[Natural Law]

"I can't help but think that there is just this awful stubbornness or blindness that takes over people and places them in a kind of box."

Amen to that. As is man so are the institutions of man. I don't begrudge anyone rejecting Catholicism in favor of a Reformed denomination. I don't begrudge anyone citing the specific reasons why as long as they honestly portray Catholic teachings. Too often, though, I see ex-Catholics projecting their poor knowledge of the Catechism into actual Church teachings and I see anti-Catholics outright lying about what the Church does or does not teach. When that happens I have to correct that. I do not worry that the Church will not stand up to any scrutiny of its actual teachings, but to mischaracterize and lie about the Church is theft from both the Church and those lead astray.

[Belteshazzar]

Natural Law wrote:
“ I don’t begrudge anyone rejecting Catholicism in favor of a Reformed denomination. I don’t begrudge anyone citing the specific reasons why as long as they honestly portray Catholic teachings. “

I’m glad to hear you say this. I try to be very careful in what I say about the teachings of the Catholic Church, and do not enjoy seeing it trashed for that of which it is not guilty. However, I do note that some Catholics have a habit of playing fast and loose with, for example, Lutheran doctrine. Do you expect of Catholics the same standards as you require of Protestants here? And will you follow them yourself and try to get others to do the same?

Just curious.

[boatbums]

Thanks for the kind reply. I do not condone false statements about ANY faith. You do have to admit, though, that there are many people in the Catholic Church that do not understand their own church's teaching or who use the catechism as a sort of guideline and then either believe the parts they like and ignore the rest or distort what has been said. It is difficult to actually pin down what is believed versus what is truly taught at times.

I also think the argument goes both ways. I have seen many, many false statements, overactive hyperbole, hurtful rhetoric and downright hateful things said by Catholics on this forum about all non-Catholics as if we are less than vermin in their sight, so I cannot blame some who react in like manner. I have expressed my desire repeatedly that we refrain from that silliness and discuss issues like grown-ups. I really hope one day we will.