“This really illustrates why Evangelicals should never think of the RCC and it's adherents as Brothers and Sisters in Christ.”
That's sort of sad. We think of you as brothers and sisters in Christ. As separated brethren, but brethren nonetheless.
But when we say that we are separated brethren, it isn't our intention to prescribe the relationship as it should be, but rather to describe it as it is. The fact is that we believe some different things about God, Jesus, the Church, etc. than non-Catholics, especially Protestants. Our faith is not the same as yours. What we each believe overlaps considerably, but there are some big differences.
And why would you deny this? We Catholics are bashed every day here at Free Republic for our distinctive beliefs to which non-Catholics object, with which they disagree. There are "Christians" here who go on about “RC edifices” and “RC rubber dictionaries [or some similar garbage as that].” There are "Christians" who have denigrated the bathroom habits of our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are "Christians" here who lie about Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI. There are folks here who falsely accuse Pope Benedict of being a Nazi, or at least a former Nazi.
These people allege to be Christians, and devout ones at that. From my perspective, I see no Christian charity in them whatsoever, and thus wonder whether maybe they're crypto-Muslims or something. But they attest to belong to non-Catholic Christian ecclesial assemblies, so I'll take their word for it, I guess.
But, WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WANT MY SONS TO EVEN ASSOCIATE WITH SUCH FOLKS or their children, no less marry them?
“It's clear that RC’s think themselves ‘superior’ and the rest of us Bible believing Christians as ‘defective.’”
We Catholics certainly believe that non-Catholic Christian belief is missing important elements, and therefore the belief is defective. But not people. Our separated brethren are not defective, except to note that they are, like us, all hobbled by the effects of Original Sin.
But more deeply, we Catholics also believe that indifferentism - the belief that all belief systems (or at least all Christian belief systems) are equally valid - is wrong, in fact, a heresy. Yes, we actually stand up and say that we believe that Catholic Faith is truer, closer to the objective reality than any other faith.
If you're a Baptist, aren't you a Baptist because you think that how the Baptists think about God, Jesus and the rest of it, is truer, closer to the objective reality than say, the Presbyterians? Or the Catholics?
Otherwise, why be a Baptist?
For us, because we believe that Catholic Faith holds the full deposit of faith given by Jesus to the Apostles, to fall away from Catholic Faith is to lose something more precious than life. Why would I want my sons to marry someone who might steal them away from the most precious gift they have, the full salvific faith of Jesus Christ?
sitetest
Talks cheap, when it comes right down to it you would not want your children to marry an Evangelical Christian. It's really no different than saying I don't want my child to marry someone of a different race.
We Catholics are bashed every day here at Free Republic for our distinctive beliefs to which non-Catholics object, with which they disagree.
The "I'm a victim" routine is silly. The discussions do get heated and things get said that would not be said in person, so what. I've never seen signs of prejudice against RC's in everyday life. Born Again Christians face a lot more criticism and I really don't hear any of us "crying about it".
There are "Christians" here who go on about “RC edifices” and “RC rubber dictionaries [or some similar garbage as that].” There are "Christians" who have denigrated the bathroom habits of our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are "Christians" here who lie about Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI. There are folks here who falsely accuse Pope Benedict of being a Nazi, or at least a former Nazi.
I've seen my share of these threads and participated in many of them. If you want to go over each topic I would be happy to do that with you.
These people allege to be Christians, and devout ones at that. From my perspective, I see no Christian charity in them whatsoever,...
I would agree these heated discussions do get extreme at times, but I'm sure you've seen your RC "bigot brigade" in action as well.
we Catholics also believe that indifferentism - the belief that all belief systems (or at least all Christian belief systems) are equally valid - is wrong, in fact, a heresy. Yes, we actually stand up and say that we believe that Catholic Faith is truer, closer to the objective reality than any other faith.
We can get in a discussion about objective reality, but what's the point. In the end you will refer to your church and it's tradition and I will refer to Scripture. IOW, we will just go in circles. The truth is most RC's who posted would not want someone to marry outside your church. You view Christians who don't submit to your hierarchy as less and you believe you have a monopoly on truth (objective reality).