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To: InterestedQuestioner
My point is not that all of them don't think of Protestants as Christians. In many cases, they simply think that "Catholic" is equivalent to "Christian" and say "Catholic" when they mean "Christian" by habit. So if they mean to ask, "Are you a Christian?" they might say, "Are you a Catholic?" In at least one case, I'm talking about a discussion I had in college with other college students, so I'm not talking about people who shouldn't know any better. My point is that if someone in a Protestant-majority area asks, "Are you Catholic or Christian?" they might really mean "Are you Catholic or Protestant?" and not mean that Catholics are not Christian. They may simply think that the words "Protestant" and "Christian" are interchangible the same way some Catholics I've met think that "Catholic" and "Christian" are interchangible. It's another way of saying, "Are you the normal (meaning "my") type of Christian or that Catholic kind of Christian." It may really have nothing to do with who they think is or isn't Christian. It might, but it also might not.
427 posted on 07/15/2005 3:28:35 PM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: Question_Assumptions
My point is not that all of them don't think of Protestants as Christians. In many cases, they simply think that "Catholic" is equivalent to "Christian" and say "Catholic" when they mean "Christian" by habit. So if they mean to ask, "Are you a Christian?" they might say, "Are you a Catholic?" In at least one case, I'm talking about a discussion I had in college with other college students, so I'm not talking about people who shouldn't know any better. My point is that if someone in a Protestant-majority area asks, "Are you Catholic or Christian?" they might really mean "Are you Catholic or Protestant?" and not mean that Catholics are not Christian. They may simply think that the words "Protestant" and "Christian" are interchangible the same way some Catholics I've met think that "Catholic" and "Christian" are interchangible. It's another way of saying, "Are you the normal (meaning "my") type of Christian or that Catholic kind of Christian." It may really have nothing to do with who they think is or isn't Christian. It might, but it also might not.

QA, I think we're running around in circles here. Never met a Catholic who thought that Protestants were not Christian, and at this point in my life, I'm doubtful I ever will. As a Catholic, however, I can tell you that there are many who consider Catholics to be non-Christian, and you may even find a few here on FR willing to go on record and state that. Any takers?

As for the discussion at hand, it has been prompted by a branch office for a national agency, and there is some indication that the person setting their policy hold that Catholics are not Christian, hence refuses to adopt children to Catholic parents.
436 posted on 07/15/2005 3:36:10 PM PDT by InterestedQuestioner
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