actually have another question, why are so many catholics less aware of protestant beliefs than protestants are of catholics

For example, i at least k what mass is but my catholic friend thought i worshipped in a temple and this friend didnt k that protestants are also christians

Many protestant sects don't consider catholics to be christians. Go figure. Many protestants have a poor knowledge of other religions too.

[Contemporary Protestant]

I ask because with catechism and all their money, i dont see how many of them dont have a basic education on other sects

[leo]

I ask because with catechism and all their money, i dont see how many of them dont have a basic education on other sects

Catholic schools use their religion class to indoctrinate or brainwash. They study world religions very brief with the  biased point of view of the catholic church using  their religion book class. Long story short. The catholic church want their flock ignorant of other religions. Also they want the flock ignorant of their own religion. The same thing happens in protestant schools.

[Contemporary Protestant]

I would say there are exceptions

Ive been to protestant school and they have experts (not our head pastor) talk about foreign religions and a course in cultural sensitivty

[Hakurei Reimu]

The Pope is probably the most influential leader in the world.  Not only is he considered the shepherd of over a billion people but even those who  are not Catholic listen to him when he admonishes the evil in our world.

If by "listen to him," you mean, give him some screen time, and then go about their business as if he hadn't said anything, then I agree with you. I don't know how you call this "influence."

I can't tell you how often I go to open my yahoo account, and Yahoo is not a Catholic website, and how often there is a quote from the Pope there.

So?

Edit: Actually, let me elaborate on that. Yahoo tracks your history through their website. As such, they've probably have pegged you as a Catholic, thus have deduced that the Pope is something you really appreciate reading about, so you see Pope-quotes. The fact that Yahoo generates pages for you targeted for your tastes has very little to do with how much political influence the Pope actually has.

We believe the Catholic Church chose the correct Canon because we believe that the Holy Spirit Guides the ecumenical councils.  God set up a supreme court.

That is a statement of belief, not of fact. I ask again, because you have not answered this question despite the stated purpose of this thread: what made the Catholic church qualified to choose the first biblical canon?

[Poison Tree]

I actually have another question, why are so many catholics less aware of protestant beliefs than protestants are of catholics

If I had to guess I'd say it is because there is one catholic church and hundreds (thousands) of protestant denominations and protestant churches tend to spend some time talking about why they aren't catholic--ie their theological/organizational grounds for splitting. I bet both are not very aware about the beliefs of Orthodox or Coptic or Ethiopian Christians (or other protestants, for that matter).

[Contemporary Protestant]

I am aware they exist, im specifically talking about how some catholics have never heard of a baptist
Or methodists
If u live in the bible belt, thats kinda something to k

[lilith666]

So what all does the Pope wear besides the golden miter , the white dress, and Dorothy's red shoes?

Also why do Catholics have so many talismans, relics, and  lucky charms?  Why do you chop of Saints and collect pieces of their bones and distribute them everywhere and have their skulls on display?

[SGOS]

So what all does the Pope wear besides the golden miter , the white dress, and Dorothy's red shoes?

Also why do Catholics have so many talismans, relics, and  lucky charms?  Why do you chop of Saints and collect pieces of their bones and distribute them everywhere and have their skulls on display?

The whole of Christianity is oddly morbid, dwelling on sin, punishment, death, and the bones of ancients.  It's icon is of a man nailed to a cross with blood flowing from his wounds.  Holy Mother of clinical depression.  It's just awful.

[Napolean B]

Why does the Catholic Poper keep defining more and more and more dogmas and why did the church at one time teach no salvation outside the church and now after Vatican two preach universal salvation.

[Munch]

The whole of Christianity is oddly morbid, dwelling on sin, punishment, death, and the bones of ancients.  It's icon is of a man nailed to a cross with blood flowing from his wounds.  Holy Mother of clinical depression.  It's just awful.

The funny/morbid part is.. in order to be a 'true' christian, you have to commit to everything it teaches, including making your wife into a slave, having her beaten to death if she even looks at another man, stoning gays anyone else who isn't 100% straight, following the voices in your head that allows you to kill your own children, killing more women who show signs of pagan belief... and all this comes from what the bible tells you to act like, its not just some psychopaths interpretation of the bible, its what the book actually wants you to do in order to be considered a 'good christian'.


When you look at news reports of what is happening right now in middle eastern countries, like Iran or Pakistan, what you are seeing there is an example of how people where when they invented christianity, the insanity of their primitive tribal practices all in the name of an imaginary creature in their minds.

There was no divine practice, no stories of wonder like the kiddies version of the bible would teach, it was just a group of tribesmen who made up stories and got some followers to believe in it too. We see it there now, maybe in their desperation to living in such a sparse country, but that doesn't mean the advanced world in other countries need to bow to those primitive ideas.

[SGOS]

When you look at news reports of what is happening right now in middle eastern countries, like Iran or Pakistan, what you are seeing there is an example of how people where when they invented christianity, the insanity of their primitive tribal practices all in the name of an imaginary creature in their minds.

