"Can someone explain why they are viewed as different (is it just the praying to Mary- there must be something more) and why it was such a big thing that prior to JFK there was not a Catholic POTUS?
I'm missing the thing that caused this agency and countless individuals to discriminate against Catholics."
I can explain it, but the short version is so curt that it ends up being hurtful, like the poster who implied Catholics aren't Christians.
And the long version is rooted in history and very boring.
I am only willing to give the long version, by the end of which you'll either understand or be sound asleep.
But I'm not going to do it unless you ask again.
We're talking paragraphs here.
Paragraphs and paragraphs.
There's 2000 years of history to pull apart.
Let me put it in the Jewish context: are Ethiopian tribesmen who keep kosher and who think of themselves as Jews because of ancient links really Jews?
Ok, while you're puzzling that one out, how about Karaites. Were Karaites Jews?
How about Samaritans, with the Samaritan Pentateuch. Were they Jews?
How about the Jewish followers of Jesus in the First Century. Were Peter and Paul and the Apostles still Jews?
Today's "Jews For Jesus"...are they Jews?
Finally, the Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservatives, Reform, and utra-Reform...are they all Jews, or is there a line somewhere that one crosses and ceases to be a Jew?
Is an atheist, secular Jew a Jew?
Your answer to those questions will actually take you a long, long, long way down the road of understanding the kinship and animosity between other branches of Christianity and the Catholics.
If you want the long version, ask.
You pose very interesting and complex questions.
Since I was born Jewish, and married a Catholic, and am relatively open-minded about religion and the NT and OT, I'm ready for your long version, at your convenience.