Catholicism v. The Rest a.k.a Things Protestants Have Told Me

It has come to my attention that some of you are confused when it comes to Christianity and Catholicism. This confusion is something I have only heard in the US. No protestant outside of these 50 states has ever told me that Catholics aren't Christians. Its always in the US.

This past weekend, the topic for Verastic's radio show was "My Church is Better Than Yours". Mind you, she wasn't trying to support one christian group over the other, she simply gave people an opportunity to "put their church forward", so to speak. During the show, I heard some things that frustrated me dearly. I am Catholic, and some of the things I hear concerning my church just give me a headache. I am not going to defend pedophilia to you--that is wrong--and it is sad that it has become such a problem. The headache inducing statements I have heard revolve around Catholic worship. Not all of these statements were made during the show. But, listening to the show reminded me that I have been meaning to write a post about this. So, consider this a Things Protestants Have Told Me.

Catholics aren't Christians. Pardon me, but if we are not Christians then what the f*ck are we? A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ came to us, died for our sins, and was resurrected. Hence the term CHRISTian. Is this not something Catholics believe? Or you think because our mass doesn't consist of weekly "miracles" and numerous rounds of "tithe-giving" that we are not Christian? I urge you to Google the Apostle's Creed which is said every Sunday during mass. The beginning reads,

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord...

I hope this is not confusing to anyone. If Christianity were a tree, Catholicism would be the trunk from which every other Christian group branched from. What do you mean we aren't Christian? Lets be honest, without the Catholic church there would not even be a bible. Who do you think held on to all those scrolls long enough to get them printed? Which church do you think decided which books the public would ever get to read in the first place?

Catholics Worship Mary. This use of the word "worship" is a gross exaggeration of what actually happens in the Catholic church. We consider Mary to be something like a "high-level" saint (which I will get into later, don't worry). No Catholic worships Mary. We worship God. If you see a Catholic kneeling down in front of a statue of Mary, they are asking her to intercede on their behalf because we believe she is in heaven with her son, Jesus. It is why we have the Hail Mary and why we have the rosary. The same way people bow/curtesy/prostrate as a sign of respect to elders. It is a sign of respect for the person who gave birth to Jesus. Oh, and about the Hail Mary, which goes:

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
And Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death.
Amen

Let me help explain. The entire first half of that prayer is found in the Gospel of Luke. Chapter 1 verse 28 (when the angel Gabriel greets Mary) and verse 42 (when Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, greets Mary). The last half, in bold, apparently pisses of protestants because they don't understand why Catholics believe we should ask Mary to "pray for us". Let me first appeal to your common sense. If it makes sense to you that Mary gave birth to Jesus and is in heaven with him, then it should make sense to you that we ask her to pray for us. If this is not enough for you, please re-read the story of the miracle at Cana. Who asked Jesus to help the wedding couple make more wine? That is why we ask Mary to pray for us. IF it hurts your sensibilities to ask another person close to God to pray for you, then I suggest all of you stop attending church right now. If you can ask your pastor to help you with something, then you should be able to ask Mary.

Catholics have saints and this is wrong. The bible uses the word "saints" in reference to holy people dedicated to serving God. The Catholic church has taken this definition a step further and decided that in order to become a saint of the church, one would have to undergo a sort of litmus test. Although the act of canonization (making a person a saint) is not in the bible, I think it is safe to say that God would have no problem with the church instituting certain "boundaries" for sainthood. Again, nobody worships saints, as nobody worships Mary. We ask them to pray for us as they are in heaven with God.

Catholics have the Trinity. The trinity does not imply 3 Gods. My favorite explanation for the trinity is the "water" example. Water can be solid (ice), liquid, or gas (steam), but in all those 3 forms it is still water. There are numerous bible references to the 3 "forms" of God. There are examples where the "spirit" references the "father" and the "son". None of this "trinity stuff" is made up. Excuse you.

Catholics aren't born again. This is utter rubbish. You know that little thing they do for babies (and sometimes grown people) where they dress them up in white and sprinkle holy water? Its not because someone felt like taking a bath in church. Baptism is our "born again". And if you think that baptism is not enough, EVERY Easter there is a "renewal of baptismal vows" said in church. Protestants have turned the term "born again" into their "go-to" definition for themselves, implying that they are somehow "different" from Catholics. Stop the madness. Jesus said no one can enter heaven without being born again. He didn't say HOW you should go about it. Catholics have chosen baptism, confession, and the renewal of baptismal vows, as their way of staying "in the spirit" and being "born again". You have your ways and we will all be JUST FINE.

Obviously this isn't all of it, but I will stop here. The end result of all this bullsh*t between Christians is that it makes us look stupid to everyone else. If you have more reasons why you think Catholics are not Christians, please let me know. I would really love to have that conversation. As Hoobastank said,

I'm not ever going to know if I'm right or wrong 'cause we're all going in the same direction

Please, the next time you bash Catholics for our "worship style" remember that sentence. I am not saying being a Catholic is better, I remain in this church for personal reasons and I am not trying to convert anyone. However, if you are going to talk about my church, you better have non-propaganda based explanations for your opinion.