Both Christianity and Islam were created in ancient times by woefully uniformed barbarians.  It's not surprising that their solutions to conflict and non compliance should be killing and death.  And it is not surprising that they are obsessed with human misery inflicted by barbaric icons real or imagined.  They popped up, practically out of thin air, in the presence of pestilence and helplessness.  And it's not surprising they fabricated an eventual life of eternal bliss, as a way of dealing with the chaos around them.

As civilization advances and man increases his knowledge base, ancient practices and beliefs are cast aside.  Religion morphs, even Christianity and Islam, but the primitive beliefs and practices that have been institutionalized by those religions lag behind the other advancements of mankind in a state of willful ignorance.  They are forced to change eventually, but they act as a brake, often lagging behind by a thousand years.

Religion has horrible consequences for mankind in that regard.  It runs contrary to the needs of a shrinking world with an increasing population that by necessity becomes diversified and must learn to cooperate to survive.

[stromboli]

Mmmm.... so let's review. Lets see, WW2  interaction with the Nazis
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~confido/catholic.html

Years later it became public knowledge that war criminals like Klaus Barbie, Adolf Eichmann, Heinrich Mueller, Josef Bluemle, Franz Stangl and a whole list of other war criminals escaped war torn Europe via the Catholic Church. Most of these men escaped through the work of one man, a Roman Catholic Bishop named Alois Hudal, Rector of the Pontificio Santa Maria dell’ Anima. "During the war Hudal served as Commissioner or the Episcopate for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community."  Hudal harbored anti-Semitic feelings and his pro Nazi stance was well known throughout the Catholic community. During Hitler’s rule, Bishop Hudal often spoke about the unity between the Catholic Church and the Nazi government.

Pope Benedict shielding pedophile priests before becoming pope
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/03/more-evidence-emerges-tha_n_524192.html

The details of the two cases come as other allegations emerge that Benedict â€" as a Vatican cardinal â€" was part of a culture of cover-up and confidentiality.

"There's no doubt that Ratzinger delayed the defrocking process of dangerous priests who were deemed 'satanic' by their own bishop," Lynne Cadigan, an attorney who represented two of Teta's victims, said Friday.

And when the media starts telling the story, resigns and disappears from view.

Mother Teresa, a personal fave:
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/a-new-expose-on-mother-teresa-shows-that-she-and-the-vatican-were-even-worse-than-we-thought/

1.  The woman was in love with suffering and simply didn’t take care of her charges, many of whom fruitlessly sought medical care.

2. She was tightfisted about helping others, sequestered money donated for her work, and took money from dictators.

3. She was deliberately promoted by BBC journalist Malcolm Muggeridge (a fellow anti-abortionist), and her beatification was based on phony miracles.

And how does the Catholic church handle a bad apple? Waive the waiting period for sainthood and beatify her. Gotta love the strategy.

Aannnddd HIV/AIDS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_HIV/AIDS#Condom_controversy

The condom is widely accepted by medical and administrative authorities as the most reliable way to stop the spread of AIDS.[18] The Catholic Church instead emphasizes "education towards sexual responsibility", focusing on partner fidelity rather than the use of condoms as the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.[19] The Church's position is that all responsible sex must occur within the framework of a faithful, monogamous marriage. In addition, various members of the Church hierarchy have pointed out that condoms have a non-zero risk of transmitting AIDS.

Church officials argue that reliance on condoms to prevent transmission of AIDS can result in a false sense of security because of the problem of "leakage and breakage". Other more serious claims have been made, however. In 2003, contrary to empirical evidence, the president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family - "senior spokesman" Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo - claimed that condoms are permeable to the aids virus. He explained to BBC interviewers that "The Aids virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The spermatozoon can easily pass through the 'net' that is formed by the condom." These false claims were echoed by an archbishop of Nairobi, as well as by Catholics as far Asia and Latin America. Also according to The Guardian, the BBC confirmed that this misinformation has real, damaging effects at the ground level.[20]

John Paul II's position against artificial birth control, including the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV,[21] was harshly criticised by doctors and AIDS activists, who said that it led to countless deaths and millions of AIDS orphans.[22] Critics have also claimed that large families are caused by lack of contraception and exacerbate Third World poverty and problems such as street children in South America.

On 15 November 1989, John Paul II addressed the 4th International Conference of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers[23] in the following terms : it seems profoundly damaging to the dignity of the human being, and for this reason morally illicit, to support a prevention of AIDS that is based on a recourse to means and remedies that violate an authentically human sense of sexuality, and which are a palliative to the deeper suffering which involve the responsibility of individuals and of society.[24] This was interpreted in May 1990 by the Roman Catholic bishops of Madagascar as a "solemn reminder" giving ground for their view that in the context of positions such as that of cardinal Lustiger who stated that it was a "lesser evil", "the condom remains a 'moral evil'".[24]

Oh gee golly there Captain Crunch. Benign much? Try a homphobic, antiquated institution that has done everything to cover up its own corrupt behavior, hidden away people who committed egregious act of pederasty and who knows what crap, victimized the poor and physically acted in a way that spread disease and poverty in 3rd world countries. That is the Catholic church WE know. So you can keep your version, Crunch boy..

[Thackerie]

are you always faithful to your moral code?

Yes! Of course, it's MY moral code -- not something imposed on me -- so obviously I follow it.

[stromboli]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAn7baRbhx4