Catholics a cult?

[trdsf]

Yeah, it's one of things I really like about the catholic church (one of the few things, actually)... it is a very superstitious and mystic take on Christianity that tries its hardest to mix almost pagan-like beliefs with monotheism.

Catholicism claims to be monotheist, but you're encouraged to treat the saints as demigods, even if they don't use that term.  It's very weird once you get out of it and think about it.  But fundamentally, Roman Catholicism has three primary gods that they try to claim are just one, one chief goddess (Mary), and depending on how you count them either a thousand or ten thousand lesser godlings and demigods in the guise of saints.  They can call it 'intercession' all they like, but it's still adoration.

[the_antithesis]

yeah catlic wedding are pretty much stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down,...

You forgot all the fucking kneeling.

Jesus christ, the catholics spend a lot of time on their knees. No wonder why the priests started molesting people.

[Ace101]

Okay, I went to the funeral of a 99 year old man a few weeks ago. I am 31, so I can't imagine living that long. Either way, he was a special guy and they had a Catholic funeral for him. It was maybe one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed. I'm talking smoke bells, chants, weird hats, robes, wafers, gold cup etc..

I didn't want to be disrespectful, so I sat there quietly. A good friend asked to have another friend sing at the funeral and they told him they wouldn't allow any outside people to participate in the funeral services. Only 2 family members were allowed to read bible verses that were picked out by the church. I was shocked at how controlled and ritualistic everything was. Is the Catholic church in general a cult? I would maybe argue all religions are cult like, but this was on another level. I grew up in a Nazarene church and it was nothing like this, with the rituals and exclusive rights etc. I am now very perplexed by it all. They had a confession booth, the whole thing seemed bronze age creepy. Truth be told, I couldn't wait to get out of there.

IMO fundamental protestant churches are closer to cults for a variety of reasons.

Catholics have been around for centuries, but fundamental churches are more 'modern' - that's one distinction - so one has it's routes more in cultural traditions than another. A lot of fundamental protestant churches adopt a more modern style in order to increase their 'marketing' potential for new recruits - the strong desire to 'recruit' new members is a hallmark of cults; from what I know, Catholics aren't nearly as big on evangelism.

[Ace101]

Catholicism claims to be monotheist, but you're encouraged to treat the saints as demigods, even if they don't use that term.  It's very weird once you get out of it and think about it.  But fundamentally, Roman Catholicism has three primary gods that they try to claim are just one, one chief goddess (Mary), and depending on how you count them either a thousand or ten thousand lesser godlings and demigods in the guise of saints.  They can call it 'intercession' all they like, but it's still adoration.

The trinity concept is more or less polytheistic anyway. The Bible made it clear that Jesus and Yahweh can 'communicate' with each other, so they have two separate identities, rather than Jesus simply being "god in human form".