And don’t forget, if you’re not catholic you’ll burn in hell! Yes, this is what an 11 year old kid told my son.
COmpletely off topic but Peter- you’re from Rutland, MA? Small world. I’m from Holden.
11 year olds are 11-year-olds. Most don’t know enough to debate religion. Try explaining the details of the trinitarian baptism to a 11 year-old. It’s easier to talk about stegosauri!
As a Catholic I apologize for the silliness of that boy. And remember, this is about the beatification of a Pope who even in the eyes of non-Catholics did a lot of good for Christians everywhere. You may not agree with our beliefs or all his actions, but in bringing down communism, he did quite a good thing, eh?
Mean kids tell other kids all sorts of trash. In my youth I was told more than once that I was going to hell because I was an Episcopalian. Even then I knew that was nonsense, on a par with "you're ugly and your mama dresses you funny."
But for me, the way in which God was glorified most in the Pope was in his final days, when the Pope, bent over, tired, struck by parkinsons, exhausted, still carried on -- how many times did we look at this old man, using his bishops staff as a walking aid (in comparison to the 80s when he seemed to handle it like a twig), this old man who did not seem to have the energy to move, far less to travel the world, how many times did we see this old man and realise that it was GOD who was carrying him, GOD who was His energy, GOD who was doing it -- to me it was apparent that the Pope was a display of how God can be our energy, our motivation, our actual physical, moral and spiritual guide.
Sad, but I wouldn't put much stock in what an eleven year old says. I also have no problem ignoring plenty of adults who are sure I'm going to hell because I'm Catholic.
Middle schoolers can be very mean and they use words like that as weapons, not because they have thought deeply about them and believe them. A couple days ago my daughter’s friend was told by a fellow middle-schooler to go back to Japan. (She was born here, to parents who were also born here.) Good thing one would not conclude from one boy’s poor understanding of citizenship that all Americans are bigoted.
And don’t forget if you’re not Missionary Baptist, you’re going to hell. That’s what another little nine year old girl told my grand daughter. Seems to me there’s a shortage of parents telling their children how to witness and now not to as well.
If you think Catholics are frequently telling others such things, especially children, then you must be in the midst of the most missionary Catholics I’ve heard of in the past thirty years. I’ve never had a Catholic engage me in a discussion about religion other than the few times I started the conversation.
So?
I remember babysitting a family’s kids when I was 16. I was told Catholics are pagans and idolators by their 9 years old Baptist son.
Kids are kids.
The parents apologized to me but it wasn’t necessary since children believe all sorts of things that are distorted and untrue.