Anonymous wrote:The Archdiocese of Arlington is why our kids are being raised Episcopalian. I was not going to raise my kids in the same panicky state of dreading church because we were afraid someone would find out that we had skipped church one week/were behind on confession/ate the wrong thing on a fast day etc. And when I arrived at church here, we were greeted with a bulletin that essentially said “don’t even think of approaching the altar unless you have (massive laundry list of things). And the envelopes. Questions why there was a missing envelope. Stop the madness!

Anonymous wrote:I was raised in a strict Catholic household but have been non-practicing since adulthood. Since I am an only child, DH and I had our three oldest children attend CCD and receive the sacraments - since it mattered so much to my mother. It was extremely painful for me, but I went along with it because I knew it broke her heart that I simply did not believe the same things she did.

We had to jump through a bunch of hoops for each sacrament and it wore me down more and more over the years. My mom is still alive in her 90s, but thankfully she is not really tracking the progress of our fourth child and we stopped with communion for him. I just don’t have it in my heart. DH and I might have been more accepting of confirming the youngest child, but the process was demoralizing.

If somebody had tracked mass attendance, none of our kids would have made it through. We are by no means the only family in this situation. It’s the church's prerogative to do as it wishes, but I feel it drives lots of people away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“I and family belong to a non-denomination church. Good for those whose Catholic church experience is what they need. I can never go back.”

Same but I’m Protestant, now. OP, show me where Jesus requires these ridiculous hoops through which to jump, to follow him.

They are in the catechism, not the Bible.

Right. Man-made. Not Jesus’ Word at all. Thank you for clearing that up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“I and family belong to a non-denomination church. Good for those whose Catholic church experience is what they need. I can never go back.”

Same but I’m Protestant, now. OP, show me where Jesus requires these ridiculous hoops through which to jump, to follow him.

They are in the catechism, not the Bible.

Anonymous wrote:I’m another poster who’s a little tired of the constant drive-by shootings by non-Christians and atheists who, if they are challenged at all, pretend innocence. The moderator won’t do anything about it, so I can understand, even if I don’t condone, how some would take matters into their own hands.

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Anonymous wrote:^ and for the record, I also wouldn’t believe this behavior from a Jewish church or a Muslim church or a Buddhist temple or anything else. I thought they were all supposed to be nice places for the people who went there. I can’t imagine people attending any kind of place of worship under those conditions.

Whatever. Stop using language about “jokes” and priests calling people “liars” and you won’t get flack. And is that’s you on the updating religious traditions calling communion “unbelievably disgusting” —and it sure sounds like you—then maybe a class in respect and diversity would help you.

If this is the same pp calling the Catholic celebration “creepy” above on this thread, then get her to diversity training stat.

She’ll be back soon to claim innocence and ignore criticism of her language, though.

I'm the PP who asked if this whole idea is a joke. This post is my 4th post. I have not posted on other threads. I have no idea who you are all referring to, but it honestly seems like you have some issues on your side that you need to work through.

This has been an eye-opening experience about religious people and the way you treat people, so thanks for that, I guess.

+1. Although to be honest, if you provoke people with insults, some have a harder time holding back, which is unfortunate for them too.

+1

The problem is that the meanest ones are often noisiest/most visible.

The nice ones are quietly going about their business.

Not all religious people are like those found on this thread

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ and for the record, I also wouldn’t believe this behavior from a Jewish church or a Muslim church or a Buddhist temple or anything else. I thought they were all supposed to be nice places for the people who went there. I can’t imagine people attending any kind of place of worship under those conditions.

Whatever. Stop using language about “jokes” and priests calling people “liars” and you won’t get flack. And is that’s you on the updating religious traditions calling communion “unbelievably disgusting” —and it sure sounds like you—then maybe a class in respect and diversity would help you.

If this is the same pp calling the Catholic celebration “creepy” above on this thread, then get her to diversity training stat.

She’ll be back soon to claim innocence and ignore criticism of her language, though.

I'm the PP who asked if this whole idea is a joke. This post is my 4th post. I have not posted on other threads. I have no idea who you are all referring to, but it honestly seems like you have some issues on your side that you need to work through.

This has been an eye-opening experience about religious people and the way you treat people, so thanks for that, I guess.

+1

The problem is that the meanest ones are often noisiest/most visible.

The nice ones are quietly going about their business.

