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Catholic v Protestant
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Anonymous
I'm the poster who made the Pope comment. First, let me say, I'm not Catholic. Nor do I want to be Catholic. Second I agree with a lot of what you say, but doesn't it defeat the purpose of being Catholic if you don't agree with the church doctrines and the catechism? Whether you agree with him or not, he is the Pope and the head of your religion. I find this to be a very fascinating topic and am by no means saying these statments to be rude or disrespectful. I look forward to your response and anyone else who wants to contribute. |
Anonymous
Nicely put. I am not Catholic either and follow a much more liberal protestant belief system for all of the reasons the first poster points out. The poster is calling herself Catholic, but rejects some of the core teachings of her religion. Is the poster a Catholic b/c that is what she was told to be from the day she was born? |
Anonymous
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If you don't support President Bush and his administration, then does that mean you aren't a real American? Of course not. Ditto with church leadership. If you read the dogma of any organized religion you will come up with some crazy stuff. I don't think any person can truly support a religion 100% -- even the bible beating born again christians (b/c they aren't really being good christians when they judge others).
I'm a strong believer in folks having faith in something larger than themselves -- for some that will mean organized religion -- and for many that will mean taking organized religion with a heaping grain of salt. Having been raised catholic, attended catholic schools, etc. I feel catholic -- it's part of my history and identity and I'm passing it on to my children (with the support of my jewish husband). But I'm doing it in such a way that my children will learn tolerance and that while the catholic church as an entity may hold some beliefs, as individuals we may not embrace them. Ideally my kids will grow up to be bleeding heart liberal activists like their parents. Of course, with my luck my kids may grow up to be Alex P. Keaton republicans 
And being the good person I am, I will love them anyway
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Anonymous
| FYI, conservative Protestants reject evolution, are pro-life, and anti-gay marriage AND pro-death penalty -- the Catholic church is against the death penalty. Again...if you research all the teachings of any organized religion you will run into things you probably won't agree with. |
Anonymous
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There is a difference, though, between disagreeing with the current Pope and disagreeing with the idea of a Pope in general. And there is a difference between disagreeing with the church's position on one social issue and disagreeing with it on almost all social issues. I could not raise my child Catholic (even though my husband is Catholic) because I have so many fundamental disagreements with it.
And yes, there are conservative Protestant denominations that disavow evolution, are anti-gay, are very pro-life, etc., but it is very possible to find a liberal denomination as well. |
Anonymous
Its not just possible it's extremely easy. At least in this area, I would say there are more liberal churches than conservative (excluding Catholics). United Church of Christ (UCC) is very liberal. They have churches all over the place. |
Anonymous
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....just as it is to find a more liberal social-justice focused Catholic church (hint: they tend to cater to middle-class and low-income folks and minorities and immigrants).
There is a great deal of anti-Catholic sentiment for a lot of reasons -- but I encourage folks to look into the basic tenets of other religions -- we're all pretty much the same. Did you know that Orthodox Jews are just as pro-life as Catholics and most christian groups? Ditto on gay-marriage -- there's a cool chart by Pew Research that provides a break-down on what each religion thinks about same-sex marriage (spoiler: vast majority of religions haven't formally come out and embraced it despite what you might think). |
Anonymous
That is fine if you disagree with the post, but keep in mind that Catholics acknowledge him as the papal authority on the Church and her teachings. This one item is one of the many aspects that sets apart catholicism from other religions...specifically the Luthers. And feel free to agree/disagree with other church heads: Ron Hubbard (scientology), Archbishop of Canterbury (church of England), Katherine Schori (Episcopals), etc. ...and - obviously you do - Pope Benedict XVI (Catholic Church) |
Anonymous
You have to be careful with those Pew research surveys. You have folks like the 10/23/08 0911 person who identifies as a Catholic, yet being pro choice, pro gay marriage, pro stem cell (actually the Catholic Church DOES support 4 kinds of stem cell research - be you didn't know that?) are going against the hallmarks of being a Catholic - so the Pew research team may not be polling "true" catholics. |
Anonymous
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My husband's parents had the same issue as you do - my MIL was raised Catholic, my FIL a Presbyterian. They decided to compromise by becoming Episcopalian. (Both sets of parents were horrified by this, but it's worked out wonderfully for DH's family). On a very basic level, the Holy Eucharist service is almost identical to a Catholic mass, but it is very much a Protestant church. I don't think either of them ever were formally "received" into the church, but in Episcopalianism, that is not a barrier to participation and acceptance. As a lifetime Episcopalian who has been an active adult member of three different parishes, I can tell you I know a number of Episcopal church members who were raised Catholic or other Protestant denominations (and even a handful who converted from Judaism). In other words, there are a LOT of people from non-Episcopalian backgrounds who are members, and you would not be alone in that at all. Not that anyone would ask you about it! If you've been baptized, you are welcome, period.
