[aMorePerfectUnion]

“What I do mind is you telling me what I supposedly believe -— and when you’re corrected (because it’s not what I believe) you keep repeating it nevertheless.”

Mrs. Don-O, in this case, you didn’t specify what I told you that you (supposedly) believe, so I’m in the dark on this. If I assumed the wrong thing, I apologize in advance. That was not my intent.

Now, if you will share with me what you are referring to, I will also know what offended you and can understand what you are referring to or if there is a misunderstanding. Also, please tell me what you’ve corrected about multiple times.

[You must know that men have no idea what women think. Heck, sometimes I don’t even understand what my wife is thinking. I do try hard, but remember, women don’t even understand women, let alone men understanding women. I’ve been stripped of all the advantages of communication: the facial expressions, breaths, body language... Throw in the limited communication by text alone and men are practically disabled!]

I do respect you though and I assure you I did not intentionally do something to offend you. If I ever jumped the shark and wanted to offend you, it would be obvious. By the grace of God, I don’t try.

Best.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks, aMPU, I appreciate that. It was an intelligent and considerate response.

As for items where you misrepresent what the Catholic Church teaches, and thus what I believe as a Catholic, we'll start with a few from just one recent post, #180, where you undertook to explain to RnMomof7 what I believe as a Catholic, and why.

• "...paganism crept into the Roman church and turned the glorious Gospel of Grace into a system of religious works"

  There are a lot of elements of pre-Christian culture in Catholicism, such as: Wedding rings. Syllogisms. Brides in white. Burying our dead in caskets. Flowers on graves. Philosophy. Prayer breakfasts. Banners and flags. Formal logic. (And hundreds more, but let's keep this reasonably short.) These are customs purified of their idolatrous content and remade in forms compatible with Christianity. They constitute neither syncretism nor idolatry. They do not "turn the glorious Gospel of Grace into a system of religious works"

• "... there was no more intimate relationship."

  False.

• "It was a celestial hamster wheel of sacraments, stations, genuflection, rote words, mumbled songs, etc."

  Jumble of falsehoods.

  Now, I'll personally admit hamsterish ways (I happen to be eating sunflower seeds just now) --- But to say "hamster wheel" is to say devotional acts are done unmindfully, which they are not. To insinuate that sacraments and stations indicate pagan belief and replace an intimate relationship with God, is likewise false.

• "...there arose the pagan infusion of multiple demigods"

  False.

• "... including the Demigoddess Mary."

  False. She is a handmaid and a creature, not a demigoddess.

• "[In Catholicism] you may not be “good enough to have a relationship with God that allows you to know and approach Him securely in that relationship,"

  False.

• "... but fortunately (!), you can approach the Demigoddess Mary."

  False, she is not a demigoddess.

• "To be a demigoddess, you must have no sin, you must not be defiled by common urges or desires (sex, orgasm, etc.)"

  False. Being human, Mary has the same kind of human nature as our first ancestors Adam and Eve. She has every urge or desire common to humanity.

• "... You must be above humanity, but lower than God."

  False. It's true that she's lower than God, but false that she is above humanity.

• "... You must have superpowers to hear everyone simultaneously"

  That's actually true, but so will you, when you are a saint in heaven (a destiny I desire for you.) We won't be omnipotent (we'll always be infinitely short of that) but still, we'll have gifts such that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man to imagine"

  Hearing everyone simultaneously is probably one of the least of them, since it's almost possible NOW via AI technology. What God can do for us has to be far more, unimaginably more, than what we can do now, with e.g. Japanese robotics coupled with cloud technology.

• "You must be able to perform miracles yourself."

  False.

• "There are shrines to you."

  That's true, but that doesn't constitute idolatry. There are shrines to Washington and Lincoln in DC --- if they haven't yet been dynamited in the current fever-phase of secular anti-American iconoclasm. It doesn't indicate adoration, but veneration. If you don't grasp the difference, you might end up with the mob leveling sites of civic veneration, such as the Jefferson Memorial, or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

• "... You will rule over the sun and moon and stars."

  If you are referring to the Woman of the Apocalypse (Revelation 11:19 - 12:1), this has attracted a variety of interpretations; but there is no teaching that Mary rules over the sun, moon, and stars. In fact, I hadn't heard of such a thing until I read it from you.

  Interestingly, though, something similar was said of the OT Joseph, the son of Jacob: (Genesis 37:9) "He had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

  And that famously bothered the heck out of his brothers. I think that was because they didn't understand the image.

  That same thing seems to be happening here with Mary: you don't understand the image, so you proclaim your own wrong-headed notion, and identify that to be what I believe.

  Did you ask me first?

  Did you ask any Catholic whether this was a true account of their beliefs?

  That is the whole offense in a nutshell: ascribing beliefs to me and to other Catholics, based not on the actual teachings of the Catholic Church, but upon your own unfortunate misunderstandings; and then, what's really unjustifiable, failing to correct this once it's pointed out to you.

  You even repeat the falsehoods, even after being informed that that's not what we believe. That's rude, and aggravating.

  As I said, I don't mind at all if you tell me what your beliefs are. I do mind when you tell me what MY beliefs are, especially when you've got it wrong.