Not all religious people are like those found on this thread

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Anonymous wrote:Is this a joke? Seriously? I’m not religious so it’s a serious question. I thought churches were supposed to be full of the honest people and it was the rest of us heathens who were apparently dishonest and dishonorable. I can’t even imagine being called a liar by a priest.

It's not that the priest calls people liars, just that they want proof that you're being truthful.

Missing mass is a mortal sin for Catholics, yet many do it and apparently some will even lie about it -- yet another sin.

It is a mortal sin if the person in question chooses not to go and replaces God with other activities. A kid without someone to take them or guide them is not acting with intent by missing mass. I’m always amazed at how many ‘Christians’ seem to forget the many biblical exhortations to not judge others. Frankly your making assumptions about other people, their motivations and worthiness is a grave sin in and of itself. You know what they say about people in glass houses and such!

Doubt very much that pp is Christian. It’s probably the Jew who comes on here constantly to bash Catholics.

This is not "bashing" - this is simply explaining how the church works

I was referring to the pp who claimed the Catholic Church will send the kid to hell because he can’t get to church, or priests are calling people liars, and the other nasty and untrue accusations.

Wait, what? I'm the PP who asked the question about whether this is some sort of joke. And now you're saying that not only is it apparently NOT a joke, but that the priests are apparently not calling people liars AND that I'm making "nasty and untrue accusations"? So now I'm wondering whether THIS is a joke.

If I go to work and say on my timesheet that I arrived at 9am, and my boss says "I don't believe you. Prove it. Show me your punch card." then I see that as the literal definition of someone calling me a liar. What do YOU call it?

And then if I tell someone that I'm upset my boss doesn't believe me and claims that I'm lying on my timesheet, and that I'm looking for a new job because I don't enjoy being called a liar, then you would say that I'm "making nasty and untrue accusations"?

Do you actually know what an untrue accusation is? Or what it means to be nasty? Because if someone is throwing around nasty and untrue accusations here then it seems to be you.

I can't speak for the other people on this thread but I find this behavior (and indeed the thread) to be totally bizarre. And totally not in keeping with what I'd assume about how a church runs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a joke? Seriously? I’m not religious so it’s a serious question. I thought churches were supposed to be full of the honest people and it was the rest of us heathens who were apparently dishonest and dishonorable. I can’t even imagine being called a liar by a priest.

It's not that the priest calls people liars, just that they want proof that you're being truthful.

Missing mass is a mortal sin for Catholics, yet many do it and apparently some will even lie about it -- yet another sin.

It is a mortal sin if the person in question chooses not to go and replaces God with other activities. A kid without someone to take them or guide them is not acting with intent by missing mass. I’m always amazed at how many ‘Christians’ seem to forget the many biblical exhortations to not judge others. Frankly your making assumptions about other people, their motivations and worthiness is a grave sin in and of itself. You know what they say about people in glass houses and such!

Doubt very much that pp is Christian. It’s probably the Jew who comes on here constantly to bash Catholics.

This is not "bashing" - this is simply explaining how the church works

I was referring to the pp who claimed the Catholic Church will send the kid to hell because he can’t get to church, or priests are calling people liars, and the other nasty and untrue accusations.

Anonymous wrote:“I and family belong to a non-denomination church. Good for those whose Catholic church experience is what they need. I can never go back.”

Same but I’m Protestant, now. OP, show me where Jesus requires these ridiculous hoops through which to jump, to follow him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ and for the record, I also wouldn’t believe this behavior from a Jewish church or a Muslim church or a Buddhist temple or anything else. I thought they were all supposed to be nice places for the people who went there. I can’t imagine people attending any kind of place of worship under those conditions.

Whatever. Stop using language about “jokes” and priests calling people “liars” and you won’t get flack. And is that’s you on the updating religious traditions calling communion “unbelievably disgusting” —and it sure sounds like you—then maybe a class in respect and diversity would help you.

If this is the same pp calling the Catholic celebration “creepy” above on this thread, then get her to diversity training stat.

She’ll be back soon to claim innocence and ignore criticism of her language, though.

I'm the PP who asked if this whole idea is a joke. This post is my 4th post. I have not posted on other threads. I have no idea who you are all referring to, but it honestly seems like you have some issues on your side that you need to work through.

This has been an eye-opening experience about religious people and the way you treat people, so thanks for that, I guess.