While there are some far-right conservative parishes around, the majority are moderate to moderate-left in persuasion (i.e. definitely support ordination of women, and more liberal parishes are OK with ordination of practicing gay clergy). Usualy the services are traditional, but some churches are now starting to offer an informal ("contemporary") family-oriented service in addition to the regular services. In my own family, my mom was Episcopalian (very observant) and my dad Congregationalist (not so observant). Sicne my mom felt more strongly about it, they joined an Episcopal church where we kids all were confirmed, and my dad became very involved. In his mid-50s, although he had been an active church member for 20 years, he decided he wanted to be confirmed into the church, and he went through the adult version of confirmation class! He and my brother were confirmed on the same day. I know another family where the mom was Presbyterian and the dad was Catholic. Both were very attached to their own denominations and continued to practice separately. They alternated taking their kids along to each church, and occasionally they would all go as a family to one or the other on a holiday. When the two kids were in their early teens, they were allowed to decide which church to join and get confirmed in - and each chose differently! My best advice would be to do some reading, and check out some local churches of different denominations. Visitors are always welcome, and they will almost surely have some kind of brochure or handout you can pick up to find out more about the particular church (check the tract rack!). Most churches also have websites with a lot of helpful information, including links to more reading on this particular denomination. Also, if you have friends who really love their churches, maybe they can bring you along to their church and introduce you to the clergy. If you like what you experience on a visit, perhaps make an appointment with one of the clergy. Priests and pastors are always more than happy to explain the tenets of their particular faith and refer you to some resources. Find a place where you feel comfortable and that mirrors your own core faith and values. Very importantly for your family, look into what each church offers in terms of the fellowship, education, outreach and worship opportunities - are there activities you and your kids will enjoy being involved with? Do these things jibe with your values and your way of acting out your faith? As someone already said, the most important thing is to get your kids to know God. I would definitely focus on finding a place that feels good to you, and exploring more than one denomination in your search. Best of luck!
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Anonymous
| Agree with 23:29 poster....about the guilt thing. That is what I see as the big difference (and I don't have issues here)! Catholic = Guilt, Protestant = Chill. |
Anonymous
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Recovering Catholic here. The whole 9 yards - Catholic school from K to senior year in HS. HS was all girls, nuns, uniforms. Religion class EVERY day. Church once a week at school and on Sundays. I sang in the choir. I knew Catholicism inside and out. I could vomit Catholicism. They really warped my little mind.
When I grew up and became aware of the world and myself, was so pissed off and turned off by my religion. It was 20 YEARS before I could bring myself to reach out to any higher power and talk to "God". And I work very hard to change my internal image now from a judgmental, bearded old man in robes and sandals to a kinder, gentler God. I like HER much better
Anyway I hope (and pray!) for your youngsters that you'll go with a nice, reformed, protestant denomination. Remember there is a reason the Protestant reformation happened. Intelligent Christians looked at their faith and realized how Jesus' message and bibilical Christianity had been corrupted by centuries of superstition, greed, and political manuvering. Go back to basics; you don't need the Pope to show you the way. The less encumbered your relationship to God is by human interpretation, rules, and dogma, the happier (I believe) a person will be... And thank you, yes, I am getting some "help" to the poster who suggested that to someone else. Thanks for your sympathy. You clearly have NO idea how bad the brainwashing can be. Good luck, OP! |
Anonymous
I think the most important thing is to raise your children to know right from wrong. They don't need an imaginary friend in the sky in order to do so. |
Anonymous
| How about Episcopalian? So much like Catholic you can hardly tell the difference, except lack of pope, and lack of confession. A few others things too, but basically the same. Good luck in your decision. |
Anonymous
Episcopalians don't believe in the Transubstantion either and don't have the option of receiving Communion every day (Catholics do). |