Posted on 04/04/2009 3:29:51 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
This is a distressing new Gallup poll. It shows that churchgoing Catholics are far more likely to approve of moral behavior (sex between unmarried people, homosexuality, etc.) that their church deems immoral than are churchgoing Protestants.
This is a conundrum to me, one I thought about a lot when I was a Catholic, and troubled over. Why is it that Catholics have a Pope and a Magisterium -- a clear teaching authority -- as well as a complex, coherent and profoundly intellectual moral theology ... and yet these things, which ought to give it a tremendous advantage in maintaining the obedience of its flock, avail the Catholic Church little? It shouldn't be that way, logically, but it is in practice.
Lee Podles, an orthodox Catholic, has some thoughts.
[I wish I didn't have to say this, but I do: this is not an anti-Catholic post, but rather intended to spark discussion on various reasons why this poll found the things it did. As someone who would like to raise my children to believe in what my faith teaches, I'd like to know what works, and what doesn't. Anybody who tries to derail the thread by making specious claims of anti-Catholicism will find their posts unpublished. So don't even start.]
Excellent post. Well said.
Interesting post. You have no clue about Catholicism and the Catholic Church but your post is interesting in its lack of information.
Then again, I’m just a Catholic who can go to Confession for my sins, but I’m a sinner, probably one of the biggest sinners you know or came in contact with. But, I could always just go to Confession or say a few Hail Marys and all is well. There’s no Free Will involved or anything.
If I rolled my eyes any more they’d roll out of my freakin’ head.
Do the rest of you feel like you’re in some competition?
We love our Bingo night and the Casino Night rocks too. Brings in lots of money. And people have fun.
Great post mentioning the Mormons. They did wonders for the Prop 8.
I don’t know much about their religion/faith. I don’t think they are Christians. Not from what I know so far, which isn’t much. But they are Conservatives. And on our side.
Ah, as far as ND, we don’t like Obama giving the commencement address or receiving an honorary degree. I made my opinion kmown, but I’m not an Alumni or whatever. I also contacted St. Joe’s, and I’m an alum of the grad school. It was liberal leaning back when I attended in the late 80s early 90s. I imagine it’s more so now.
However, it’s the University of Notre Dame. And, St. Joseph’s University. No “Catholic” word in the titles. It’s assumed because they were Catholic universities at one time. Not the case now. Even with Boston College...but to their credit, they made a mistake and corrected it almost immediately. As for Notre Dame, the Board of Trustees isn’t the Catholic Church. Not sure about St. Joe’s. But I’ve seen the same thing happening with some of our Cathoic high schools. No longer a part of the Diocese, run by the alumni, etc. and the teachings of the Catholic Church are forgotten.
The Pope can say something, but if I recall correctly, he has no say over Notre Dame. But, I ber if he did say something it would matter.
All I know is that if I had a kid there now, and she was graduating, and I had to sit through that Commencement Address, I’d be pissed off and furious I spent all that money.
This will be interesting to follow (and maybe depressing, too).
“This criticism is meant in a constructive way, as my answer to the question posed: Why do so fewer Catholics adhere to the moral tenets of their church as opposed to conservative Protestants?”
LOL!
ND is a tradition, in football anyway, and in some ways the education. It’s a prestigious University. And at one time, it was great and a school we’d be proud to send our kids to.
I know my Dad (God rest his soul) was a die hard ND football fan, even when they played Penn State, my and another brother’s alma mater. We knew he secretly cheered for ND, lol. So I completely agree with you about ND.
But I disagree with the rest of your post. We do have a say in our Church and it’s important for us to alert or comment when things aren’t going well, or rather when the Catholic Church, its teachings, the Catechism, aren’t being followed. And it’s not being followed at ND or St. Joe’s and probably other colleges and certainly some Catholic high schools. It’s up to me/us to fight it. However, I’m pretty sure that ND is mostly secular now and I hope anyone will correct me if I’m wrong on that.
Good post.
Seems we’re saying the same thing.
Excellent and informative post. Thanks for posting this.
Yep.
It would be nice or something if Pelosi, Kerry, Kennedy (for decades) were denied Communion. Publicly. However, they already ex-communicated themselves. We can’t force anyone to follow any faith. My oldest brother is divorced. And remarried and divorced. He won’t receive Communion at Mass because he knows it’s wrong. He could still receive. But he respects the Church. He respects the teachings. One of my nephews and his wife (2nd wife) also won’t receive. They know what the Church teaches and they respect that. Even if they don’t agree with it. I hope, and pray, it changes soon (for them).
Then there are people like Pelosi,et al who just don’t care.
Our Parish stopped Bingo because of the outcry from some who had a problem with it. We’ve been trying to get it back and almost succeeding...Bingo rocks and raises a ton of money. We also hold a week long Carnival. Our new Pastor, now a Monsignor, didn’t like the Beer Garden (he was ok with the car raffle and 50/50, though). He’s tried for two years to eliminate the Beer Garden. Ain’t happening. We raise over $200,000 (profit) during our Carnival. All of it goes to the school (k-8). Helps offset our tuition costs.
If they brought back Bingo, we’d raise even more.
Yep. Well said.
Yes. I do have a say. I left the Rcc. Voted with my feet.
Ok...Then what's the remedy for absolution of Venial sins???
You wrote:
“Ok...Then what’s the remedy for absolution of Venial sins???”
We are absolved at Mass after the Confiteor.
This is the old Confiteor:
I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you brethren, that I have sinned exceedingly, in thought, word and deed: through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, all the Saints, and you brethren, to pray to the Lord our God for me.
Nope.
I do, actually. There is no pope in the Bible (Peter, btw, is not the "Rock"....look at the Greek), and frankly, there is no basis for any hierarchy over Christians outside the local church. No archdeacons, no archbishops, no magisterium, no nothing.
So the Bumper Sticker you saw offended you because it said “Pope Benedict XVI says fight for innocent life.” Yeah, I could see how that would be offensive or a concern.
The sentiment of defending innocent life didn't offend me. Rather, the notion that I had to defend life because some guy in a funny hat tells me to, I found rather sad.
Yeah, your “who cares what the Pope says” says a lot to me. BTW, the Pope was saying what Jesus taught about innocent life. Guess you missed that in the anti Catholic crap you posted.
Oh, don't whine at me about anti-Catholicism. Catholics have been persecuting, burning, stealing from, etc. etc. ad nauseum Biblical Christians for about 1200 years. You have no standing to play the martyr now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
