As I understand it, Jefferson Davis may have converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, and the only foreign power who recognized the Confederacy was His Holiness Pope Pius IX, who sent Davis (after the war) a crown of thorns he himself had made. It’s still visible at the Confederate Museum in New Orleans, I’ve heard.
Thanks to all of you, most anyway, for your wonderful helpful comments. I usually stay away from these threads because I would never ever bash anybody’s beliefs or faiths.
I have always been drawn to the Catholic church for some unknown reason to me. There is a lot I don’t understand since I wasn’t raised a Catholic but I have always admired the faith. Both churches are very good to help the community. The local Baptist church kept me afloat when my husband was critically injured in an accident and I have the utmost respect for them.
I was raised a Southern Baptist and while I greatly admire that religion also, and believe most of what they teach, they have been a disappointment to me on a few occasions. I have found way to many leaders in the church that are not trustworthy and I think this has spilled over to make me hesitant to trust Priests. I have noticed a lot of teachings that I could not back up 100% in the Bible. I have a problem with churches that use the church to make money, the way several wealthy TV preachers have.
In all my life there is one Baptist minister that I admired due to his honesty. I could talk to him about anything. My dad used to make homemade grape wine. Yes, a Southern Baptist that made wine. :-) The practice was passed down through my family for hundreds of years. We originated in Scotland. Anyway, the pastor came every Wednesday night to share a glass of wine with my dad when I was a young teenager. I asked him once how he could be a Baptist preacher and drink wine. I had noticed that he never preached against it. He said that the sin is in being a drunkard but that drinking wine in itself was not sinful. He said that drinking wine (in moderation) was even encouraged as being healthy and good for the body. He said that if anybody asks he always tells them the truth but that if you want to stay a pastor in a Baptist church that you do not say anything about wine being OK in church.
There are a lot of Baptists that believe the same way he does but the church is so consumed with hatred of anything like this that most people just keep their thoughts to themselves and their mouths shut. I also have issues with some of the extreme evangelical churches here that practice handling poisonous snakes. I know that taking up snakes is mentioned in the Bible but to me, that is tempting God and definitely not something that we should do. Faith in God is good, tempting HIM is not.
I would not have a problem with confession to a trustworthy Priest because I know that confession is good but I haven’t found many of that type in the Baptist churches I have attended in my life.